Government Works Weekly #28
Jobs, Events, and a New Administration
Welcome to your weekly roundup of opportunities, events, and information about how government works—and how government can work better—to improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities.
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APPLY YOURSELF – jobs, internships, funding, and other ways to get involved
Director, Tax Policy and Analysis (and more), Roosevelt Institute [Remote or Hybrid / deadline 23 Feb.]
Deputy Director, Center for Funding America’s Future (and more), Progressive Policy Institute [Hybrid D.C.]
Vice President, Development (and more), Center for American Progress [Hybrid D.C.]
Vice President of Policy (and many more), End Citizens United [D.C.]
Vice President, Communications (and more), NextGen [D.C. / Remote]
Associate Director, Campaigns (and more), The Hub Project [D.C.]
Head of Analyst Team, Change Research [Remote]
Policy Analyst (and more), Groundwork Collaborative [Hybrid D.C.]
Jobs to strengthen democratic and governance ecosystems
Executive Director, Discovering Justice [Boston]
Deputy Director Of Development, A Healthier Democracy [Remote]
Community & Civic Engagement Operations Director (and more), League of Conservation Voters [Flexible]
Program Associate, Elections and Government Program (and more), Brennan Center for Justice [New York]
Director, Strategic Communications & Media Relations (and more), American Oversight [Remote]
Civil Rights Hub Director (and more), Public Rights Project [Remote]
Senior Program Officer for Pathways and Data Communications, Gates Foundation [Seattle or D.C. / deadline 14 Feb.]
Associate I, Research Quality and Support, Strategy (and more), Pew Charitable Trusts [D.C.]
Program Manager, Democracy Initiative, University of Notre Dame [Indiana / deadline 16 Feb.]
Program Director, Democracy, Heinrich Böll Foundation [Hybrid D.C. / deadline 7 Mar.]
Operations Coordinator, Families and Communities (and more), Packard Foundation [Los Altos, CA]
Senior Strategist II - Data & Analytics (and more), American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees [D.C.]
Deputy Program Director (and more), Human Rights Watch [Multiple locations considered]
Deputy Assistant Director, Knowledge Services Group (and more), Congressional Research Service [Hybrid D.C. / deadline 21 Feb.]
Executive Director of PERIL (Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab), American University [D.C.]
Jobs with a digital focus, technology can be a force for the public good
Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Digital Response [Remote]
Director, Democracy + Tech Initiative, Digital Forensic Research Lab, Atlantic Council [D.C.]
Project Liaison, Princeton AI Dialogues, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs [D.C.]
Marketing Coordinator (and more), Civitech [Austin or Remote]
Senior Project Manager (and more), Nava [Remote]
Principal AI Solutions Architect, Code for America [SF or remote]
Senior Program Officer, Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation [Seattle]
Jobs with a state and local focus, D.C. is not the center of the universe
Rural Democracy Program Manager, Heartland Fund [Remote]
Social Scientist, The Lab @ DC [deadline 18 Feb.]
Associate Product Manager, Results Network (and more), Results for America [Flexible U.S.]
Senior Associate, California State Policy (and more), PolicyLink [Oakland or Remote CA]
Various Roles, Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University [Multiple locations]
Political Director, For the Many [Hudson Valley]
Executive Director, New Jersey Civic Information Consortium [Hybrid / NJ]
Program Officer, American Cities, Kresge Foundation [Detroit]
Finance and Compliance Manager, Contest Every Race (and more), Movement Labs [Remote]
State Policy Project Manager (and more), U.S. Green Building Council [Remote]
Economic policy jobs, money matters
Program Manager, Purpose Trust Ownership Network [Remote / deadline 28 Feb.]
Research Director, Permit Power [Remote / U.S.]
Campaigns Communications Director (and more), Economic Security Project [Remote]
Senior Policy Analyst, Economic Policy Program (and more), Bipartisan Policy Center [D.C.]
Section Research Manager - Government, Finance and Taxation, Congressional Research Service [deadline 28 Feb.]
Research Assistant, Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (and more), Brookings Institution [Hybrid D.C.]
European opportunities, if that is your cup of tea
Director of the V-Dem Institute, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg [Sweden / deadline 27 Mar.]
Research Assistant, European Partnership for Democracy [Belgium / deadline 17 Feb.]
Programme and Grants Officer (and more), Network of European Foundations [Brussels / deadline 17 Feb.]
Impact and Learning Manager, Civitates, European Democracy Fund [Brussels / EU / deadline 28 Feb.]
Policy Analyst, Social Europe and Wellbeing Programme, European Policy Centre [deadline 14 Feb.]
Associate Communications, Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School [Part-time / Berlin]
Communications and Influencer Relations Manager, Global Citizens' Assembly for People and Planet, Iswe [Remote / U.K. / deadline 26 Feb.]
Senior Specialist, Business Development, Basel Institute on Governance [Switzerland / deadline 6 Mar.]
Project Manager, Sortition Foundation [UK or remote / deadline 24 Feb.]
Non-job opportunities (consultancies, internships, fellowships, calls for papers/proposals, trainings, board seats, etc.)
Recruitment and Marketing Consultant, Institute for Citizens & Scholars [Remote]
Communications Consultant, CIVICUS [Remote / deadline 15 Feb.]
Request for Quotations: International Expert on Digital Policy and Advocacy to Strengthen the Enabling Digital Environment for Civil Society, Democracy Reporting International [Remote / deadline 20 Feb.]
2025 Summer Internships, Results for America [Various / remote]
Energy and Environmental Economics Predoctoral Fellow (Junior/Assistant Specialist), UC Berkeley Opportunity Lab, Center for Effective Global Action [first review 18 Feb.]
Research-to-Policy Fellow, Center for an Informed Public, University of Washington [Open until filled / priority deadline 9 Feb.]
Requests for Proposals: “Strengthening Evidence” and “Building Evidence”, Arnold Ventures [deadline for letters of interest 14 Mar.]
Call for Papers: Presidential Debates Across the Americas: Analyzing Candidate Performance in Hybrid Media Settings, International Journal of Communication [deadline 30 Apr.]
Call for Papers, EGPA at 50: Prospects for Public Administration across Europe, European Group for Public Administration [deadline 28 Mar.]
Call for Proposals: Demo Lab, Code for America Summit [deadline 18 Feb.]
Training Program State Oversight Academy (SOA), Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy [Online]
New Board Member Interest Form, Healthy Democracy [Online]
SNF Agora Artist in Residence, Johns Hopkins University [deadline 5 Mar.]
First time here? There are loads more opportunities in the last edition of the newsletter that are still open: Government Works Weekly #27. Subscribe to get this kind of stuff straight to the inbox.
UPCOMING EVENTS – webinars, conferences, and other human things
Week of 10-14 Feb.
11 FEB: European Democracy Support Annual Review Launch 2024 [European Democracy Hub]
11 FEB: Panel Debate - From fighting corruption to promoting integrity: Towards a more positive and proactive approach [OECD]
11 FEB: Deliberative Integrity: Risks and Responses in Mini-Public Governance [Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra]
11 FEB: Evidence + Evaluation RFP [Arnold Ventures]
12 FEB: Platformland: A Book Talk with Richard Pope [Digital Service Network]
12 FEB: Cultivating Youth Civic Engagement at the U.S. 250th and Beyond [PACE + Made By Us]
12 FEB: Assessing the risks and costs of the rising US federal debt [Brookings]
12 FEB: Fourth Wave Seminar #1: Why the Fourth Wave of Open Data Matters [Open Data Policy Lab]
13 FEB: New Frontiers for Social Policy: Investing in the Future [OECD High-Level Policy Forum]
13 FEB: The outlook for retirement security in a new Congress [Brookings]
13 FEB: Connecting the Unconnected: Facebook Access and Female Political Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa [Centre for Economic Policy Research]
13 FEB: Exposing NAR: A Conversation on Strategies to Counter this Influential, Anti-democratic Movement [Political Research Associates]
Week of 17-21 Feb.
18 FEB: AI for Digital Democracy: How to navigate opportunities and threats [People Powered]
18 FEB: The future of human rights measurement and tracking [Geneva Human Rights Platform]
19 FEB: First 100 Days of Trump: Tariffs, Taxes and the Care Economy [Main Street Alliance]
20 FEB: At the crossroads? German constitutional resilience after the Bundestag elections 2025 [Democracy Reporting International]
20 FEB: Defending Against Disinformation: A Trusted Messenger Workshop for Rural Communities [PEN America]
20 FEB: Continued Discussion: Human-Centered Change Management [Public Policy Lab]
21 FEB: The Village for Civic Action [Democratic Odyssey]
EYES & EARS – reading, podcasts, videos, and other good stuff
The new U.S. presidential administration is off to a whizz-bang start. It seems that (some of) the press corps and public have finally shed the complacent stupor of the last months. Perhaps folks from the co-equal branches of government will decide to wake up and get involved too. While the situation seems dire for those of us who care about a healthy and functioning government that works to improve the lives of people, it helps to take a deep breath and think clearly.
For those who haven’t been paying attention, the threats to dismantle government and hand over power from the people as a whole to some very specific interests have been telegraphed for some time. One of the clearest thinkers on these matters is Don Moynihan, a Professor of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and author of the excellent Can We Still Govern? Substack.
Some useful reading from his recent archives:1
“Compelling Mass Civil Servant Resignations Will Create Chaos: Twitter is not a model for government reform” (29 Jan.)
“How Will Trump's Executive Orders Change Government?: What the New Orders Mean for a New Order” (21 Jan.)
“DOGE: Dangerous Oligarchs Grab Everything: What Marc Andreessen revealed about the tech-industrial complex” (19 Jan.)
“Jan. 6 and the path not taken: At key moments, Republicans were unwilling to defend democracy” (6 Jan.)
“Some basic math about cutting government: Putting the wild Muskawamy numbers in perspective” (16 Nov.)
“What Happens Next?: The administrative state under a second Trump term” (7 Nov.)2
“Governing by Terror: You can't have an effective state under conditions of intimidation” (29 Oct.)
Or if you can’t bring yourself to read anything else these days, check out a podcast guest appearance from just before the election: “Donald Moynihan: Project 2025’s Threat to Democracy,” The Context by Kettering Foundation (29 Oct.)
These predictions hold up pretty well.