Terry Gerton: Well, I want to start by congratulating you on your election as a NAPA fellow, a group that’s near and dear to my heart.
Katy Kale: Yes, I know it is very near and dear to your heart. I am thrilled to be part of this organization, one that I have really looked up to for many years.
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Terry Gerton: It’s always interesting to look back at the history of folks who get elected. You’ve spent years in key operational roles across government, Capitol Hill to GSA. Tell us what first drew you into public administration and why you stuck with it for so long.
Katy Kale: Thank you for asking that question. I really have always believed that public service is more than a job. It’s truly a calling, which is something that we heard a lot at the NAPA conference last week. For me, it’s also part of my family legacy. So I am a third-generation public servant. My mother, my uncle, my grandfather, all public servants before me. And I actually got my first government job in the federal government as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives when I was in high school.
Terry Gerton: Wow.
Katy Kale: And from there, I just knew that this is what I wanted to do. So I grew up in Massachusetts, but came down to Virginia, went to George Mason University, majored in government and politics, worked for a civic education group before I then went back to the Hill. And as you said, I worked for four different senators. I was a senior leader at the White House. And then most recently, I was the deputy administrator at a wonderful agency, which is the U.S. General Services Administration. I also was, during that time, during the last administration, I was chair of the U.S. Access Board as well, which is a very small, sometimes unknown agency that makes sure that all people, and especially people with disabilities, have access to their federal buildings, to their federal websites. And I had the honor of expanding my own experiences by taking on that job as well.
Terry Gerton: Katy, as you look back at all of those years of service, all of those diverse organizations that you worked in, is there a moment or a project or an initiative that really stands out as especially meaningful to you? Something that makes you think, ‘That is why I do this work?’
Katy Kale: So Terry, I think that you know this more than most, like the thing about being a public administrator is that so much of what we do is behind the scenes. And most people out in the public often only notice something when it goes wrong or goes sideways. But every day, public servants are creating this really efficient and effective government that works and makes life easier for people. And so we really plan for our good days, but we also are always watching out and figuring out what we have to do on bad days and making sure that we can create contingency plans and make sure that the public really doesn’t know what could have happened. And because of that, I think that a lot of public administrators and public servants in general measure their careers in maybe these like small wins that add up as opposed to one big visible accomplishment. Now, that said, I am very proud of the work that I’ve done, especially the teams that I’ve been part of and what we’ve been able to achieve together. And I’ll give you two quick ones. One is back in like 2008-2009, I was the director of operations for the Obama-Biden presidential transition team. And during that time, I worked closely with not only GSA, but also the outgoing team from President Bush’s administration. And I think that what I’ve been seeing a lot lately, and especially anytime transitions come up, is that this group of people were really able to execute one of the most successful transition of presidential powers. And I’m very proud of that. At the same time, figuring out what it was going to look like on Inauguration Day and really just kind of overseeing that daily operations, facilities, technology, human resources, security, all those little things again that are behind the scenes, but really add up over time. The second one is much more recent. It is back in 2021 when I returned to GSA. And at that point, I was both the deputy administrator, but I was also the acting administrator. And it was at the height of the pandemic and the agency and the people were really facing this kind of uncertainty and low engagement, low morale. And really, we realized that we needed to reimagine how and where government work happened. I was tapped to co-chair a cross-government task force. It’s a mouthful, it’s the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. But there, we developed policies and procedures that we made sure were consistent in messaging. Not only throughout the government but within an agency itself. And knowing that there were so many more unknowns than knowns, we wanted to make sure that we were able to iterate as the situation was changing. And then within GSA, I wanted to make sure that we were leading by example and we really took a look at every position and determine whether it was an on-site position or if it was eligible for remote work. We made sure that we were polling our workforce to see what additional equipment that they needed to do the people’s work either at home or at the office. We asked for feedback often and made sure that we were responding to that feedback. So that feedback loop and because of that, I’m very proud to say that GSA was one of the top five places to work in government during those years, which were really tough years for a lot of people.
Terry Gerton: That’s right. I’m speaking with Katy Kale. She’s a former deputy administrator of GSA and a newly-elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. What would you say if you were speaking to someone just starting out now? What advice would you give them about building a career in public service?
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Katy Kale: I love this question because I’ve received it so many times over my career. And I’ve gotten the question a couple of times lately, too. At first, I thought maybe it’s different than it was a year ago, almost a year ago when I left the administration. But I think it’s the same. And the first one is to say thank you, right? Thank you for choosing public service. And there is a lot of very important work that needs to be done at all levels of government: federal, state, local, and not only today, but well into the future. And we really need people who have talent and we need their passion and we need creativity, which often is overlooked. And I think to an individual, I would recommend that they do what they enjoy. There is a place for just about any career within public service. Often, people only think about the policymakers or the elected officials when they’re thinking about government and public service, but it really includes so many career choices and career paths. Just thinking about folks that I’ve worked for: statisticians to building managers to police and security officers to astronauts. There’s so many jobs from the private sector that translate into the public sector and connect you to a mission-driven organization. I think the other thing is really to succeed in public service, you need humility, you need to be authentic, you need a sense of humor certainly helps. And you really need to connect with a purpose that is greater than yourself. And a lot of it is not an individual work, it is really teamwork. I used to work for an organization and they would say that democracy is not a spectator sport. And I loved that. But I think over time, I’ve really realized that democracy, and especially public service, is a team sport. We all need to work together and I’m really looking at the next generation to join us and really step up and continue to make a difference.
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