Profiles in Public Service
46 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago - ★★★★★ - 11 ratings“Profiles in Public Service” tells stories about unsung public servants who drive government’s most important accomplishments. Our guests include both federal employees and those who directly benefit from their leadership and innovation to demonstrate what federal services and support can mean for local communities. In an age when people continue to hold negative views about government—but also rely on it to solve big problems and crises—the stories we share promise to rebuild faith in the public institution most critical to our democracy.
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Episodes
A New Mental Health Lifeline for America
December 01, 2023 16:30 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBIn 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 di...
Modernizing the Asylum Process Experience
November 20, 2023 20:08 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBMichael 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...
Building Bridges to Better Infrastructure
July 28, 2023 09:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBSince 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. T...
Increasing Accessibility and Inclusion One Library at a Time
July 14, 2023 09:00 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBJason 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...
Rep. Sylvia Garcia's Guide to Good Constituent Services
June 23, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MBServing 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 delega...
Sprinting Toward Civic Technology
June 09, 2023 09:00 - 42 minutes - 39 MBCivic 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 P...
Listening to Communities to Advance Environmental Justice
May 25, 2023 09:00 - 37 minutes - 35 MBTwo 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 coa...
Moving $3 Billion Boulders to Invest in American Communities
May 09, 2023 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBThe 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...
Rep. Andy Kim on Strengthening Democracy Through Service
January 20, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MB“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 t...
Managing the People, Partnerships, and Processes in Government
January 06, 2023 10:00 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBPaloma 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 ...
Stories from Humans of Public Service
November 18, 2022 10:00 - 39 minutes - 36.7 MBThe 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 fro...
Diplomacy, Diversity, and Dialogue at the U.S. Embassy to Israel
November 01, 2022 09:00 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBSamantha 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 Publi...
Exploring “The Peaceful Transfer of Power”
October 14, 2022 09:00 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBThe 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...
A Deep Dive into Ocean Science and Scientific Integrity
September 30, 2022 09:00 - 46 minutes - 43.2 MBHear 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 ...
Keeping Promises to The 9/11 Community
September 09, 2022 09:00 - 36 minutes - 34.2 MBAs 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 Depa...
Collaborating with Communities to Improve Health Equity
August 26, 2022 09:00 - 44 minutes - 41.3 MBToday’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 Peno...
The Customer Is Always Right
August 11, 2022 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.8 MBCo-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 polic...
Civil Servants Fighting for Civil Rights
July 29, 2022 09:00 - 49 minutes - 68.2 MBStuart 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 ...
Government Gets the Netflix Treatment
July 15, 2022 09:00 - 42 minutes - 39.4 MB"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 i...
Government's Next Generation
June 30, 2022 12:52 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MBMost 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 federa...
A New Home for Public Service Leaders
June 17, 2022 09:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBPartnership Vice President of Leadership Development Andrew Marshall joins co-hosts Loren DeJonge Schulman and Elda Auxiliaire, to discuss the Partnership’s new Public Service Leadership Institute. Marshall discusses the institute’s goals to amplify public service leadership through policy recommendations, research and commentary, to create a shared standard of effective federal leadership around the Partnership’s Public Service Leadership Model, and to provide federal leaders and offices wi...
Anybody Have a Map? The Government Does
June 03, 2022 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBOur co-hosts Loren DeJonge Schulman and Rachel Klein-Kircher speak with Carrie Stokes and Sawyer McCarley about how digital mapping tools and technologies shape decisions about providing humanitarian assistance in developing countries, and why mentoring and investing in young people is critical to public service. Stokes is the chief geographer at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the director of the agency’s GeoCenter. She also leads the YouthMappers program, an initiative fu...
What Makes a Public Service Leader?
May 20, 2022 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBWashington Post journalist Lillian Cunningham joins co-hosts Loren DeJonge Schulman and Rachel Klein-Kircher for a conversation on how to lead in government during normal times and times of crisis, as well as why the study of public service leadership is critical for our nation’s public servants. Cunningham is the creator and host of The Post’s “Presidential,” “Constitutional” and “Moonrise” podcasts. As an editor and reporter of the newspaper’s “On Leadership” section that explores leadersh...
Bridging the Trust Gap
May 06, 2022 09:00 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBThe first episode of our second season features a panel discussion headlined by several of our 2022 Service to America Medals finalists, a group of exceptional public servants who have dedicated their careers to improving the health, safety, and security of our country. Event speakers shared their insights on why public trust in government matters, what agencies are doing to bridge the trust gap and what leaders can do to motivate a new generation to enter public service. The event—hosted by...
Lessons Learned from an Unprecedented Transition
February 04, 2022 10:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBValerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition, joins co-hosts Loren DeJonge Schulman and Rachel Klein-Kircher to provide context on our new report analyzing the Trump-to-Biden handoff.
The Fearless Forecaster
November 19, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBJamie Rhome has revolutionized the way the government tracks and predicts storm surges. In this episode, Rhome, a storm surge specialist at the National Hurricane Center, talks about why effective public communication is critical to hurricane preparedness, how his work has built public trust in the government’s weather forecast, how the NHC has adapted to COVID-19 and why Hurricane Katrina was a wake-up call for the way the center operated. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/...
The Fearless Forecaster
November 19, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBStorm surge specialist Jamie Rhome talks about why effective public communication is critical to hurricane preparedness, how his work has built public trust in the government’s weather forecast, how the NHC has adapted to COVID-19.
The “Oscars” of Government Service
November 05, 2021 09:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBThis week, we’re giving you a front-row seat to the nation’s premier awards program honoring excellence in government.
Moving Beyond “One Bug, One Drug” In the U.S. Army
October 22, 2021 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBDr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, discusses the Army’s past work to control infectious diseases, his efforts to develop a new vaccine that protects against a range of coronaviruses and what his team is doing to prepare for the next pandemic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Moving Beyond “One Bug, One Drug” In the U.S. Army
October 22, 2021 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBDr. Kayvon Modjarrad discusses what his team is doing to prepare for the next pandemic.
Revitalizing Veterans’ Health Care
October 08, 2021 09:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBVictoria Brahm discusses how she overcame many challenges to ensure that veterans at Tomah VA Medical Center receive the care they deserve.
Emergency Episode: Michael Lewis on Our Shutdown Nation
September 29, 2021 15:44 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBBest-selling author Michael Lewis explains how shutdowns—and shutdown threats—affect government’s ability to keep us safe, manage risks and tackle our most pressing challenges. He also shares the story of Arthur Allen, a former Coast Guard oceanographer who was deemed an inessential employee during the 2018-2019 shutdown even though his groundbreaking search and rescue work had saved thousands of lives over a 35-year career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Cali...
Emergency Episode: Michael Lewis on Our Shutdown Nation
September 29, 2021 15:44 - 23 minutes - 22 MBBest-selling author Michael Lewis explains how shutdowns—and shutdown threats—affect government’s ability to keep us safe.
Reaching Management Nirvana
September 24, 2021 09:00 - 35 minutes - 33.2 MBMax Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, talks about launching the organization and what’s next as the Partnership celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Public Service Leadership on 9/11
September 10, 2021 13:53 - 42 minutes - 39.6 MBMark Jacobson and John Sherman reflect on 9/11, how public servants stepped up in the aftermath of the attacks and how 9/11 shaped their commitment to public service.
Leading the Way Toward a Better Government
August 27, 2021 07:26 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBBob McDonald and Andrew Marshall, discuss why good leaders are the key to a good government.
Ending “The Jerry Springer Show” in Congress
August 13, 2021 12:44 - 36 minutes - 34 MBReps. Derek Kilmer and William Timmons talk about their work on the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
Closing The Gap
July 30, 2021 12:38 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBMonica Hawkins and Charles D. Eldridge discuss housing vouchers and other forms of assistance to young people aging out of foster care.
Working The Federal Beat
July 16, 2021 06:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBWashington Post reporter Lisa Rein talks about her distinguished career covering the federal government.
Passing the Torch
July 02, 2021 11:54 - 58 minutes - 54 MBMary Gibert and Gail Lovelace, two former leaders at the General Services Administration, discuss ensuring smooth presidential transitions, getting more young people into public service and managing historic transfers of power.
Going to the Ends of the Earth
June 18, 2021 10:44 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBHosts Loren DeJonge Schulman and Rachel Klein-Kircher talk to Ian Brownlee, acting assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, about the State Department’s recent efforts to rescue more than 100,000 Americans stranded abroad at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brownlee shares stories from the front lines of this unprecedented multi-agency campaign, discussing the challenges it posed across government, the lessons it provides for future rescue operations and the bureau of ...
Going to the Ends of the Earth
June 18, 2021 10:44 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBIan Brownlee, acting assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, talks about the State Department’s recent efforts to rescue more than 100,000 Americans stranded abroad at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Conversation with Democracy’s Caretakers
June 04, 2021 10:46 - 1 hour - 56.2 MBDr. Fiona Hill, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, and former Ambassadors to Ukraine William B. Taylor and Marie Yovanovitch discuss why young people should go into public service,
Battling COVID-19 Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health
May 21, 2021 08:00 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBDrs. Gary Gibbons and Eliseo Pérez-Stable from the NIH talk about their groundbreaking efforts to tackle COVID-19 health disparities.
Per Aspera Ad Astra
May 07, 2021 10:24 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBLoren DeJonge Schulman and Rachel Klein-Kircher talk with three NASA leaders about how the agency thrived in the midst of unprecedented challenges over the last year.
Profiles in Public Service Trailer
May 01, 2021 15:27 - 7 minutes - 7.14 MBProfiles in Public Service tells the compelling stories about the unsung public servant leaders who have driven government’s most important accomplishments.