Yearly Archives: 2014

Introducing the General Services Administration’s Silent Hero: Vanessa Ros

Young Government Leaders (YGL) and GovLoop present the NextGen Public Service Awards for superior public service and achievement. The 4th Annual NextGen Public Service Awards will be given at the 2014 NextGen Award’s Ceremony, which will kick off the NextGen Training Summit on July 23rd in Washington, DC. We have 18 finalists in six differentRead… Read more »

Strategizing for NASA, Part 1: The United States Postal Service and the Porter Five Forces

In June 2014, the National Research Council (NRC) released its report on the future of human spaceflight, “Pathways to Exploration: Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration.” At its heart is a question of strategy – what should it be to move forward with a meaningful and successful path? In contemplatingRead… Read more »

Are You a Digital Hunter-Gatherer?

If you’ve ever been to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, you’ve more than likely seen the exhibit on human origins and evolution. Historical artifacts, life-size models and realistic renderings attempt to paint a portrait of the earliest of human civilizations. From our modern perspective, these first Homo sapiens seem more like animals thanRead… Read more »

New Reports on Civic Dialogue & Business Leaders

Our friends at the Network for Business Sustainability recently released two reports that we think NCDD members should note. The reports focus on the potential for business leaders to be more involved in civic dialogues, and we encourage you to read more about them in the NBS statement below. Businesses have traditionally played little roleRead… Read more »

A Glimmer of Hope in Pew’s Polarization Report

The Pew Research Center recently released a report on polarization in the US earlier this month that has important insights for our field. The report is huge, but luckily, NCDD Board of Directors member John Backman created a wonderful overview of the report’s findings, with an eye toward what it means for our work. WeRead… Read more »

The Difference Between Onboarding and Orientation

What good is having knowledge and skills about a particular topic if you do not share it. Here’s a quote from Margaret Fuller, “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.” So hopefully, others will light their candles with the knowledge that I am sharing about onboarding. Onboarding vs. NEO Onboarding isRead… Read more »

Health System Integration: Interesting Opportunity for Public Health

As a nation we have not done very well integrating health systems, payers, public health departments, and community based agencies. The key findings in obesity, diabetes, access, poverty, and tobacco underscore the need for service integration. The drumbeat for the integration of services among delivery systems with community-based organizations has become louder in recent years.Read… Read more »

How Can You Make Real Change? Use the Three R’s

“Scared Straight” versus “Relate” As Human Services Administrator for the City of Santa Clarita, California, I oversee programs that help young people find jobs, resist drugs, get healthy, learn new skills, and avoid gang membership. We invite ex-gang members to speak to “high-risk” teens and we show teens in our Community Court program videos thatRead… Read more »