Government Works Weekly #78

Jobs, Events, and a Biennial Review

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.

If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing with friends or colleagues who might also benefit.

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Scroll down all the way for 29 upcoming events and 111 jobs and opportunities to help government work…

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EYES & EARS – readings, podcasts, and other good stuff

Government Works’ First Years of Life

Last week I was celebrating the fifth birthday of my first born, and this week I am celebrating my other baby, Government Works, which is turning two.

The first issue dropped on 17 May 2024, and through today there have been 80 newsletters—78 regular newsletters and a couple special editions—more or less living up to my “weekly-ish” promise.

So this week I decided to look back a bit and see what we covered over the last couple of years. Across the 80 editions, Government Works has shared:

• More than 5,000 JOBS, internships, fellowships, and funding opportunities

• More than 1,500 EVENTS, webinars, and conferences

• More than 750 ARTICLES, podcasts, videos, reports, and other content

I had fun going through archives to tally this all up. While my track record isn’t perfect, I was early to identify and tease of the implications of a lot of key stories (e.g., Zohran, Project 2025, DOGE, and OBBBA) and key themes (e.g., political violence, futurism, court politics, etc.) in state capacity.

And I have a lot more I would like to do in the next couple of years, so please sign up or pledge support to help make this free resource more sustainable.

EVENT HORIZON – webinars, conferences, and other human things

Upcoming Events: 18-24 MAY 2026

• 18-22 MAY: Open Gov Week [Open Government Partnership]

• 18-19 MAY: 4th National Summit on Civic Education [Jack Miller Center]

• 18-21 MAY: Philea Forum 2026: Philanthropy for People and Planet [Philanthropy Europe Association]

• 18 MAY: Making Transparency Meaningful. A Civil Society Consultation on Proactive Disclosure [Open Government Partnership]

• 18 MAY: The Human Cost of U.S. Aid Cuts [Oxfam]

• 18 MAY: Bold Policy Ideas from the University of California Faculty [UCDC]

• 19 MAY: GDC Europe Forum 2026 [Global Democracy Coalition]

• 19 MAY: Open Government in the Age of AI: What’s Next? [OGP]

• 19 MAY: Democratic Backsliding and Resilience: South Korea’s December 3 Martial Law Crisis [Ash Center]

• 19 MAY: 2026 CAP IDEAS Conference [Center for American Progress]

• 19 MAY: Neuroscience of Democracy Symposium [Picower Institute + Freedom Together Foundation]

• 19 MAY: The Future of Economic Support: Cash, Credits, and Family Prosperity [Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality]

• 19-20 MAY: Global Democracy Conference 2026: Confronting Public Support for Anti-Democratic Leaders [Kellogg Institute For International Studies]

• 20 MAY: Crafting AI Use Policies [InnovateUS]

• 20 MAY: AI for Democracy, or Democracy for AI? [Mozilla Foundation]

• 20 MAY: Making the Importance of Federal Research Funding Relevant to Policymakers

• 20 MAY: Freedom House 2026 Annual Awards

• 20 MAY: Failure to Warn? A Look at Recent State and Federal Action on Pesticide Labeling [National Agricultural Law Center]

• 20 MAY: How Student Podcasting Shapes Civic Storytelling [The Democracy Group]

• 20 MAY: A Nation at Work: Building a Stronger, Future-Ready Workforce [States for the Future]

• 20-22 MAY: Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency [ACF]

• 21 MAY: Advancing Trust and Human Agency in AI-Era Governance [National Academy of Public Administration]

• 21 MAY: Lessons from Abroad for Today’s Challenges to U.S. Democracy [Election Reformers Network]

• 21 MAY: Engaging Young Voters in the 2026 Midterm Elections [CIRCLE – Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement]

• 21 MAY: Hiring for UX Roles and Building Agency UX Practices [InnovateUS]

• 21 MAY: Rising Narratives for Radical Futures: Talking Across Difference for a Multiracial Democracy [Rad Comms]

• 21-22 MAY: Outcomes-Based Contracts Workshop [Vienna University of Economics and Business]

• 21-24 MAY: Model Constitutional Convention [WashU Law]

• 22 MAY: How State and Local Governments Can Strengthen State Capacity Using AI and Data Science [Data for Good Roundtable]

APPLY YOURSELF – jobs, internships, and other ways to get involved

POLICY + PROGRAM

• Senior Political Manager and More, Indivisible Project [Remote]

• Vice President, Democracy and Vice President, Higher Education and Workforce Policy and More, Center for American Progress [D.C.]

• Legal Director, Civil Rights and Special Projects and More, Democracy Forward [D.C.]

• Democracy Team Manager and More, Public Citizen [D.C.]

• Legislative and Policy Counsel and Legal and Policy Specialist, Demand Justice

• Multiple Roles, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

• Attorney, ChangeLab Solutions [Sacramento / Los Angeles / Georgia]

• Deputy Director of Voter ID Assistance, VoteRiders

• Senior Policy Advisor, Social Policy and Senior Policy Advisor, Electricity, Third Way

• Analyst and Program Association, Analyst Institute [Remote]

• Policy Associate, Atlas Public Policy [D.C.]

• Analyst, Health Care, Arnold Ventures [D.C.]

• Senior Program Officer, Movement Infrastructure & Explorations, Freedom Together Foundation [NYC]

• Deputy Director, Election Protection Hub and More, Public Rights Project [Remote]

• Policy Analyst, Knight-Georgetown Institute [deadline 1 June]

• Senior Research Assistant (Domestic Team), Center for Economic and Policy Research [D.C.]

• Multiple Roles, Friends Committee on National Legislation

• Director, Climate and Energy, Data Centers, Ceres

• Assistant Director/Director of Education Policy, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

• Policy Analyst, Work and Family, Niskanen Center [deadline 31 May]

• Director of Immigration, Niskanen Center [deadline 11 June]

• Deputy Director for the Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners, Freedom House

• Vice President of Public Policy, Council for Opportunity in Education

STATE + LOCAL

• Associate Director, State Legislative Affairs, Democracy Forward [D.C.]

• Multiple Roles, National Governors Association [D.C.]

• Executive Director, Fuse Washington [Seattle / via Grossman Solutions]

• Multiple Roles, America Votes [FL / MI / MN/ NV / NC / OH]

• Deputy Commissioner and Organizing Advisor and More, NYC Mayor’s Office

• Voter Access Associate and More, The Wisco Project [Wisconsin]

• Michigan State Lead, Climate Cabinet [Remote]

• Smart Cities Infrastructure Project Manager, City of Philadelphia [PA]

• Senior Editor, California and More, ProPublica

• Director of Education, K-12, Gates Foundation [Seattle]

• Policy Analyst, Climate Center [Sacramento, CA]

• Manager, Career Pathways and Director, Career Pathways, Arnold Ventures [D.C.]

• Director, Collaborative Governance Academy, re:power [deadline 15 May]

• Senior Manager, State Government Relations, Share Our Strength [D.C.]

COMMS + OPS

• Lead Media Relations Manager, Popular Democracy [D.C.]

• Senior Manager (Communications) and Project Assistant (Communications), States United Democracy Center [Remote]

• Deputy Communications Director, Democracy Communications Collaborative [Remote]

• Manager, Communications and Design, re:power [deadline 25 May]

• Social Media Producer and More, More Perfect Union [Remote]

• Director of Communications, Demand Justice

• Senior Reporter and More, GovExec

• Digital Communications DigiDem, 2026 Cycle, Zinc Collective [Various]

• Communications Manager, One for the World [Remote / Mexico City]

• Social Media Content Specialist, Third Way

• Director, Strategic Communications Network, Global Fund for a New Economy

• Senior Communications Officer, Public Law Project

• Digital Communications Manager and Senior Human Resource Manager, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights [Oakland, CA]

• Workforce Analyst, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer [D.C. / deadline 22 May]

• Senior Director of People and Culture, Democracy Forward [D.C.]

• Deputy Director of People and Operations, Fair Budget Coalition [Hybrid / D.C.]

• Events & Outreach Coordinator, Searchlight Institute [D.C.]

• Director of Digital Fundraising Strategy, Future Now [deadline 5 June / via Grossman Solutions]

• Director of Human Resources, Kettering Foundation [via Maneva Group]

• Operations Associate, DIV Fund

• Senior Director, Individual Giving (Major Gifts) and Director of People & Culture, Voting Rights Lab

ACADEMIA

• Fall 2026 Tech & Public Policy Visiting Fellows, McCourt School of Public Policy [Georgetown / deadline 1 June]

• Postdoctoral Associate, Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work [MIT / deadline 15 June]

• Policy Impact Specialist, Rooney Democracy Institute [U of Notre Dame]

• Communications Manager for Media & Digital Strategy, Humphrey School of Public Affairs [priority deadline 25 May]

• Director or Senior Director for Legislative Policy, University of Oregon [Eugene / Portland]

• Centers for Civic Life and Faculty Fellows, James Madison Center for Civic Engagement [James Madison University]

• Senior Research Assistant, Risk Resilience Research Lab [UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy]

• Communications Manager, Doerr School of Sustainability [Stanford]

• Research and Engagement Manager, LSE Cities & School of Public Policy [London]

• Policy Officer, Bloomberg LSE Mayoral Strategic Authorities Programme, LSE School of Public Policy

TECH + DATA + DESIGN

• Senior Data and Technology Manager, Popular Democracy [Remote]

• Senior UX Designer and More, ActBlue [Remote]

• Senior Full Stack Engineer, California Office of Data and Innovation

• Senior User Experience Researcher (CODE PA), Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience [Pennsylvania / deadline 18 May]

• Machine Learning Engineer, Strategic Public Education National Data (SPEND) Initiative [Remote]

• Data Analyst, Research Team and More, Vote Rev Action Fund

• Lead Enterprise Architect, Open Society [Mexico City / Johannesburg]

• Data Consultant (IATI and Transparency Portal), UN Women [Remote / deadline 20 May]

• Data Analyst, More in Common UK [London]

INTERNATIONAL

• Associate Director, UN Advocacy, International Rescue Committee [New York City]

• Director of Evidence and Impact Analytics, DIV Fund

• Head of Global and Strategic Intelligence, Mozilla Foundation [Remote / Canada; Germany; UK; US]

• LAR Regional Operations Manager, The Nature Conservancy [Belize, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, or Brazil]

• Program Manager (Refugees & Migration), Open Society [Mexico City / Bogota]

• Associate Director, Global Communications, Open Society [London]

• Arctic Policy Lead, Woodwell Climate Research Center

• Global Development Industry Correspondent, Devex [London / D.C.]

• Strategic Communications Lead, Centre for Long-Term Resilience [Hybrid London / deadline 21 May]

• Policy Manager, Evidence to Policy Labs, J-PAL South Asia [India]

• Associate Director of Policy, J-PAL Africa [Ghana / Kenya]

• Democracy Network Director, The Politics Project [London]

• Senior Program Officer, Global Policy and Advocacy (9 Month LTE), Gates Foundation [Beijing, China]

• Managing Director, International Engagement (America Is All In), Climate Power [Remote]

• Open Source Intelligence Reporter, New York Times [Multiple Countries in Europe]

• Head of Policy and Research, Future Governance Forum [London / deadline 3 June]

INTERNSHIPS + FELLOWSHIPS

• Research Intern, CIVICUS [deadline 18 May]

• Good Life Residents Program (Housing Policy), Roosevelt Institute [deadline 1 June]

• Campaign Communications Internship and Internship Opportunity: Supporting Human Rights Defenders Affected by International Development Projects, The International Accountability Project

• Fall 2026 State School Finance Fellowship, EdFund [deadline 22 June]

• Online Betting Policy Fellow, Arnold Ventures [Houston, D.C., or New York]

• Summer Internship 2026, CGD Europe, Center for Global Development [London]

• Public Policy Fellowship, Institute for Youth in Public Policy [deadline 29 May]

CONSULTANCIES + OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

• Consultancy: Senior Advisory for the design of CIVICUS’ Digital & Civic Space Strategy, CIVICUS [deadline 31 May]

• Communications Consultant: Online Campaign (Rule of Law as a Driver of Peace and Sustainable Development), International Development Law Organization [deadline 25 May]

• Call for Tenders: Study on CSO Sustainability and Alternative Revenue Models, European Partnership for Democracy [deadline 14 June]

• Terms Of Reference: Business Intelligence Tool, WINGS [deadline 31 May]

• Advisory Board Members x2, Common Wealth [deadline 1 June]

Lots more jobs in the last newsletter: Government Works Weekly #77. And be sure to follow the Government Works LinkedIn Page.