FEDtalk: Grand Challenges to Grand Changes with NAPA
On FEDtalk this week, host Natalia Castro had a discussion with the National Academy of Public Administration. Joining the show was NAPA President and CEO Terry Gerton as well as NAPA Fellows Edward DeSeve and Chris Mihm. Mr. DeSeve is also a Senior Fellow at the IBM Center for the Business of Government. Mr. Mihm also serves as Managing Director of the GAO Strategic Issues Team.
Starting off the conversation was a discussion with Terry Gerton on the 2020 Academy Fellows Class. This year, 45 new fellows joined the Academy, one third of them being professional academics including deans of large public administration schools. The Academy includes a wide range of fellows, with the oldest being 95 and the youngest 32 years old.
“As we look at our class I am really excited we are enriching our expertise in technology and AI, climate change and environment, in city management and international relations, in public health, which we’ve seen is a huge public administration issue,” Gerton explained.
Last year, NAPA unveiled their list of Grand Challenges as their pillars to address over the next decade. Themes of their challenges include topics such as protecting electoral integrity, reinvigorating the public service, fostering social equity, and building resilient communities. A main goal of the challenges is to ensure that governments at all levels improve their operations so that they can tackle problems in new ways and maintain the public’s trust.
On the show, Ed Deseve recommended the book The Resilience Dividend by Judith Rodin to better understand some of these issues.
The second half of the show focused on the Agile Government Center (AGC). The AGC is a collaboration between NAPA and the IBM Center for the Business of Government. The center presents a comprehensive approach analyzing what works in government at all levels.
The AGC analyzes agile government principles and applies them to case studies, such as the World Bank. A few principles include, according to DeSeve, who works within the Center, “a very clear mission, metrics for success, cost, time and labor, external networks, speed, cross-functional teams to innovate.”
Guests also discussed the Election 2020 Project as the show looked to the future of governance and changes coming in 2021.The project includes over 60 recommendations for the next administration with themes that cut across all of the Grand Challenges. These include ideas like organizing early for success, social equity lending, a massive recovery plan, cross agency priority goals, and working closely with Congress. Ed DeSeve recommended The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis to understand why administrations must work together, especially in times of transition.
On the topic of transitions, NAPA and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are also focused on the congressional transition. Chris Mihm explained, “we at GAO have responsibilities under the Presidential Transition Act to be able to brief any presidential transition team…equally important is the congressional transition.”
NAPA is hosting a Virtual Fall Meeting where panelists will speak to the public about important issues related to public administration. Learn more and register for the Fall Meeting.
You can stream the show online anytime via the Federal News Network app and listen to the FEDtalk podcast on PodcastOne and Apple Podcasts.
FEDtalk is a live talk show produced by Shaw Bransford & Roth P.C., a federal employment law firm. Bringing you the insider’s perspective from leaders in the federal community since 1993.
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