Government Works Weekly #30
Jobs, Events, and No Time to Shutdown
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.
The last issue saw a relative surge in interest in this Substack. There are now 150+ subscribers here and 1,500+ on the sister LinkedIn page. Thanks and welcome!
A word of warning for the new folks, the weekly in the title of this newsletter is a bit aspirational. I do this when I can, which lately has been about twice a month when family and work responsibilities allow. And since the weekly isn’t a guarantee, I choose to keep this free. So please share with friends or colleagues if you know anyone that would benefit.
APPLY YOURSELF – jobs, internships, and other ways to get involved
EXECUTIVE LEVEL
Director, Operations & Planning, What Works Cities (and more), Results for America [Flexible / D.C. preferred]
Executive Director, California (and more), Common Cause [California]
Deputy Political Director (and more), Indivisible [Remote]
Senior Strategy Officer, Global Policy & Advocacy Office of the President (and more), Gates Foundation [Seattle]
Sr. Director of Finance & Strategy, Unite America [Denver / hybrid]
Global Director, People and Culture, Centre for Public Impact [UK or Europe preference / deadline 21 Mar.]
Vice President of Marketing, Grow Progress [Remote]
Executive Director, MoveOn [Remote]
Vice President, Families & Communities, Packard Foundation [Hybrid CA]
INTERNATIONAL+ORGS
Program Analyst (and more), World Bank [D.C. / 14 Mar.]
Various Roles, UNDP [Global]
Executive Assistant to the Co-CEOs (and more), Simon Institute for Longterm Governance [Geneva]
Senior Project Manager, The Natural Capital Project [Stanford]
Transparency and Integrity Sector Lead Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank [D.C. / deadline 13 Mar.]
Multiple Roles, International IDEA [Lesotho]
Organisational Development Expert, AHEAD Africa project, Democracy Reporting International [deadline 23 Mar.]
EU SEE (EU System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society) Researcher, CIVICUS [deadline 13 Mar.]
Project and Research Coordinator, Democracy Reporting International [Lebanon]
Project Manager, ALDA – The European Association for Local Democracy [Strasbourg / Brussels / Vicenza]
Senior policy and campaign lead on defending UK democracy, Spotlight on Corruption [Hybrid London / deadline 16 Mar.]
Communications / Events Officer (and more), Forum on Information and Democracy [Paris-based / contract]
DIGITAL+TECH+DESIGN
Media Engagement Specialist (and more), Center for Security and Emerging Technology [Georgetown University / deadline 17 Mar.]
Senior AI Policy Associate, J-PAL Global [Cambridge, MA]
Assistant Director, Model Procurement Code Reform, Partners for Public Good [Remote U.S.]
Senior Campaign Director, Fight for the Future [Remote]
Sr. Innovation Specialist, Library of Congress [Remote / deadline 13 Mar.]
Technology Accountability Advocate, Public Citizen [D.C.]
Technical Writer, Nava [Remote]
Senior Full Stack Engineer (and more), Propel [Brooklyn or Remote]
Multiple Positions, New Jersey State Office of Innovation [NJ]
POLICY+RESEARCH
Associate Director, U.S. Politics Research (and more), Pew Research Center [D.C.]
Research Director, Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists [Remote / D.C.]
Director of Policy and Program Manager, State Futures [Remote]
Senior Defense Policy Analyst, Project on Government Oversight [Remote]
Infrastructure Analyst, Energy and Permitting (and more), Arnold Ventures [D.C.]
Project Manager, Health Justice, FrameWorks [D.C. / remote]
Program Manager of Public Finance, Volker Alliance [New York City Hybrid]
Two roles for Director, Policy Communications (and more), Bipartisan Policy Center [D.C.]
Senior Policy Analyst (Children and Families), National Governors Association [D.C.]
Senior Policy Analyst, State Fiscal Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [D.C.]
Writer/Editor (Social Security), AARP [DC]
Policy Director, Vital City [NYC preferred / deadline 31 Mar.]
Research Project Manager, Resident Analyst Program (and more), Council of State Governments Justice Center [Remote or hybrid NY / deadline 13 Mar.]
Maryland Policy Manager, GGWash, Greater Greater Washington [Hybrid / deadline 23 Mar.]
Senior Associate, Evidence Project (and more), Pew Charitable Trusts [D.C.]
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Civic Match Program Director, Work for America [Remote]
Election Protection Manager, Virginia Civic Engagement Table [VA or D.C. / deadline 16 Mar.]
Director, Civic Engagement, The Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University [Hybrid / application review begins 18 Mar.]
Executive Director, Vot-ER [Remote]
Senior Director, 92NY Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact [NY]
Civic Media Fellowship, USC Annenberg Innovation Lab [deadline 28 Mar.]
ACADEMIA
Director of Institute of Politics (IOP) Initiatives, Harvard Kennedy School [MA]
Director of IOP Special Projects, Harvard Kennedy School [MA]
Director of AI and Technology Policy, Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator [TN]
Speaker Series Coordinator, Institute of Politics [University of Chicago]
Program Manager (and more), Karsh Institute of Democracy [University of Virginia]
Associate, Operations and People, Center for Effective Global Action [UC Berkeley]
Project Associate, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University [Hybrid / deadline 10 Apr.]
Postdoctoral Scholar, Possibility Lab, Goldman School of Public Policy [University of California Berkeley]
Staff Attorney or Senior Staff Attorney, State Democracy Research Initiative, University of Wisconsin-Madison [deadline 16 Mar.]
NEWS+MEDIA
Politics & Government Editor, Washington Post [D.C.]
Politics and Government Investigations Editor, Washington Post [D.C.]
Deputy White House Editor, Washington Post [D.C.]
Democracy Editor, Washington Post [D.C.]
Government Watchdog Reporter, Sacramento Bee [Northern California]
Government Reporter (Baltimore County), The Baltimore Sun [Baltimore, MD]
Director, Communications & Political Strategy, Crooked Media [D.C.]
DEMOCRACY
Program Manager – Advancing Deliberative Democracy in North America, Federation for Innovation in Democracy (FIDE) – North America [deadline 23 Mar.]
Program Associate, Democracy Program, Historian’s Project (and many more), Brennan Center [NY]
Director of Defend the 14th Campaigns (and more), Center for Popular Democracy [Remote]
Communications Officer, U.S. Democracy and Economy & Society, Hewlett Foundation [Menlo Park]
Program Associate, Digital Democracy Portfolio, Democracy Fund [D.C.]
Program Director, Democracy 2076 [Preference for LA]
Assistant Deputy to the Executive Director, Movement Voter Project [preference for Western MA]
Events Associate, Digital Strategy, Democracy Alliance [D.C. preferred]
Legal Analyst (and more), Democracy Forward [D.C.]
Counsel (Rule of Law), States United Democracy Center [Remote]
Senior Counsel (and more), American Oversight [Remote]
Senior Program Officer, Elections, Election Trust Initiative [Hybrid D.C.]
Managing Director, Democracy Security Project [D.C.]
INTERNSHIPS+FELLOWSHIPS+CLERKSHIPS
Research Intern - Summer 2025, States United Democracy Center [Remote]
Various 2025 Summer Internships, Results for America [Remote]
Summer 2025: Civic Engagement & Voter Protection Internship, DNC [D.C. / remote]
Communications Intern, State Innovation Exchange [rolling deadline]
Summer 2025 Internship - Communications, New America [D.C.]
Policy Internship, League of Women Voters [Remote / deadline 31 Mar.]
Henry A. Wallace Fellowship Program, Institute for Policy Studies [D.C. / deadline 31 Mar.]
Fall 2025 Junior Associates, Alliance of Democracies [Copenhagen / deadline 30 Mar.]
Communications & Events Traineeship, European Partnership for Democracy [deadline 30 Mar.]
Fellowships 2025/2026, re:constitution [Deadline 3 Apr.]
Blue Book Traineeship, European Commission [Deadline 17 Mar.]
2025 Fellowships, Humanity in Action [deadline 16 Mar.]
Government Affairs Fellow, Accountable.US [D.C. or remote]
Summer 2025 Oversight and Investigations Law Clerk, The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations [deadline 21 Mar.]
And oodles more opportunities in the last edition: Government Works Weekly #29.
UPCOMING EVENTS – webinars, conferences, and other human things
WEEK OF 10-14 MARCH
10 MAR: Leveraging the OGP to promote information integrity and media freedom [Open Government Partnership + Forum on Information and Democracy]
10 MAR: Master the art of survey design [Go Vocal]
10 MAR: Downsizing Medicaid: How Proposed Cuts Could Endanger Health Insurance for Low-Income Americans [Urban Institute]
10-12 MAR: Congressional City Conference 2025 [National League of Cities]
10-14 MAR: Civic Learning Week [iCivics]
11 MAR: Expanding Affordable Housing to Address Homelessness: Lessons from NYC and LA’s Master Leasing Programs [Joint Center for Housing Studies]
12 MAR: SDinGov Virtual 2025
12 MAR: What is the State For? [Boston Review]
12 MAR: NAPA Standing Panel on Technology Leadership: Digital Modernization for Government - Time for Action [National Academy of Public Administration]
12 MAR: Holding the Line: The Future of U.S. Anti-Corruption Law [GW Law Anti-Corruption & Compliance Association]
12 MAR: Democracy at Risk: Reactions to Voter Decline Globally [League of Women Voters]
12-13 MAR: Tax and Development Days 2025 [OECD]
13 MAR: How to Build Stronger Connections in the US Public Service [Apolitical]
13 MAR: Transition coaching for employees leaving federal service [Partnership for Public Service]
13 MAR: The Dangers of the Current Policy Baseline Gimmick [Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget]
13 MAR: Civic Learning Week National Forum [Hoover Institution]
13 MAR: The Policies Design Game - Craft Strategies While Making Sense
13 MAR: Info Session: Partnering with USDR to Expand Language Access in Public Benefits Through Generative AI [USDR]
14 MAR: Constitutional Crisis: What Is It and Are We in One? [American Academy of Arts and Sciences]
15 MAR: Europe GDC Forum 2025: How to Build a Global Coalition for Freedom [Global Democracy Coalition]
WEEK OF 17-21 MARCH
17 MAR: The Legal Landscape and Path Ahead for Nonprofits and Philanthropy [National Council of Nonprofits]
17 MAR: How We Can Block, Bridge, and Build Our Democratic Future Together [Horizons Project + Democracy & Belonging Forum]
17-20 MAR: Civil Society Week 2025: STRENGTHENING COHESION AND PARTICIPATION IN POLARISED SOCIETIES [European Economic and Social Committee]
18 MAR: Understanding the Impacts of Cash Transfers on Health Outcomes [J-PAL North America]
18 MAR: A Better Way Forward: a Conversation with Governor JB Pritzker [CAP]
18 MAR: Pink-Pilled: Women and the Far-Right–A Book Talk with Lois Shearing [GW Program on Extremism]
18 MAR: Advancing Civic Space and Media Freedom through ANTI-SLAPPs Legislation [OGP]
18 MAR: Learning Call: Reimagining Public Finance and Fiscal Ecosystems [TAI]
19 MAR: What Is The Role of Nonprofits in Strengthening Our Democracy? Exploring Transformational Advocacy [Chronicle of Philanthropy]
19 MAR: Unlocking Urban Climate Action: From Tinkering to Transformation [Centre for Public Impact]
19 MAR: Constitutional transformations: Women’s participation in constitution-making and state-building in times of conflict and transition [International IDEA]
19-20 MAR: Sunshine Fest
19-20 MAR: GDC Forum Americas 2025 [Global Democracy Coalition + Red de Innovación Local]
20 MAR: Improving lives through innovation in public services [OECD]
20 MAR: Rebooting Democracy in the Age of AI with Ed Bice of Meedan [The Burnes Center for Social Change]
20 MAR: How Communities Are Taking Control of Clean Energy to Maximize Benefits for All [Institute for Local Self-Reliance]
20 MAR: Updating the Maryland Scientific Methods Scale [Niskanen]
20-21 MAR: Symposium on Prison Research and Innovation: Lessons Learned and Future Directions [Urban Institute]
20&27 MAR: Connective (t)Issues: Stories of Digitality, Infrastructures, and Resistance [Data & Society]
21 MAR: History of Impoundment [AABPA]
WEEK OF 24-28 MARCH
25 MAR: Improving Household Financial Security and Upward Mobility: Insights for Effective Policy and Practice [Urban Institute]
25 MAR: Digital-era government skills masterclass [Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age]
25-27 MAR: Climate Democracy Lab Grenoble [Nets4Dem]
26 MAR: Do With: making the movement happen [The King’s Fund]
26 MAR: State AGs: Google and The Future of Antitrust Enforcement [Berkman Klein Center]
26 MAR: Co-Opting AI: Privacy [NYU Institute for Public Knowledge]
26 MAR: Can We Save American Democracy? [Ash Center]
26-27 MAR: 2025 Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum [OECD]
27 MAR: The Material of Identity: Americans, Bureaucracy, and the SSN [SNF Agora]
28 MAR: Leveraging the OGP to promote information integrity and media freedom [Open Government Partnership + Forum on Information and Democracy]
28 MAR: GDC Forum Africa 2025: Advancing Democratic Resilience at the Intersection of Human Rights and Environmental Justice [Global Democracy Coalition]
ICYMI
And finally, some catch up from last week. May be some recordings available for these events that looked pretty cool.
3 MAR: Corruption Crossroads: How the U.S. Retreat Affects Policy, Compliance and Accountability [OCCRP]
3 MAR: The University in a Time of Democratic Erosion [The Chicago Center On Democracy + University of Chicago Center for Effective Government]
4 MAR: New forms of citizen participation in global governance [LSE Dept. of IR]
6 MAR: 'The billionaire tax: a (modest) proposal for the 21st century' with Prof Gabriel Zucman [Oxford Martin School]
6 MAR: Reconciliation Rundown: Understanding the Basics of Budget Reconciliation [Congressional Progressive Caucus Center + Indivisible + the National Women’s Law Center]
6 MAR: From Public Sector to Purpose-Driven Tech: Navigating Your Next Move [All Tech Is Human]
6 MAR: Why Nothing Works: A Conversation with Marc J. Dunkelman & Secretary Gina Raimondo [Arnold Ventures]
EYES & EARS – reading, podcasts, and other good stuff
Ask: Please share any recommendations for government-related tours or museums in Brussels.
Going to Belgium for the first time this week. Is the Parlamentarium as cool as it looks? Back to the scheduled programming…
DOWNSTREAM OF DOGE
I would love to do a longer segment on DOGE in the coming weeks. For now, I just want to share some resources that may be useful for those so far affected by the draconian governmental cuts, which sooner or later will be all of us.
Civic Match by Work for America – “a nonpartisan program connecting federal workers and campaign staff with meaningful roles in state and local governments across the country”. Truly amazing.
Dear Civil Servant from If you can keep it – “The latest news, resources, and analysis of the Trump Administration's attacks on nonpartisan civil service”
Federal Employee Explainer Series from Partnership for Public Service – “a webinar series to answer your questions… about what it means to be a federal employee, and the role of the career workforce”
Civil Service Support Series, also from the Partnership – “a webinar series to support federal employees and leaders during times of change… will provide federal employees and leaders with practical strategies to navigate change, lead their teams and agencies through transition, and manage emotional response to uncertainty”
Civil Service Strong – a coalition website with a good page on Resources for Civil Servants
Other Substacks like Career Pivot and Democracy Notes and Public Sector Job Board have great resources for job hunters.
Also, Musk Watch and Don Moynihan’s Can We Still Govern?, which I previously plugged, and Zeteo’s “This Week in Democracy” series, all on Substack, are great ways to try to keep pace with the dizzying, dismaying action. In the more mainstream press, Politico has a good “West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government” newsletter. And the Washington Post remains indispensable for its government coverage, although who knows how long as they turn their focus to markets and freedom or whatever.
NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS
And remember, a couple points of clarification for those who like to claim mandates or landslides or that voters overwhelmingly called for dismantling the government.
“Trump Didn’t Campaign on Decimating the Federal Government” – “There were 20 planks in the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign platform. None of them involved gutting the federal budget and firing tens or hundreds of thousands of federal employees.” (Ed Kilgore, Intelligencer, 24 Feb. 2025)
“Election results don’t support Trump’s claims of a landslide and mandate” – “His margin of victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the national popular vote — 1.5 percentage points — is the smallest of any president who secured a popular-vote win since Richard M. Nixon in 1968. And though Trump won the popular vote, he did not secure a majority, coming just shy with 49.9 percent of the vote, according to certified state results compiled by the Associated Press.” (Justine McDaniel, Washington Post, 20 Jan. 2025)
“Trump's Inaugural Approval Rating Is Historically Low Again” – “At 47%, President Donald Trump's initial job approval rating for his second term is similar to the inaugural 45% reading during his first term, again placing him below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953. Trump remains the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings…” (Megan Brenan, Gallup, 29 Jan. 2025)
I imagine the DOGE-curious and NPR-skeptic venn diagram has a fair bit of overlap, but if you have folks in your life who are still persuadable, I found this Fresh Air interview from 26 Feb. with Elizabeth Linos to be a really useful and balanced way to explain the stakes of recent changes. Linos is an associate professor of public policy and management at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The consequences really are huge.
THERE IS A BETTER WAY
Bittersweet to think about how things could have gone had Democrats presented a more productive vision of government, but even more necessary that they do so now. Looking forward to reading the upcoming book from Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson on “Abundance”, and really enjoyed this preview in Klein’s latest column/podcast/video mashup (“There Is a Liberal Answer to the Trump-Musk Wrecking Ball”, New York Times, 9 Mar.):
“But if Democrats are to become the party of abundance, they have to confront their own role in creating scarcity. In the past few decades, Democrats took a wrong turn. They became the party that believes in government, that defends government, not the party that makes government work.
[...]
To unmake this machine will be painful. It’s also necessary. In the long run, the way to marginalize the most dangerous political movements is to prove the superiority of your own. If liberals do not want Americans to turn to the false promise of strongmen, they need to offer the fruits of effective government. They need to offer Americans a liberalism that builds.”