Demonstrating service and urban governance

The US Commercial Service demonstrates urban governance through its influence and collaboration supporting local agencies invested in advancing economic development through trade promotion and its unique position as a portal to an international network of agencies committed to the same mission. Locally the US Commercial Service plays a key role in a number of agencies involved in helping encourage and support local business entering international markets. From large organization such as the Arizona District Export Council, the Arizona Commerce Authority, and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to city initiatives such as City of Phoenix’s ExporTech the scope of influence of the US Commercial Service extensive. Across our boarders however, our office is part of a domestic network of similar offices in over 100 U.S. Cities and an international network in more than 75 countries all invested in helping U.S. companies export and increase sales in global markets. The U.S. Commercial Service’s ability to navigate this complex web of actors and continue to build upon a collective mission is how we demonstrate urban governance. 

On top of these metropolitan characteristics and collaborative network environment however, at the heart of the organization is the public service mission of helping develop quality U.S. jobs. Our goal in selecting clients and working to expand their businesses stems from an organizational push to create job opportunities that are sustainable and impactful. Day in and day out, the majority of our office’s work is using our extensive network to help local companies grow and provide access to resources that most companies we serve wouldn’t otherwise consider. Our clients in general have become successful exporters through our guidance and because of that we are able to see the pay off when they decide to expand and provide jobs to Arizonans.

Recap: NASPAA Simulation Competition

On Feb 28 I participated at the first ever NASPAA Simulation Competition at the USC Sol Price School of Public Affairs in Downtown Los Angeles. The competition itself was an invaluable experience with professionals in my own field. During the course of the day long competition our analytical and critical thinking skills where put to the test in a feat to help a community implement the Affordable Care Act through a series of budget cuts, investments and community intervention programs. The true challenge of the simulation however, tested our ability to account for short term and long term uncertainty as well as the volatile and complex nature of community stakeholders. 

The state of the art simulation technology accrued points dependent on five competing categories, where increases in one could lead to increases or decreased in other categories. The goal was to strike a balance amongst the five categories. The challenge pinned the values and moral compasses of my team against each other and challenged us to make compromises none of us were comfortable defending. Made up of a military officer, a Peace Corps inductee, a university Director, and myself to say we had an interesting dynamic is an understatement. 

After the competition, we were put the ultimate test and had to defend our decisions and present in front of our competing teams. Those teams would score us and give us ranking depending on their evaluation of our outcomes. At the end we didn’t take the win, but we certainly didn’t make it easy. We placed at the top of the teams and celebrated over an open bar, provided by USC. At the end of the night the biggest reward however came as I nonchalantly stroked a conversation with a man at the corner of the auditorium where the winning team was being presented. After about 15 minutes or so, I realized the person I was diverging my interests and career aspirations was none other than Robert Denhardt himself. If you’re a student of Public Affairs and the name doesn’t ring a bell, do yourself a favor and look him up, you’ll be better for it. After an awkward fan girl moment, we exchanged cards and he extended an invitation to connect. 

The competition was exciting, challenging, and nerve wrecking and for those reasons has become one of the highlights of my graduate career. From what I understand the competition begins a new tradition for NASPAA, and I strongly recommend if you get the opportunity to attend you take it!

ASU Downtown Job Fair

Last week a colleague and I attended the ASU Spring Job Fair at the Downtown Campus in hopes of a) expanding our exposure of available jobs and b) getting some much needed practice networking and putting our experience to the test with acting professionals.

This was my first time attending a job fair so not knowing what to expect I suited up, updated my CV, and briefly browsed the list of attendees. As someone interested in working for federal or regional government’s interested in international missions, the list of agencies involved in this work is already bleak and as expected was quite frankly nonexistent with the exception of the CIA and FBI. Regardless, I chose to attend and gain some experience.   

The event itself felt much like a round of awkward speed dating and as far as I could tell the representatives from the organizations felt it as much as the participants. At this point however, I was determined to at least get rid of the CV’s I’d spent time revisiting and printing off. 

I visited the FBI, DEA, Social Security Administration and for the most part the sessions went fairly positive. The recruiters let me know of their agencies breadth and validated much of my experience which lead to an unexpected boost of ego and reaffirmation that my hard work these past five years will pay off. We exchanged business cards and I look forward to following up in the future. 

One organization however, where the experience wasn’t as positive was with the CIA. For a recruiter, the agent offered very little information about opportunities at the agency and seemed disinterested with answering our questions in general. This was discouraging, seeing that his was one of the organizations I was most interested in learning about. Regardless, I’ll take the only advice he offered and take my chances applying for a position ONLINE.

All in all, experiencing a career fair for the first time was an interesting experience that proved unexpectedly painless. This experience has definitely opened my awareness of the value of job fairs and encouraged me to participate in future opportunities.