The first core competency set forth by NASPAA is the ability to lead and manage in public governance. This involves promoting policy development and implementation, creating a professional work force committed to public service values, and helping employees reach their potential and fulfill their professional goals. To illustrate this competency, I've chosen the following coursework:

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1 | POLI 7330 - Leadership | Ethics Reflection

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Leadership Style | Critical Thinking | Reflective Writing

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This last year has provided me with multiple different leadership opportunities such as my summer internship with Jefferson County Board of Registrars, serving as the National President for Silver Wings, and starting my new fellowship with the City of Auburn. Having Dr. Fisk's Leadership course last spring helped me prepare for all of these new leadership opportunities and better understand how to be the most effective leader within public governance. There were several assignments throughout this semester that helped me understand how to be a better leader, but the assignment that guided me the most was the ethics reflection. The ethics reflection allowed me to take a deeper look into how my personal beliefs, ethics, and personality factors into my leadership style and abilities. This helped me link my core values and leadership style to my future career path where I hope to lead others to better understand the importance of accessibility.

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2 | City of Auburn Graduate Fellowship | ADA Transition Plan

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Teamwork | Project Management | Goal Completion

 

Over the last year and a half, I've been able to work on the City of Auburn's ADA Transition Plan. This has been critical in helping me understand the first core competency, especially in regards to promoting policy development and implementation. During my fellowship for the City of, I learned not only an immense amount about the inner workings of local government, but also I learned about how this delicate relationship impacts the ability to make the City more accessible. I worked on the City’s Transition Plan from October of 2016 until now, and multiple stages were a part of the process. When I started working with the City on the Transition Plan, I had a big goal of getting it finished before I left for Christmas break in 2017. Little did I know the time-consuming task of working together with different departments to bridge the bureaucracy to complete a plan that would touch nearly every City department. It took an immense amount of time to first explain to different departments what I needed, follow up any questions, meet to discuss what they had and then make revisions, then follow up any more questions, and then finally, hopefully, have a somewhat final draft. This process taught me that no matter how bad I wanted it, most of my task wasn’t in my control. Sure, I could make revisions or changes, but I could not do my job until other people first did theirs. This was an important lesson I had to learn in working within local government, or any corporation. I learned the key to completing your work is to be flexible and supportive of the people you need help from.

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 I was able to learn not only the importance of working with people in each City department, but also the process that must take place in order for a policy to be created, developed, approved, and implemented. I realized how much longer it takes to complete a big policy process, as well as how many revisions and approvals must take place before it can be ready for City Council. Even then it can come back with requested changes from Council Members. In the end, it takes an immense amount of work to get policy pushed all the way though to approval and implementation but it is incredibly worth it to see something you've worked so hard for go into practice.

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