In 2022, James Wright and Tiffany Russell helped initiate a groundbreaking three-digit voice and text hotline, the 988 Lifeline, that enables individuals in crisis to access trained counselors 24/7 via calls, texts or online chats. In this episode, they are joined by Jennifer Battle, the vice president of community access and engagement at the Harris Center, one of Texas’ largest providers for individuals with behavioral health and developmental needs. Together, Wright, Russell and Battle discuss how the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration collaborates with and supports more than 200 crisis centers across the nation, delivering tailored mental health services to diverse communities. The Partnership for Public Service is recognizing Wright and two of his colleagues as finalists for a 2023 Service to America Medals® award.
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A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
Michael Boyce is a leading innovator at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, heading up a team that spearheads groundbreaking technological advancements related to asylum filing and overseas refugee cases. In this episode, he is joined by Arianna Miller and Kimberly Odom, two asylum officers working for USCIS who discuss their core responsibilities, the new innovations that are transforming the asylum process, and how federal leaders like Boyce use technology, customer feedback and more to improve the experiences of those seeking refuge in the U.S.
A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
Since November 2021, public servants have collaborated across state, local and federal government to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—a once-in-a-generation investment of $1.2 trillion to repair, renew and reinvigorate the country’s aging infrastructure. Asma Mirza joins "Profiles in Public Service” as a deputy for implementation management at the White House, where she supports senior advisor to the president, Mitch Landrieu, on carrying out the new infrastructure law. To date, 37,000 projects and $280 billion and counting have been implemented across 4,500 communities in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. territories. Kevin Donahue, the city administrator for Washington, D.C., has worked with Mirza and her team at the White House to implement a more equitable infrastructure within the city, including through the creation of the D.C. Build Back Better Infrastructure Task Force. Mirza and Donahue discuss how federal leaders are convening state and local actors to transform our nation’s physical infrastructure, improve access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis and more.
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A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
Jason Broughton and Dominick Spinelli are “living a librarian’s dream” at the Library of Congress’ National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. Broughton is the director of the NLS after a long career in librarianship, education and workforce development. Spinelli serves as the head of the NLS’ Collection Development Section, where he leads a team of librarians to build a catalog of accessible reading materials and support a nationwide network of nearly 100 partnering libraries and outreach centers. Broughton and Spinelli discuss how they leverage feedback from library patrons to help ensure that individuals across the nation, including people with disabilities and veterans, can obtain accessible print and reading materials that meet their needs.
Additional Resources:
A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
Serving in the U.S. House of Representatives involves much more than debating policy and voting on legislation on Capitol Hill. It also requires a great deal of listening to and engaging the constituents living in local districts.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia joins this episode of “Profiles in Public Service” alongside Enrique Garcia, a constituent services representative from her district office in Houston, Texas. In 2019, Garcia became the first Hispanic member of the Houston congressional delegation and one of the first two Latinas to represent Texas in Congress. Previously, she worked in various roles in the Texas state government, and as a social worker and legal aid lawyer. Enrique and Rep. Garcia will talk about their work to increase trust in the federal government by delivering excellent customer service to their constituents and meeting the diverse needs of the communities they serve.
A full transcript of this episode can be found here.
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Civic technology is critical to addressing some of the nation’s toughest challenges, from the opioid crisis to disaster relief and more. Today’s “Profiles in Public Service” guest, Drew Zachary from U.S. Census Bureau, describes how the federal initiative she co-founded, The Opportunity Project, uses cross-sector collaboration and open federal data to design technology that supports communities across the country. Susanna Pho is a startup founder and a former participant in The Opportunity Project’s Design Sprint Challenge competitions, during which she partnered with federal agencies to use her company’s software that helps local governments and communities better adapt to the effects of climate change. Quentin Cummings is a climate analyst at the Federal Emergency Management Agency whose earlier work in government informed Pho’s 2022 Design Sprint Challenge project to strengthen collaboration between federal and local governments to aid in their preparedness for flood risk and response to natural disasters in their communities. Zachary, Pho and Cummings discuss how using federal data and partnering across sectors allows them to support local economies, expand opportunity and rebuild trust in government in communities across the country.
A transcript of this episode is available here.
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Two leaders committed to ensuring equity in both federal and local environmental justice initiatives join “Profiles in Public Service” to speak about their collaborative efforts to address public health issues for communities on the West Coast and beyond. Laura Ebbert works in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9 office based in San Francisco, where she leads environmental justice, equity and policy programs. Lauren Boitel runs ImpactNV, a statewide sustainability nonprofit and coalition builder in Las Vegas, Nevada. A recent recipient of the EPA’s environmental justice grant program, ImpactNV is using federal funds to support transformational investments to improve air quality and mitigate the impact of severe heat on predominantly Latinx communities in East Las Vegas. Ebbert and Boitel describe how listening to the lived experiences of community members is leading to more equitable statewide and federal solutions to environmental justice concerns.
Additional Resources:
A full transcript of this episode is available here.
The third season of “Profiles in Public Service” is off to an exciting start as we highlight all that our federal government does to strengthen local communities across America.
In our first episode, Craig Buerstatte, a program and policy leader at the Economic Development Administration, shares how he and his team managed to equitably distribute $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding to 780 projects that assist local communities in creating more robust and resilient regional economies. These efforts included the EDA’s $500 million Good Jobs Challenge, led by Lauren Starks, and benefited organizations like the Illinois-based nonprofit, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, led by Patrick Combs.
Buerstatte, Starks and Combs discuss why they work in public service, what they have learned about enabling economic development at the local level, and how they have built community-informed projects that bring together diverse partners to support the U.S. workforce.
A transcript for this episode is available here.
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“Profiles in Public Service” is honored to have Rep. Andy Kim from New Jersey’s 3rd District join us as the final guest of our second season. Congressman Kim is committed to empowering a greater belief in service, democracy, and a more mission-driven government. In 2018, Kim chose to apply his unique combination of experiences working as a career public servant at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House National Security Council to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. Once elected, he became the first Korean American Democrat elected to Congress. In this episode, Congressman Kim discusses his professional journey in public service, what he is doing to build greater trust in government among not only his constituents, but among all Americans, and his proposed legislation to aimed at “supercharging national service” and creating more pathways for all to enter government work.
A full transcript is available here.
Resources mentioned during interview
Paloma Adams-Allen, the deputy administrator for management and resources at the U.S. Agency for International Development, is responsible for ensuring that the agency has the technological, financial, and human resources to deliver on its mission—in other words, for advancing the success of USAID’s people, partnerships, and processes. Working in support of Administrator Samantha Power, Adams-Allen speaks to the agency’s ongoing initiatives to build a more diverse, inclusive, and accessible workforce and her office’s efforts to encourage young professionals, students and leaders of color to pursue career opportunities with USAID. She also discusses the process of forming partnerships with local development organizations, civil society organizations, and community enterprises across the world to be more responsive to the needs and priorities of the international communities USAID supports.
A complete transcript is available here.
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The government is filled with public servants leading in technology, innovation, and improving government customer experiences for the public. On this episode we hear from Brian Whittaker and Amber Chaudhry, who are not only two such leaders, but also share a passion for creating support networks for emerging public servants from a diversity of backgrounds. Whittaker is the founder of Humans of Public Service, an organization and project he started to share the stories of public servants from across the country on social media. One of the first people interviewed by Humans of Public Service was Chaudhry, an emerging government leader and current Customer Experience Lead at the Department of Housing and Urban Development where she works to implement a more human-centered approach to government customer service. She is also the founder of Muslim Americans in Public Service and a former Presidential Management Fellow.
A transcript of this episode can be found here.
Reach out to Brian Whittaker and Humans of Public Service:
Reach out to Amber Chaudhry:
Samantha Sutton, a 2022 Service to America Medals® Emerging Leader finalist and current Political Advisor for the United States Mission to the United Nations, shares her story of working in diplomacy as a career civil servant who started as an intern with the State Department. Sutton has worked on Middle East peace issues across three different presidential administrations and has provided important continuity during transitions to advance peace in the region. Sutton joined Profiles in Public Service from Israel where she was most recently serving as chief of staff to Ambassador Tom Nides, alongside Fred Wilson, the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s first Chief Diversity Officer. Wilson led efforts to encourage greater dialogue among senior leaders, embassy staff, and the diverse communities Mission Jerusalem works alongside. Sutton and Wilson discuss their accomplishments and challenges working on the Israel-Palestinian conflict as well as their suggestions for emerging leaders interested in pursuing international relations and diplomacy work through the federal government.
This episode is the fourth of four highlighting some of our 2022 Service to America Medals® finalists. Nominate an outstanding public servant for a 2023 Sammies medal today through our nomination form!
Tune in on November 23rd at 8 pm on Bloomberg Television and the Partnership’s YouTube Channel linked in our show notes.
A transcript of this episode can be found here.
Additional Resources:
The peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to another, or from a first to second term, is the cornerstone of American democracy. In this episode of “Profiles in Public Service,” Rachel Klein-Kircher and Loren DeJonge Schulman are joined by three practitioners and experts on presidential transitions who discuss the major challenges the Biden-Harris team had to overcome during the toughest transition in modern U.S. history, how a new administration identifies, recruits and nominates the right people to fill the nearly 4,000 presidential appointee positions who serve across government, and lessons that can be learned by examining the complex process that is fundamental to our democracy.
Our expert guests include:
A full transcript of this episode can be found here.
Additional resources:
Hear from one of our incredible 2022 Service to America Medals® finalists, Craig McLean, who spent four decades at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration transforming our nation's ocean exploration efforts to better understand how changes in ocean activity relate to global warming, severe weather and marine life. McLean is also joined by Benjamin Friedman, the agency’s longest serving deputy under secretary for operations, who oversees the programmatic and day-to-day management of NOAA’s national and international operations. McLean and Friedman discuss NOAA’s ongoing commitment to scientific integrity and strengthening public trust in government, as well as why those interested in protecting the environment and our oceans from the effects of climate change should explore federal careers.
This episode is the third of four highlighting some of our 2022 Service to America Medals® finalists. Nominate an outstanding public servant for a 2023 Sammies medal today through our nomination form!
A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
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As we honor the 21st anniversary of September 11th, we will be hearing from Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals® finalist Rupa Bhattacharyya, who revitalized the federal program responsible for awarding claims to victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks, including the families of those who were on site or responded that day, as well as people who lived, worked or went to school near the attack sites. Serving as the special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund at the Department of Justice from 2016 until 2022, Bhattacharyya and her team transformed the fund from an under-resourced, limited and short-term endeavor into a unique long-standing federal program with an unlimited pool of funding. Bhattacharyya discusses how she overcame enormous challenges to ensure that the program continues to meet its obligations to the 9/11 community, expand its outreach to eligible claimants, and have sufficient funding through 2090 to compensate those whose health may be affected even decades later.
This episode is the second of four highlighting some of our incredible 2022 Service to America Medals® finalists. Nominate an outstanding public servant for a 2023 Sammies Medal today through our nomination form!
A transcript of this episode can be found here.
Additional resources:
Today’s “Profiles in Public Service” guests have provided care to communities across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Service to America Medals® finalist Suma Nair launched a major federal initiative to ensure that community-based health centers could access lifesaving resources to adequately respond to COVID-19. Ian Munar from International Community Health Services in Seattle, Washington, and Noah Nesin, the chief medical officer at Penobscot Community Health Care in Penobscot, Maine, witnessed the tremendous impact that Nair’s program at the Health Resources and Services Administration had on the individuals and families they serve, many of whom are from populations experiencing economic, geographic, cultural, linguistic or other barriers to accessing high-personalized health care services. These three public servants discuss their experiences working in community health care, and why collaboration between federal and local leaders is critical to improving health equity in America.
This episode is the first of four highlighting some of our incredible 2022 Service to America Medals® finalists. Nominate an outstanding public servant for a 2023 Sammies Medal today through our nomination form!
A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
Additional resources:
Co-hosts Loren DeJonge Schulman and Rachel Klein-Kircher speak with two experts about how agencies are working to improve their performance and transform their customer experience efforts as outlined in the President’s Management Agenda—the Biden administration’s overarching vision for building a more effective federal government. Our guests include Robin Carnahan, the current administrator of the General Services Administration, and Robert Shea, a national managing principal of public policy at Grant Thornton Public Sector and a former public servant. Carnahan and Shea unpack how and why the President’s Management Agenda is created, what is unique about the current administration’s priorities, and why every interaction that an individual has with the government—from accessing benefits to securing natural disaster aid—is an opportunity to build public trust and prove that government works.
A complete transcript is available here.
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Stuart Ishimaru and Jacinta Ma, two longtime civil servants, join “Profiles in Public Service” to discuss their careers advocating for a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce both inside and outside of government. Ishimaru and Ma worked together at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to uphold civil rights and enforce federal laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. Both guests discuss their decisions to apply their law training to pursue “good guy work” in the federal government and with policy advocacy nonprofits, how increased diversity and representation has impacted both the federal workforce and their careers as Asian Americans, and how the EEOC continues to expand its reach and access to its resources for populations and communities across the country.
About our Speakers:
A full transcript is available here.
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"Profiles in Public Service" takes a comedic turn with guests Jon Wolf and Jon Cohen, partners at Fair Point Productions, who discuss their work as the executive producers of “The G Word with Adam Conover,” a new comedy docuseries on Netflix. “The G Word” explores the many ways our government works behind the scenes— from monitoring our food production and predicting the weather to treating serious diseases and more. Wolf and Cohen shared what they learned about how individuals can make an impact on government and in their communities, the benefits and challenges of using comedy to amplify messages about our government, and what it was like to work with President Barack Obama, who is featured in the show. Fair Point Productions produced “The G Word” in partnership with Barack and Michelle Obama’s company, Higher Ground Productions.
A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
Additional Resources
Most young people do not understand the full breadth of government jobs available—or that there are public service careers for nearly every academic major and course of study. In this episode, Partnership for Public Service President and CEO Max Stier moderates a conversation at the 2022 SXSW EDU conference on the federal government’s talent ecosystem and how to recruit and retain the next generation of public servants. Listeners will hear from three incredible speakers working in the federal government and career services about how young people can find their entry point into the public sector and how federal leaders can reduce barriers to working in public service, particularly for underrepresented groups including those with disabilities.
Episode speakers include:
A complete transcript of this episode can be found here.
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