Person of Interest

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In the spirit of busyness, my person of interest was unavailable for an interview until tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. It was last week that I had to be "penciled" into his schedule so I may have the opportunity to get to know a little more about his role.

Tom Remis, Director of Government Relations, has been in and out of meetings since the start of my internship. His role in the Office of Government Relations is the leader who holds the team together, and supports those who report to him. The role of the OGR is a representative organ of the city that ensures a strong relationship with the federal government, the state of Arizona, other cities, tribal communities, regional agencies and Maricopa County. These relationships are crucial to establishing strong community bonds and partnerships.

It is at my meeting that I hope to find more about Mr. Remis, his role at the city and what got him to his current role.

Take the Lead

On February 19th, 2014 I attended an event at the ASU Gammage. This event was brought to my attention early in January and I immediately jumped onto the opportunity to receive two FREE tickets to attend as an ASU student.

The event was Take the Lead, a night that celebrated women, and their ability to move ahead in their word without the concerns and pressures of society deciding what and who they should be.

My main drive to attend the event was to see Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and writer of Lean In. Recently, reading the book I was fascinated by some of her concepts of supporting women. In fact, after taking a course with Dr. Carol Poore called Women, Politics & Public Policy, I was bought in further to the Sandberg's teachings and ideologies. 

What I didn't expect to happen, was to be introduced to a series of other amazing women, trail blazers. One of those women were Carla Harris, and her teachings she likes to call Carla's Pearls. In fact, her presentation was so dynamic I bought her book two days later!

Now that I am post event I must say, it wasn't really Sheryl Sandberg that really spun me to action. I  mean she was great! Who hasn't seen her infamous TED Talk that has inspired Lean In Circles worldwide!

But, really, what was the true inspiration was the room, jammed pack, of amazing, powerful women. All in their business best, ready to take the challenge! Who knows when I can be in such a presence again, but I must say I'm still basking in the joy.

Follow the....TEAM!

Source: rapportleadership.org

Leadership. The idea of leadership is forces the mind to stray to one-person, one-idea. Yet, what is really in play is multiple players, with multiple skills. Hence, at the City of Phoenix what I see is a transition from a centered leadership to a team that consists of fluid arrangements of cross-collaborators.

The 12th floor of city hall is one staircase above what houses the city's council offices, and the big chief, Mayor Stanton. The Office of Government Relations is a small crew that takes up less than 10 fingers, adding me doesn't even touch the 10th finger. Therefore, the use of a static team, with top-bottom workflow just doesn't work.

All the work that is done by staff is to serve the collective goal: To serve the better good of the people. No matter the task, it is crucial that we ask each other how this benefits, or does not benefit, the good of the livelioods of the residents of the Phoenix. When the question is framed in such a way, there is no one leader that decides that, well we do serve under the City Manager, but for the purposes of our group, we make collective decisions.

In the work that I am tasked to do, I have the flexibility to format my work and structure my policy briefs to how I feel best communicates the most important points. Thus, in this capacity, I feel very self-empowered and a leader of the issues that the group is working on.

Source: Gaping Void

So, in this experience, I feel that we are all empowered to lead. There is no better way to ensure that the diversity of the group is tapped, and the good of the people have been served.

All hands are on deck, bases are loaded and the team is ready to play ball!

Budapest, Hungary & The Open Access Button!

Students have the privilege, and respectfully pay for that privilege, to access the necessary research needed to explore their work they are working on. In the case of the general population, tax paying individuals, much of this research is hidden behind pay walls. Government agencies support researchers by providing grant opportunities to follow and track the latest trends in various topics. The Right to Research Coalition is an advocacy group that supports legislation that encourages the use of having access to federally funded research openly available to the public. 


 I had the honor of attending the 2nd General Assembly during August 2013 in order to convene with students globally on the status of the movement and where the next steps are for us to inspire change. A team of British medical students created an amazing tool that helps to bridge the access called the Open Access Button. If you ever witnessed this issue, or work for an organization that lacks access, please use this tool as a means to bridge yourself to the access, and help track the lack of.

During this time I had the chance to explore Budapest, Hungary and live the day in a Hungarian lifestyle. From breakfast to lunch, there was a mountain of fresh ingredients and the best instant coffee a girl can have!


At night, the city lights up, highlighting its government buildings and making it a spectacle for all to see. The beautiful, historic structures captured me with nostalgia and books I read as child, highlighting the European architecture and lifestyle.

I highly recommend all to travel and visit this beautiful country, and the amazing diversity it has.




-J

Intrapreneurship, Innovation and how StartingBloc got me there.

 Last February I had the honor of being selected to participate in the StartingBloc LA Institute. Being a year later, I thought it warming to reflect back on my days in the warm sun of Santa Monica and the new family I had the pleasure to adopt.

Now being a group of 2,000 fellows, I have the access of amazing change makers throughout the world. These individuals help to inspire global change and are the do-gooders needed for impact in a grand scale. We all made a commitment to think of embracing change that inspires innovative and cross collaboration between the nonprofit, for-profit and government sectors.

One of the fellows that I share this amazing opportunity with is founder of GoldieBlox, Debbie Sterling. Although not a graduate of my institute, this amazing innovator has proven that girls do not need to be conformed to play with pink toys and baby dolls; girls want to build!

The video to the right is something I captured during the institute of members being taught Tai Chi by a senior citizen we were interviewing for ideas on how to build access to healthy, fresh ingredients to seniors living in Los Angeles.

The picture to the left is my amazing think tank group, ranging from individuals traveling from Denmark, North Carolina and New York City to attend our institute and think collaboratively on our mobile food idea!

Overall, this was an amazing experience that broaden my mind to how to change through entrepreneurship, and also as an intrapreneur. I hope I can inspire any of you to take the leap to be a StartingBloc fellow!

Career Services: Dress for Success Style!

Having the opportunity to work for a worldwide nonprofit affords me the opportunity to work with many leading Fortune 500 companies in developing fun and unique events. One of these events came upon me just last week, in which, Equifax is hosting a human resources conference, and is allow Dress for Success to host a forum during their conference!

This conference is open to women who are seeking insider information in handling the human resource department and how to make it to the next step of the interview. It is going to be a unique experience and I hope that many of you can attend!

-J

Day at the State Legislature

Happy President's Day! I had the opportunity to spend this holiday at the State Legislature. A day off at the work that I do at Dress for Success Phoenix allowed me to see a session, network with lobbyist and sit on a committee hearing. 

One of the most purposeful parts of that afternoon was the committee hearing. Testifying that morning was the rights afforded to a Native American family who were forced out of their homes in Wutpaki National Park. The testimony was deep and sorrowful. The legislatures voted unanimously in support of this family, with the only opposition coming from the Sierra Club. 

Being from New Jersey it is rare to see the human rights issues that arise from Native American populations. This is mainly not apparent because of the diversity that lives in the state, many issues become what is famously known as a "melting pot". 

This day will forever be remembered for me as a day that brought me closer to the human-ness of the citizens of the United States. 

-Jessica