Best Electedofficials Podcasts (2024)

1
Rep. Jason Smith: The son of a preacher man becomes a congressman 21:06

2y ago21:06

21:06

There are many roads that lead to becoming an elected official. As the son of a preacher/auto mechanic and a nurse, Jason Smith’s self-described blue-collar background found him working a series of jobs, graduating early and pursuing a career as a lawyer. After that it wasn’t long before he found himself a Missouri state representative at the very …

1
Rep. Ann Wagner: From Broadway dreams to a career in politics 30:08

2y ago30:08

30:08

As a child, Congresswoman Ann Wagner aspired to Broadway stardom. But her hardworking parents made sure she had something to fall back on — even if they didn’t necessarily expect it to be elected office. But after working at two well-known Missouri companies, she found herself married and living in Jefferson City, and that’s exactly what happened. …

1
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft: Politics at the Dinner Table 35:47

2y ago35:47

35:47

Jay Ashcroft grew up in politics. It’s been a part of his life forever, and the family dinner conversations often centered around it. His childhood also included meeting presidents and Arnold Schwarzenegger, sitting first row for the St. Louis Cardinals, and sneaking around the governor's mansion. And while he also worked as a lifeguard, a Dairy Qu…

1
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe: Insights from the life of a restless entrepreneur 36:31

2y ago36:31

36:31

Perhaps there’s no direct path from childhood to Lieutenant Governor, but Mike Kehoe’s story has a few more surprises than one would expect. Raised in northern St. Louis by a hardworking single mother, Kehoe was the youngest of six. He went from being a teenager washing cars at the Ford dealership to owning one. He also became a first-generation fa…

1
State Senator Dru Mamo Kanuha: Deeply rooted in Kona life 24:50

2+ y ago24:50

24:50

Dru Mamo Kanuha was just 28 when he was first elected to represent the people of his Kona community. Though his family can trace its local lineage back 12 generations, Kanuha has forged a path in politics all on his own. In this episode of the podcast, he explains how much the local canoe club meant to his childhood sense of community and how it st…

1
Hawaii Mayor Mitch Roth: A high school dropout credits his rise to faith 25:04

2+ y ago25:04

25:04

With several life stories that read like a movie script, Hawaii Island Mayor Mitch Roth had a circuitous path to elected office. In this episode of the podcast, he discusses the impact of several key moments in his life, from a teenage plan to take a trip around the world, to a side-job caring for his boss’s elderly mother, to almost losing his lif…

1
J. Chris Bernard – Childhood Hunger, A Solvable Problem? 55:30

2+ y ago55:30

55:30

J. Chris Bernard is passionate about ending child hunger in Oklahoma. The state is committed to leveraging the power of collaboration to solve hunger in Oklahoma by improving systems, policies, and practices. Chris believes that as a nation we have both the food and the money already available, but the challenge is coordinating all the pieces. Lear…

1
State Senate President Ron Kouchi: Decades of service to Kauai 41:39

2+ y ago41:39

41:39

Hawaii State Senate President Ron Kouchi hoped to be a high school history teacher and enjoyed reading novels in his spare time. But to get out of a job he was too embarrassed to quit, he began campaigning at age 24 for the Kauai County Council, and that was the beginning of a long career in public service. In this episode of the podcast, Kouchi di…

1
U.S. Rep Ed Case: How a restless soul from Hilo found his way to D.C. 33:49

2+ y ago33:49

33:49

Congressman Ed Case has had a life full of adventures, from a childhood “close to nature” in Hilo to working as a jackaroo on a sheep farm in Australia to weathering the culture shock of a small liberal arts college in New England. He first ended up in Washington D.C. almost accidentally as a young man but has found he loves public service and repr…

1
Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami: Once rebellious kid, now island leader 32:01

2+ y ago32:01

32:01

Derek Kawakami has gleaned lessons from all sorts of life experiences, from hustling to grow his paper route as a young boy to feeling like an outsider as a teenager to parenting while trying to build a career in public service. The mayor of Kauai thoughtfully reflects on his life experiences in this episode of the podcast and shares insight into h…

1
State Senator Lynn DeCoite: A Farmer, a Hunter, a Grandmother, a Senator 29:55

2+ y ago29:55

29:55

State Senator Lynn DeCoite is a third generation homestead farmer who grows purple sweet potatoes when she is not traveling from island to island representing her constituents in the so-called “canoe district”. She is also a proud grandmother of two, a devoted member of her community and an active hunter, who says she often has to remember to wash …

1
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi: From tenement to football to TV to City Hall 33:44

2+ y ago33:44

33:44

Rick Blangiardi is new to elected office but not leadership. After a long career as a television executive, he became mayor of Honolulu in January 2021. Yet Blangiardi’s road to City Hall began on the other side of the country, in a tenement in Cambridge, MA, where he says he was raised “in a household full of expectations.” In this episode of The …

1
David Kilgore – On Being Approachable 48:56

2+ y ago48:56

48:56

David Kilgore is a communicator. In leading his 600+ employees he spends a lot of time breaking down walls because he believes it is important to enjoy work while acknowledging the impact it has on the children and families of California. As the leader of the California Department of Child Support Services, he doesn’t hesitate to jump into a projec…

1
Lt. Governor Josh Green: A doctor in the State Capitol during a pandemic 33:46

2+ y ago33:46

33:46

Josh Green first ran for office hoping to work on some of the issues he had seen first-hand as an emergency room physician. But his experience and expertise took on an unanticipated relevance during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in addition to his role as lieutenant governor, Green became Hawaii’s Covid response liaison. In the first episode of the Ha…

1
Introducing "The People's People: Hawaii" 1:05

2+ y ago1:05

1:05

Listen to new episodes starting on December 7th. What do you know about your elected officials? Do you know what makes them, and the districts they represent, unique? Or why they ran for office in the first place? When we talk about politics, the national conversation seems to overshadow everything. But when it comes to the policies that impact you…

1
Mayor of Augusta David Rollins: Making government more civil and bringing back local pride 27:18

3y ago27:18

27:18

David Rollins says that back in the 1960s, very few people in Augusta, Maine would have expected a certain high school athlete to one day be mayor. But looking back at his 16 years of civic service, Rollins says this may have been the best period of his life. He ran for office in an attempt to bring more civility to the local government, and he say…

1
Mayor of Portland Kate Snyder: Leading her city through the pandemic 24:57

3y ago24:57

24:57

Kate Snyder always keeps a tab open on her computer with the mayor of Portland’s powers and duties, as written in the city charter, to remind herself what her role is—and isn’t. She is only the third full-time, popularly elected mayor in modern Portland history and says she is still helping define what that means for the city, especially as everyth…

1
Mayor of Auburn Jason Levesque: From local boy to drill sergeant to mayor 23:01

3y ago23:01

23:01

With family roots that extend back in Auburn many generations, Mayor Jason Levesque is an advocate for his city and state. He tells journalist Lindsey Christ why he returned to his hometown after years away at college and in the U.S. Army. Mayor Levesque also shares how confident he is in Auburn’s resilience, and that, even after weathering the imp…

1
U.S. Senator Susan Collins: A work-ethic that stems from picking potatoes 32:34

3y ago32:34

32:34

While Senator Susan Collins is often in the national news for her decisions in Washington, her conversation with journalist Lindsey Christ focuses on who she is and how she became such a significant national figure. Senator Collins describes growing up near the Canadian border with two parents who believed it was wrong to complain if you don’t get …

1
Governor Janet Mills: From hitchhiking through Europe to leading the state of Maine 26:40

3y ago26:40

26:40

Being the chief executive of a state during a pandemic is a job nobody could prepare for, but Maine Governor Janet Mills learned to work through challenges and thrive through adversity at an early age. In the debut episode of The People’s People podcast, Governor Mills speaks with journalist Lindsey Christ about the more unusual experiences that he…

1
Bekah Christensen – Unleashing Innovation 58:05

3y ago58:05

58:05

Innovation is key to state government, and California's model program, Innovation Playbook for Government Change Agents (Cal-IPGCA), is entering its 10th year. Program Chair and IPGCA founder Bekah Christensen leads the state-funded immersive experiential learning environment where trainees re-imagine enterprise-wide challenges from a whole-systems…

1
Justin Brown – Transformation and Poverty 57:40

3y ago57:40

57:40

Justin Brown is an energetic, passionate innovator focused on going at the root causes of poverty. A former CEO, Justin fully recognizes new ambitions demand new capabilities and new investments in the organization. He has concluded that poverty is the root cause of many of the struggles people in his state face, and addressing it has will have sig…

1
Kathleen Webb - From Theory to Practice at Cal DMV 59:02

3y ago59:02

59:02

Kathleen Webb has gone from theory to practice, moving from her role as Director of Performance Improvement for the California Government Operations Agency to the state’s DMV as its Chief Deputy Director. Serving 50,000 customers the DMV was infamous for stories of day-long lines, although a strike team learned that 16% of all customers waited more…

1
ECOS – Live podcast about podcasting 41:03

3+ y ago41:03

41:03

The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) held a session on using podcast to help tell the story of the work states are doing on the environment -- and we recorded the virtual session live as a podcast! Why not! Join me with along with Pat McDonnell, ECOS 2021 president and secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection alo…

1
Doug Robinson – The Agile State CIO 43:30

3+ y ago43:30

43:30

Technology during the pandemic enabled everything from working at home to vaccine distribution to rapid application of intelligent “bots” to help speed service to citizens in need. But with the escalating citizen needs of the future and the limited resources CIOs will need to increasingly agile. Check out NASCIO’s annual CIO survey. Check out my sp…

1
Patrick McDonnell – The Power of Sharing Knowledge 54:20

3+ y ago54:20

54:20

The Environmental Council of the States is doing what the founding fathers dreamed of, making sure the collective learning of the 50 states gets shared. Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell serves as the 2021 president of the council of his peers, an organization with a long reputation for collective lea…

1
Governor Chris Gregoire – Getting government focused on results 51:15

3+ y ago51:15

51:15

Driven to spend her life making a difference, former Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire started life from humble beginnings and went on to impact tens of millions of lives not only in her home state, but across the nation. During her two terms as governor she was constantly seeking facts and drove results across state agencies through routine…

1
Misael Cabrera – The urgent need for excellence in government 59:18

3+ y ago59:18

59:18

Arizona Dept of Environmental Quality has dramatically increased environmental outcomes, delivered award-winning online services, and kept agency costs flat because of a deep commitment to implementing Lean. Misael Cabrera, joined in 2011 as deputy director, became director in 2015, and has been instrumental in the success of Governor Doug Ducey’s …

1
Bryan Snoddy – Civil Rights: Listening to the voices of the unheard 58:34

3+ y ago58:34

58:34

In the Air Force Bryan Snoddy picked up a passion for process, emerging from law school and ending up in state service in Texas, he works to take his team’s influence beyond processing complaints to changing the conversation. His vision is that the diverse voices of Texas get heard and respected by all. It’s a tall order but Bryan’s commitment is u…

1
Henry Darwin – Leading Lean from the Top at the EPA 54:57

3+ y ago54:57

54:57

Henry Darwin, Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, tells his story of implementing Lean first in the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, then statewide for the Governor of Arizona, and currently for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Henry’s experience has given him a deep set of beliefs about the wo…

1
Dr. Joseph Bernard – 2020 election stress relief 54:48

3+ y ago54:48

54:48

As our cities and nation’s capital are being boarded up for fear of violent reaction to the election, so many people are feeling the stress that experts have named it “election stress disorder.” Dr. Joseph Bernard walks through the impacts of election stress and solutions for how to process it in healthy and healing ways.…

1
Butch Eley – Healthy people and healthy businesses 51:52

3+ y ago51:52

51:52

Butch Eley, Commissioner, Department for Finance and Administration, under Governor Bill Lee of the State of Tennessee, shares how the state has worked across its 95 counties to strike the right balance for protecting the health of the state’s people and the source of their livelihoods, the state’s businesses.…

1
Adam C. Jarvis – Putting the customer front and center 51:33

3+ y ago51:33

51:33

Adam C. Jarvis, Deputy Director of Governor Bill Lee’s Office of Customer Focused Government, is passionate about the inspiration that comes from being focused on seeing citizens who receive services from the state as customers. His job is to help bring that thinking to state government employees delivering the best possible service at the lowest p…

1
Paul Mounds, Jr. – How people have stepped up to fight Covid-19 48:47

3+ y ago48:47

48:47

Paul, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s Chief of Staff, stepped into the role a week before the pandemic arrived in his state. While just prior to the new role he was serving the Governor as Chief Operating Officer, Paul stepped off the ledge into the complexity of leading the most challenging health crisis in a century. What has surprised him the …

1
Drew Erdmann – Transformation in a time of great challenge 57:18

4y ago57:18

57:18

Drew, Missouri’s Chief Operating Officer, shares the stories of how earlier investments in leadership and management have accelerated the state’s ability to move quickly to address the challenges of the pandemic. Missouri started in 2017 on a series of cross-departmental initiatives in addition to large-scale engagements in management development. …

1
Kristen Cox – TOC: Which problems to ignore and which problems matter 47:43

4y ago47:43

47:43

Kristen has built a reputation as a remarkably clear thinker. She articulates a way of solving problems that drives to the core of the problem based on the Theory of Constraints. Blind her entire adult life, that has never stopped Kristen from being visionary. Checkout her book, Stop Decorating the Fish, Which Problems to Ignore and which Problems …

1
Joe Raasch -- Solve Problems, Don't Preach Lean 51:45

4y ago51:45

51:45

Minnesota State Government doesn’t have to worry when its director of the state’s Office of Continuous Improvement shows up at any one of its 24 cabinet-level agencies. Joe Raasch believes in solving problems as the most powerful way to make Lean valuable. So when he comes to visit, he’s there to help solve department problems on the ground not on …

1
Black Man/White Man, A Conversation 1:00:25

4y ago1:00:25

1:00:25

Dr. Brown is an African American man with a highly integrated life history. I grew up in all-white Milwaukie, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. This is a conversation between one black man and one white man about the challenges we face today in this nation. Challenges that don’t have to divide us, but challenges we do need to talk about.…

1
Dr. Paul Bellatty -- The Power of Data to Transform Lives 50:54

4y ago50:54

50:54

Oregon is using the power of longitudinal data to begin a long-term journey to identify -- as early in childhood as possible -- those most likely to struggle in life. The data gives the state the ability to identify those who most likely have a future that involves gang affiliation, unplanned teenage pregnancy, dropping out of school, mental health…

1
Jason Jackson - Strategic Talent Strategy 48:15

4+ y ago48:15

48:15

Bringing his experience as a lawyer, former naval officer and business executive in high tech, Jason Jackson joined Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts with a strategic eye on talent. Jason is working strategically through everything from figuring out the talent needed in the future to how best to attract the right people, to how to develop the interna…

1
Dr. Este Geraghty – Leveraging Data to Fight COVID-19 33:27

4+ y ago33:27

33:27

As the pandemic disrupts the daily living of the human species, government leaders are scrambling to flatten the curve. The key is to be able to see what’s happening and use data in ways that informs action. Dr. Geraghty is the chief medical officer of Esri, the global leader in the technology known as geospatial information – the dots on maps you …

1
Amy Fecher – The Wholesale Reorganization of State 45:17

4+ y ago45:17

45:17

Few states have the organizational fortitude and support it takes to overhaul the structure of state government. Arkansas is well into the process of moving from 200 boards, commissions and agencies down to a manageable 15 cabinet-level departments. From the vision for rationalizing a bloated and confusing structure, Governor Asa Hutchinson charter…

1
Jack Dangermond – Using Data to See Patterns, Connections and Relationships 39:09

4+ y ago39:09

39:09

No single individual has done more to help government leaders understand their most complex problems, visualizing them in time and space, than Jack Dangermond. Growing up on a family nursery, and studying landscape design, Jack and his wife Laura founded Esri in 1969 with a vision to create a mapping and data analysis framework to create a deeper u…

1
Norman Bodek – The Godfather of Lean in the U.S. on Respect for People 39:55

4+ y ago39:55

39:55

After many trips to the library in the early 1980s studying what drives productivity, Norm Bodek began taking American Executives on study missions to Japan. Now, 50 years and more than 80 study missions later, his fascination with Japanese management focused on quality and lean continues even at 87 years of age. In Japan, Norm met then translated …

1
Ken Jeske – Changing the Lives of Adults in Custody 43:03

4+ y ago43:03

43:03

Oregon Correctional Enterprises (OCE) is one of the most admired operations of its kind in the county – and now in the world. The organization Ken runs engages adults in custody (AIC) in money-making businesses that serves to help normalize and humanize their experience in prison. Using business disciplines OCE engages 1,500 AICs and in so doing cu…

1
Drew Erdmann – Missouri’s transformation through education 57:14

4+ y ago57:14

57:14

No state has made a more substantial and broad investment in educating their people than Missouri. Meet Drew Erdmann, Governor Mike Parson’s chief operating officer and the chief advocate for transformation through education. With the Governor’s leadership and the legislatures’ full support the state is doing one thing many don’t, its investing in …

1
Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel, Results Washington 42:34

4+ y ago42:34

42:34

As chief of staff to then newly elected Governor Jay Inslee, Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel led the creation, launch and management of Results Washington. The effort is widely considered the best designed system for results-driven state government in the country. Mary Alice, now with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, tells the story of how the system…

1
Mike Faust on Improving Child Safety 34:17

4+ y ago34:17

34:17

A Lean expert with a background as a general manager in the aerospace industry, Mike succeeded in blending managerial science and behavioral science to the benefit of the children of Arizona. Recently named director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety, Mike and his team have achieved a 21 percent decrease in the number of children being moved…

1
Governor Doug Ducey and the Arizona Management System 45:08

4+ y ago45:08

45:08

Governor Ducey set in motion the design and launch of his Arizona Management System by engaging his entire cabinet and policy staff in setting goals and defining measures. Five years later his efforts have succeeded in engaging employees in making improvements at every level delivering measurable results both across the agencies and deep down into …

1
Robert Shea, Architect of Government Performance & Results Act 34:01

4+ y ago34:01

34:01

Robert Shea worked in the U.S. Senate to design a comprehensive program for improving performance for the sprawling Federal Government. Shea went on to serve in The White House's Office of Management & Budget as Associate Director for Performance Management under President George W. Bush. Robert's inside perspective of the massive effort -- an effo…

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Electedofficials Podcasts

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