Jennifer Prioleau (State Government)

Administrative Assistant, Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA)

I received a Bachelor’s  in Communications from Christopher Newport University. Not only did this degree help me land my current job within state government, it also helped me improve my public speaking and writing skills.

I currently serve as the Administrative Assistant for the Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) which provides licenses to Certified Public Accountants (CPA). My position requires being comfortable with addressing the public daily and enforcing new regulations and policies. In my position, I review new policies for obtaining and maintaining a CPA license. Once, I am familiar with the new polices I call accountants, construct emails, and letters informing them of the changes.

As the initial point of contact, I clarify controversial questions in regards to the policy changes. I act as a personal consultant to accountants. I advise them on how to receive all the required documents and work experience to issue the CPA license. Frequently, I provide advice to college students to select the appropriate classes needed to apply for the CPA license in their future.

During my time with the VBOA, I’ve been inspired to start a Master’s in Public Policy Administration. I loved the thrill of learning about new government policies and helping the community. An employee at my job encouraged me to start my Master’s at Liberty University for Public Policy Administration.

I look forward to finishing my MPA degree and networking with others in the field of public service. Please feel free to contact me at prioleaujennifer@gmail.com.

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Pamela Foster (Student)

Master of Public Administration (MPA) Candidate, Walden University

I chose to pursue my MPA after years of having a career as a social worker. In this role, it was my responsibility to help individuals gain access to valuable public services such as mental health/substance treatment, crisis prevention, food, shelter, and emergency assistance.

Frequently seeing the populations I served, deal with constant day to day struggles, followed by their normal daily challenges, I realized that I held a passion for advocacy and public policy, and that I wanted to help people on an organizational level rather than on an individual level.

I look forward to my future in public administration and welcome the opportunity to network with my fellow public administrators. You may contact me at my LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-foster-a9ba0a75

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Denver Supinger (Local Government)

Legislative Aide, Fairfax County Government

As a Legislative Adie to a local-elected official in Fairfax County, I assist our constituents with their day-to-day needs and hardships which pertain to public safety and transportation. I came to this position after working for a health system and a fundraising department for a state university. Throughout my experiences, I have continually fallen back on education and academic understanding of public administration.

I earned both a B.A. in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. While attending this institution, I was surrounded by academics who believed that our government and nonprofit agencies could advance to uphold the pillar of social justice. My exposure to world-class faculty has installed the value of community, justice, and service into everything I do. As I expand my horizons and experiences in public administration, I want these values to grow and show in my daily work.

Outside of day-to-day work, I express my passion for public administration and the hope for a better government through political advocacy. Though the field of public administration remains a nonpartisan entity, I believe that we need the support of our elected officials to ensure that our daily government processes are efficient, effective and fully supported.

As I continue to navigate the realm of public administration, I am always open to learning for veterans in the field. I would be honored to connect with fellow ASPA members, please feel free to connect with me via email at supingerdb@gmail.com or at https://www.linkedin.com/in/denversupinger/.

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Erica L. Van Steen (Private Sector)

Government, Social Impact, and Organizational Consultant

When people ask me “what do you do for a living?”, I often have a hard time answering. I began my career as a high school activist and volunteer for public health, homelessness, and community organizing efforts. During my undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin, I founded a nonprofit coalition to build educational programs for health and gender equity. My sociology degree took me to Israel and the UK for research and an internship in Parliament. This was perhaps my first peak “behind the curtain” into public policy and administration. I loved working in our tiny Westminster office on casework, helping in-need individuals navigate services and access benefits to keep them in housing, in a job, or with their families. I went on to achieve my MS in Social Policy Research at the London School of Economics where my dissertation examined a cross-governmental policy in its 10th year of implementation. My research found that geographic areas with higher positive health and social outcomes had created public-private and citizen feedback loops in their implementation strategies; these loops were associated with improved services and program innovations.

These foundational experiences drove my career in DC when I relocated here in 2010. From studying innovation in the Federal government and learning good government management principles as a researcher with the Partnership for Public Service to my work on cross-governmental initiatives in cybersecurity and STEM education as a Booz Allen Hamilton consultant, I began to establish an understanding of the intersection between government, business, and social enterprises. For the past 3.5 years, I’ve had the privilege of working on a wide variety of Federal projects as a consultant with Herren Associates: developing Veteran economic opportunity programs, creating military health system improvements, and supporting the Performance Improvement Council in its mission to drive performance management government-wide.

This field is about creating “good.” We can act as a stabilizing force for individuals going through a difficult personal experience or for an organization going through a time of turmoil; we can be champions for improvement or guardians of dollars, processes, services, and better outcomes. My advice to those starting out in the field is to be fearless and hopeful. Be willing to learn and to work hard, but don’t let other people define your values or your boundaries. Use your values and your boundaries to help you stay focused and empower you in your career choices. I’d also suggest that anyone starting out should do their best to chase experiences, not dollars. The dollars will follow you as you gain unique experiences, a specialized perspective, and credibility for your contributions across meaningful work.

I find the challenge of working in emerging policy and cross-governmental contexts incredibly exciting. The future of public sector work will require an even broader toolkit and more multi-disciplinary voices from the field. We will need to grow creativity and strategic skills, incorporate advances in data and computational techniques, and develop stronger levers for collaboration across social enterprises and sectors. I welcome the opportunity to connect with fellow public administrators.

If you are interested in discussing social impact initiatives, the future of public administration, evidence-based policy making, or techniques for data-driven design, please reach out to me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericavansteen/

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Amy B. Edwards (Federal Government)

As Senior Advisor for Financial Transparency at the Treasury Department, I am working to ensure taxpayers know how their tax dollars are being spent.  For over two years, I have been heavily involved in implementing the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014(DATA Act), which will expand the data on federal spending that is available on USAspending.gov. The new website being released this month will allow taxpayers to examine nearly $4 trillion in federal spending each year and see how this money flows from Congressional appropriations to local communities and businesses.
The DATA Act will not only make it easier to understand how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars, but also serve as a tool for better oversight, data-driven decision-making, and innovation both inside and outside of government. Better data leads to better decisions and ultimately a better government.
I welcome the opportunity to network with my fellow public administrators. You may contact me at LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-edwards-8529788
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Sally “Sarah” Jagger (Nonprofit)

Fellow and Project Lead at the National Academy of Public Administration (Congressionally-chartered professional association)

I knew I wanted a career in public service after growing up with a father in the Navy. Thus, it’s no surprise that I began my career after college working for the Navy here in Washington as a computer programmer. I got “Potomac fever” during high school when my family moved to D.C., and I remember what a tense time it was in D.C. during the anti-war movement and the riots following the death of Dr. Martin Luther King.

After serving the Navy as a civilian, I did federal consulting for a few years before embarking on a 25-year career at the Government Accountability Office. During my time with GAO, I directed programs in public health and health financing, accounting and financial management. I also helped GAO restart its recruiting and hiring and set up exciting new internships and new hire programs as GAO recovered from a 40% cut in staff size in the mid-90s.

Since retiring from GAO in 2005, I served as a Senior Strategic Advisor for the Partnership for Public Service, where I led the Call to Serve program to build bridges for effective recruiting and hiring between federal agencies and universities, and led numerous studies leading to reports on improving the civil service system, and helping agencies improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

I now serve as a Fellow and Project Lead for the National Academy of Public Administration, where with the National Academies of Sciences I lead a 5-year Congressionally-mandated study of DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

My extensive career in public service demonstrates the various ways in which we can serve our country. My advice to those starting out in the field is to not be too concerned about going up a ladder in a specific way, and to use networking for friendship-building and as a way to learn about different aspects of public administration.

I welcome the opportunity to network with fellow public administrators. You may contact me on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-sarah-jaggar-0a89a6a/

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William “Billy” Leiserson (Private Sector)

I founded BL Insights to help public-serving institutions become more effective identifying, achieving, and communicating their strategic value. Before coming to Washington, DC, I was a career scientist and educator at Yale University, so I bring a scientific approach to my work. I became interested in public administration through local government. In Connecticut, I served on my town’s Inland Wetlands Commission for 12 years.

My interest in public administration grew when I was awarded a Science & Technology Policy Fellowship by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. During the fellowship, I spent three months at the Performance Improvement Council working with federal agencies on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education Cross-Agency Priority Goal, part of the president’s management agenda.

Later, I spent a year at the National Institute of Justice—the research and evaluation arm of the Department of Justice—leading an effort in strategic planning and evaluation. My current project involves working with criminal justice stakeholders to develop a strategic framework that will facilitate the application of science to improve criminal justice, analogous to the framework by which science informs other practical disciplines, such as medicine.

My career has been an exciting journey, motivated by my desire to bring about positive change. I began by studying the nervous system of fruit flies and teaching students. My interest in serving the public led me to became active in local politics and volunteering on a government commission. My move to public policy in Washington, DC, was a natural progression to merge my scientific, educational, and analytical interests with public service.

I welcome the opportunity to network with my fellow public administrators. You may contact me at LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blinsights

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Paula Acevedo (Nonprofit)

I am the Research Associate at the Council for a Strong America, a national, bipartisan, nonprofit compromised of five member organizations that focus on ensuring our children are citizen-ready.  I serve as the research point of contact for our early childhood education, K-1 2 and higher education, focusing on the skills gap, Common Core, testing, after school, teacher effectiveness, school finance, charter school, and career and technical education.

I welcome the opportunity to network with my fellow public administrators. You may contact me at paceved2@gmail.com and my LinkedIN at: www.linkedin.com/in/paulaacevedo.

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Dillon Clark (Nonprofit)

I am the Chief Financial Officer for Breakthrough Montessori Public Charter School, a start-up public elementary school in Petworth. I lead the finance, operations, maintenance and human resource functions for Breakthrough Montessori. Before coming to Breakthrough, I worked as a Specialist for Behavioral and Education supports for the District of Columbia Public Schools. During that time, I was appointed Team Lead for the Implementation of Scholarly Research to increase academic rigor in Self Contained High School Classrooms, and Behavior and Educational Supports Crisis Lead. Before DCPS, I was a Social Work Case Manager with the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services.

As Chief Financial Officer for Breakthrough Montessori Public Charter School I have to opportunity to serve families throughout entirety of the District of Columbia. School choice and academic achievement are important issues facing urban families. As Chief Financial Officer of a public school, I have the ability to create a positive school culture, drive operations, and expand human capital experiences to ensure staff are happy, healthy, and enjoy their jobs. I enjoy my work in public school administration because I have the opportunity to not only create a wonderful, exciting, and accepting place to grow and work for teachers and staff, but also a safe and welcoming place to learn and grow for students and families. As Breakthrough Montessori grows, I hope to continue to support and have a lasting impact on hundreds of students, families and employees.

It is also my goal to restructure the finance and operations of charter schools in the Washington, D.C. area. As the charter school movement grows, children from all neighborhoods, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, race, and ethnicities are given more choice and opportunity. Perfecting the financing and operations of these schools is paramount to expanding access to academic rigor and school choice to families who have limited access to quality public education.

I also currently serve as a Commissioner to the Montgomery County Commission on Landlord-Tennant Affairs a semi-judicial body in Montgomery County MD. I also advised start-up non-profits in New York and Washington, D.C. including multiple public charter schools, and serve as a member of the Board of Directors of a New York based non-profit organization that is on consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is focused on HIV and AIDS prevention education in immigrant communities throughout the United States.

I received my Bachelors of Arts in Politics with a concentration in World Politics from The Catholic University of America and a Masters of Science in Social Work with a concentration in Social Enterprise Administration and a minor in Law from Columbia University in the City of New York.

In my spare time I enjoy playing and listening to music, and getting to as many National Parks as possible with my border collie Max.

I welcome the opportunity to network with my fellow public administrators. You may contact me at 36Clark@gmail.com and my LinkedIN at: www.linkedin.com/in/Dillonclark

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Dr. James Hurley (Local Government)

Dr. James M. Hurley

I am a fiscal officer responsible for the budgeting and financial management practices of a group of (12) agencies within the District of Columbia Government. From the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, I lead a team of budget analysts, accountants, and financial managers dedicated to the successful administration of and accounting for the city’s financial resources I have also served in senior level positions with other government entities during my public service career of more than 30 years, and I have provided leadership on several advisory committees and boards for nonprofit community organizations.

I have been a presenter at professional conferences sponsored by such organizations as the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management, Government Finance Officers Association, and American Society for Public Administration. I have served on national committees and twice as President of the Maryland Chapter of ASPA. I value the chance to meet and interact with professionals from all levels of government and to build national support for a strong public service.

I earned a B.A. from Georgetown University, a M.A. from University of Maryland, and a doctorate in Public Administration from the George Washington University. I taught financial management courses for many years as an adjunct professor with the Graduate School of Management, University of Maryland University College. My research interests and teaching experience focus on budgeting systems, performance measurement, and strategic planning. Also, I am an instructor for the Certified Public Manager Program administered by the District of Columbia.

When time permits, I enjoy golfing at local courses in Maryland, snorkeling in the waters of the Caribbean, hiking in the National Parks, and traveling to faraway places with family and friends. I welcome the opportunity to network with ASPA colleagues (james.hurley@dc.gov).

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