Now to discussion of Public Service recruitment and Career Opportunities. Will hear from Energy Deputy secretary david turk and urban Development Deputy secretary adrianne todman. They spoke at an event hosted by the partnership for Public Service in washington, d. C. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good morning. Please take your seats. The program is about to begin. Good morning, everyone. Im half of our president and ceo, max steiner, myself, and all of us of the partnership let me welcome you to todays event. My name is James Christian blockwood and an executive vice president. The partnership for b Public Service. First, let me start just by saying thank you to all of the Public Servants that we have here in the room, and the more than 500 we have joining us online. As a former Civil Servant myself i know what it means to serve firsthand. Im delighted each of you could join us for this culminating event of Public Service recognition week 2023. Fe this years event will feature an Exciting Panel Discussion on how federal agencies are bringing more young people into government, and the experiences of emerging professionals in the federal workforce. For morean than two decades inspiringnt the next generationo serve has been central to our mission here at thehe partnersh. Have grown larger and more complex, unfortunately public trust in our government, the only institution in my view which has the mandate, authority and resources to tackle those challenges, has frayed. Regaining this trust requires more from our government. But it will not be able to solve problems and meet the needs of the public without a strong civil service. And unfortunately unfortunately our government has a growing talent deficit. Just 7 of federal employees are underage of 30 compared with 20 in the broader labor market. And this age group also saw declining scores in our 2022, best places to work in federal government rankings which measure how Public Servants view their jobs and workplaces. Still we know from our work at the partnership that government is full of rich and rewarding opportunities for young people. Now, this is a part of my remarks where i wanted to share why i reflected in government and reminded of elements to make remarks, to be brief, to be inspirational and to be funny so i thought what i could do and maybe borrow some material from my children. But they get most of their joke from a book titled best kids jokes ever, theyre also seven, five, three. So im not going do that. And then i thought i would say, the reason i joined was pay. I would pause for dramatic effect and wait for the room to laugh and i thought about it and i want to start with pay actually. Thats one of the reasons i joined federal service. Its not to become wealthy nor do i think that any Public Servant should become wealthy off their service. Its a point i wanted to make, you can have a respectible career and one can provide for themselves and over time for their family through federal service. The other point that drew me to Public Service were my parents. I was fortunate, i had a father that served in the u. S. Military and continues to serve as Civil Servant government right now and i have a mother who taught me what it was like to take pride in serving others and importantly, serving your community. So at a very early age i was introduced to the consent of service and this drew me to wanting to join our government. The third reason was, i didnt know what i wanted to do, but i knew i wanted to do something meaningful and have an impact and you can do that through federal service. For my first day at the department of defense, to my last day in Government Service at the Government Accountability office, and every day in between, i truly believe i was able to have an impact on the people around me and the american public. And all along that time, i was also able to be able to see and experience the world like no one can except in federal service. So, if thats not enough, i was going to add that i was able to meet one of the brightest, smartest, most talented, most Beautiful People that i know on this earth, my wife, because of federal service. And if my personal appeal wasnt enough, let me say, this week, we honored some of our emerging leaders finalists in our 2023 service to america medals program. Individuals in a category that are 35 and under and have made incredible contributions to our country. So there was a team that helped the way for release of american prisoners wrongfully detained in russia and venezuela. An individual who helped to save the u. S. Apple industry millions by showing farmers how to use natural predators with damage against crops and a center updating military equipment that hadnt been done since the 1908s and another individual launching a Campaign Working with airlines and airports to prosecute those committing human trafficking. Stories of those only scratch the service what a career in government can offer. At the partnership we try to promote these opportunities in a number of ways. Through go government, a digital onestop shop for people interested in applying for federal employment. Through our call to serve network, a community of about 700 colleges and universities working to recruit the next generation of Public Servants. And through our new federal advisor certificate program, which helps Higher Education professionals gain expertise in the federal hiring process and many other ways that we try to do that at the partnership. Now to the more informative and important part of our discussion today. Im delighted to be joined by two leaders at the forefront of bringing more people into government. Agent todman in department of housing and urban development. David turke, deputy secretary at the department of energy. Theyre joined by Melissa Sullivan and andrea jones at the hud lab navigating early Career Opportunities in government and how their agencies and leaders have supported their growth. Finally grateful to introduce our moderator, an opinion columnist at the Washington Post and many thanks for her for guiding todays conversation and supporting our efforts to build and celebrate a robust Public Service. While i can end my remarks here, let me just say one more time to the Public Servants in the room thank you for your service and for those who are going to be inspired by our panel. Let me remind you theres no more noble, respectful or honor, career endeavor you can take than federal service. Thank you, and over to you. [applause] thanks so much for that kind introduction. Im delighted to be here. This is an issue near and dear to my heart. I write a lot about the economy, but also about the institutions about the democracy and minor trust, and how do we rebuild that trust and its true for the media, but also for the institutions of government. Im glad to be with the esteemed panel to talk how we rebuild a lot of these institutions through accumulating more of the most valuable resource there is. People. In particular, how we attract or how agencies can do more to attract younger talent into those pipelines. I was thinking we might start just by having each of you talk a little about your entry point into Public Service. How did you come to this job . Were you in the private sector . Have you always been in the Public Sector . Are there things that you know now about Public Service that you wish you had known then . Why dont you start . Well, good morning, everyone. And again, thank you for moderating and thank you to the partnership for the invitation and pulling this together. So prior to this job, i was at the National Association of housing and development officials, which was a National Nonprofit organization built around helping housers and Community Developers build stronger cities and counties and states. But prior to that, i had decades of Public Service opportunities. I first came to washington d. C. As a junior in high school. And fell in love with the landscape here. Its in a Great Program called close up if some of you were familiar with that and i had an opportunity to intern on the hill so my first entry into government was a good oldfashioned internship up on capitol hill and led to my first tour of hud in the 90s and the Housing Authority and now im here. So its been quite the journey. In terms of what would i do differentlily or something i would tell my quiet younger self. I always for this moment, i decided to do something brave and look at my High School Yearbook because we think we remember ourselves when we were young. Until youre faced with the bold, honest truth of things that you were when you were 18 and 19, 17, and so this is only for the brave and you should do this with much caution, but apparently i was going to be a lawyer and, but my one quote in my High School Yearbook was, anything is possible. I decided at that point things would happen and i will learn from it and take opportunities where they come, but i also knew, even then that Public Service was something that i wanted to do. I studied government in college, and back here to washington d. C. And enjoyed my journey. So tough to top that, really, really, cool, adrianne. And a phenomenal colleague. Adrianne is part of a deputy group all over. Thanks, always great for doing this and thanks for the partnership as well for all the work you do day in and day out. So, i grew up in a small town in the midwest. My parents are both teachers and educators and so it was very public spirit, public oriented household as i suspect we get a lot of values from our parents in particular close family Members Around us. I had a chance to come to d. C. In college as an intern and i think a lot of people kind of get their first opportunities, experiences, working at the National Oceanic and atmospheric administration, noaa. I was always interested in Climate Change and issues and more generally, it was an eyeopener especially from a kid who grew up in a small town. We didnt have all sorts of fancy things at my high school or other kind of programs like that. And the thing i was impressed with was the caliber of the people that i was working with. But truly the passion and the commitment so i was working for the national sanctuaies program, people who incredibly interesting people and incredibly passionate making sure were protecting in that instance, our marine resources, and assets in the communities that depended on that. And it was just really cool and interesting. And it goes to our opening speaker, and thank you, very, very helpful. One thing you said there, weve got problems, weve got challenges in society and katherine, you write about this halt time and the government, democracy, if you want to put it that way, this is our mechanism for stepping up and dealing with these challenges, and if its not going to be the u. S. Government and people in the u. S. Government, i dont think its going to get done. Not only on our national issues, but our international issues, ive devoted much of my career on Climate Change. If we as federal government, the people in the federal government dont lead, then its not going to get done and the world will be a much shall much different place for it. Its just inspiring and its cool and you know, we have to pay enough so that you can make a living and support your family as the president talks about the dignity of the job. But its really that bigger fulfillment of doing something beyond yourself and working with other incredibly talented folks and thats been my experience. What i would tell my earlier self is, like, dont get so stressed out. Dont get so worked up over things. Be open to opportunities and i think in particular, a job that may look really cool on paper, if youre working with its not a job worth taking. So the people you work with, i work for a phenomenal secretary, secretary granholm who is the same in private as you get in public, one of those kinds of people. People i work with at department of energy, incredibly passionate and incredibly Team Oriented and be really careful who you work for, work with and who works for you. Like that makes all the difference in the world. Hello, everyone, my name is andrea jones. Im with the department of housing and urban development. I am the hud synergy innovations founder, but to answer your question about the journey to Public Service, it actually started in new york. I was a city of new york employee for several years. And upon moving down here, i became a government contractor. And i worked for fema, for nsa, a number of different agencies, but through that i figured out what the real, the real opportunities in the government and so thats when i turned to hud and applied and say can i make something happen there . And then can i direct the contractors because i was on the other side direct them in a way we can make things happen so this allowed me to get the opportunity to do that. And would i say to my younger self . I would say you are enough. Sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves about, you know, how we show up and what we do, but sometimes you are enough and you need to step into your fullness so you have yourselves to give to Public Service. And i will add to that, passion. When youre showing up as yourself, and then also, keep your eyes open for different opportunities. It may be a little bit more work. It may be a lot of work, but those opportunities, once you take advantage of them, that goes with you for the rest of your career. And youve built upon that for your future self to do the Amazing Things that theyre going to do. Hi, everyone, im a press officer for the epa and ive had that role for four years. I came into federal service from the campaign side. Im born and raised miami, im first generation latino, im a queer woman and i found a place in government where i can be all of my identities, im also a Military Spouse and enjoyed Public Service. I came from the campaign side and it was a rather paid internships for one of the best senators i know, senator jack reed and i worked in the senate on Veterans Affair committee and two terms of amer Corps Service which led me back to service at epa. I definitely echo my colleagues sentiment be kind to yourself knowing youre enough. And my younger self, especially being first generation to be successful and i had a narrow version and tried to take everything, it builds character, but it would have been a lot smoother and easier if i would have leaned on mentors and those who come before me and learned from flair wisdom and mistakes rather than trying to take everything on myself. So id love to talk a little about what the obstacles are right now to recruiting younger talent and to what extent they might be different from the obstacles around recruiting mid career or more senior workers . So, why dont we start again with adrianne . You know, one of the things that im very proud of that were doing at hud is being very intentional in trying to get new talent and younger individuals interested in Public Service and particularly Public Service at our department. We recruited and landed about 40 interns last year. I told the team, weve got to up that number so we made a goal of 50 interns this year and now weve exceeded that goal and theres over 100 interns that actually will be joining us at hud. And im very happy thank you for that. [applause] and half of those interns are in partnership with the partnership and we also have a whole cadre of our president ial management fellows, so we really, really believe in leaning in and trying to encourage individuals to join us at hud. I think where theres probably room to improve, and you know, we talk about this often as deputies, is trying to make access into the federal government, something that feels a little bit seamless and more like private sector access. Can you say more about what you mean about that . Sure, in applying for a job in the federal government. Some would say its a very difficult thing to do. And i think that as deputies weve had honest conversations about ways to improve that, particularly folks who are more Digital Natives may not be used to the clunkier style of ways that we gain talent in the federal government. But as the good news is that the mighty deputies and our president s Management Council are working to try to find ways to improve that with the leadership over at opm and at omb. I also think that to the point you made earlier, encouraging folks to have trust in government and they will actually be able to make a difference. Im so happy that theyre here, but also some of our younger talent at hud are making a difference and theyre models of