Paul Homan

Andrew Rasiej

Entrepreneur, political technology strategists, activist and founder of the Personal Democracy Forum, Andrew Rasiej has been a government innovator since 1999 consulting on new media for the White House and Congress.
Rasiej founded Personal Democracy Forum (PdF) in 2004—“the international cross-partisan conference series that…[Read more]

Alex Morse

Alex Morse loves his hometown. So much so that after he graduated from Brown University with a degree in Urban Studies, he returned and ran for Mayor. The first in his family to graduate from college, Morse served two term as student representative for the Holyoke School Committee and founded Holyoke for All – the city’s first LGBT…[Read more]

Carmen Medina

What does a 32 year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency do with all of her years of experience working in the bureaucracy – she blogs about it.

Carmen Medina, currently a specialist leader for Deloitte Consulting, spent nearly 32 years at the CIA culminating in her post as Director for the Center for the Study for…[Read more]

OPM Approves NextGen!

We are proud to announce that the Office of Personnel Management has approved the Next Generation of Government Training Summit 2012 (NextGen) as quality government leadership and skill set training that addresses all 28 core competencies, as well as the five executive core qualification tracks. The official letter from…[Read more]

What Effective Public Speaking Can Do for Your Government Career
Have you ever been to a meeting, where the information was valuable but the individual presenting had very little charisma, monotone, and just seemed to drone on an on? How much did you actually take away from that meeting?

Valuable insight and information can be lost if it is…[Read more]

What Do You Think of When You Hear Civic Engagement?
Most people might say serving or being involved with the public. However, it is more involved than that. Civic Engagement is a systematic method to address public concerns through a variety of very well organized methods. While most civic engagement occurs at the local level (through special…[Read more]

The Next Generation of Government Training Summit Understands Accountability
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen D-NH has called on the 15 Cabinet Secretaries to perform audits on all expenditures going towards government conferences. This action has come in the wake of the scandal, which has plagued the General Services Administration in their recent…[Read more]

Have You Made Plans for Your Retirement?

Think you might be too young? Think you have plenty of time? Many young government employees probably think the same way, however, it is not necessarily true. Getting a jump on your savings for the future will be to your benefit, especially if you can start saving in your twenties.
Financial planning…[Read more]

I am not a religious man, but I attended church some months ago with some friends and found the sermon to be quite inspirational. It talked about the relationship between Paul and his protege, Timothy. The sermon focused on how Paul had taken Timothy under his wing and given him the tools he needed to become a leader within his community. The…[Read more]

Still not convinced that Next Gen 2012 is the place to be. Here is a list of 7 reasons why you should come be a part of it.

Network – Next Gen 2012 will provide several opportunities for you to have discussions with your fellow attendants. We will have a networking session that will give you tips and tricks on this increasingly important…[Read more]

How do you say “not so great job?”
There is an art to giving and receiving feedback, whether it is positive or negative. It can be tough to hear constructive criticism, as well as criticism that is not so constructive. And it can be tough to give constructive criticism, especially if that person has a hard time accepting feedback.
So what is…[Read more]

Managing your social skills at work can be an artform!
Whether it is working the room, working the halls, or how you carry yourself – workplace savvy is mandatory for getting ahead. Knowing how much or how little to contribute at a meeting, dressing to impress, interacting across the generations, and understanding the right balance of humor and…[Read more]

Alpha! Bravo! Charlie! How Do You Translate Military Speak?

More and more veterans are coming home and they are coming to work in the government. They have great skills, well-disciplined, and as Michelle Obama said on the Colber Report “its really hard to be whiney about work when talking to a veteran.” However, the influx of veterans into the…[Read more]

What is the level of your business acumen?

If you are familiar with the Executive Core Qualifications tracks (designed by OPM to develop government leaders), you will know that the ECQ4 track is Business Acumen. This core qualification involves the ability to manage human, financial and information resources strategically. Public service…[Read more]

Are you having trouble getting your supervisor to approve the budget for your ticket to Next Gen? Are you not even sure how to approach him/her about it?
Mr. GovLoop, Steve Ressler, has written out a sample letter for you use to help convince your supervisor to come to Next Gen.
This type of written communication is a skill the next generation…[Read more]

How do you make effective decisions at your agency?

Sound decision making comes from experience. The problem is not that younger government employees do not make effective decisions, but rather that they have not had the opportunity to gain the experience to make those decisions. Simply, young govies are not being empowered by their employer.…[Read more]

Blending in to Encourage Change
In the current era of diversity and celebrating the individual, we are still met with the social workplace conundrum of becoming “one of the group.” Those who often go against the grain too quickly often are not around for very long. However, change is an important part of any agency and age old bureaucratic…[Read more]

A House Divided.

Wave elections have become the trend for the past ten cycles. The Republicans do well or the Democrats do well, it is rarely an even split anymore. Coupled with heated and often contentious primaries, veteran incumbents can no longer take re-election for granted. Just ask soon to be ex-US Rep. Jean Schmidt. So with the power…[Read more]