NEW YORK, March 22, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Volcker Alliance announced its selection of Kansas City, Missouri and Austin, Texas to launch the next phase of its Government-to-University Initiative (G2U). The nonprofit, nonpartisan Alliance established G2U last fall with the aim of building sustainable connections between government and universities to respond to high-need areas of government. These collaborations are uniquely positioned to cultivate a vital talent pipeline into the public sector workforce, ensure that the workforce possesses the necessary skills to meet public sector challenges, and provide answers to government's top-priority research questions.
"I am excited to announce that we will be launching two pilot G2U Regional Councils this spring in partnership with the Mid-America Regional Council in Kansas City and the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs," said Thomas W. Ross, president of the Volcker Alliance. "These councils will serve as regional 'marketplaces' to connect government research and hiring needs with local university capacity. We aim to expand this network nationally and may establish more regional councils as early as this fall," said Mr. Ross.
Mr. Ross noted that Austin is an exemplary site for a G2U Regional Council because of its top-tier universities and significant local, state, and federal government presence.
"The LBJ School has long been a frontrunner in training public leaders and tackling the toughest research questions. We are dedicated to creating a sustained presence and producing a steady flow of experts to enhance long-term policy innovations by designing government-driven solutions," said Angela Evans, dean of the LBJ School. "We are thrilled to be recognized as a hub for this new marketplace, and we look forward to collaborating with our colleagues across the country."
The Volcker Alliance also chose Kansas City as a G2U Regional Council site and will partner with the Mid-America Regional Council, a well-respected organization in its community.
"The 119 cities and nine counties that make up the bistate Kansas City metro area are ripe for a collaborative public service workforce agenda. We're looking forward to partnering with the Volcker Alliance to launch a G2U Regional Council that will connect our region's great universities with public agencies and deliver the effective results our citizens expect and deserve," said David Warm, executive director of the Mid-America Regional Council.
The Alliance's event in Washington, D.C., "Government-to-University Initiative: A Regional Approach to Advancing Government Effectiveness," brought together more than 250 leading academics, practitioners, and reporters from around the nation to discuss how universities and federal, state, and local governments can build sustainable networks to catalyze change.
Featured speakers at the event included Margaret Weichert, deputy director for management for the US Office of Management and Budget; Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and author of "The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World"; and representatives from the initial convenings that took place during the G2U exploratory phase in 2018. The event also included panel discussions moderated by Sara Mogulescu, executive vice president of the Volcker Alliance, which focused on the value of government-university collaborations, lessons learned from the exploratory phase, and the next phase of the initiative.
During the exploratory phase of G2U, the Volcker Alliance led design sessions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; and Austin, Texas. Last fall, Dustin Brown, deputy assistant director for the US Office of Management and Budget, joined the Alliance while on sabbatical to lead this phase of the G2U Initiative as a Senior Fellow. The goal of the sessions was to discuss ways to advance government effectiveness through collaborations between universities and all levels of government in a region. The exploratory phase confirmed that there is an enormous appetite for building lasting connections between government and universities at the regional level.
Partners involved with the first phase of the Government-to-University Initiative included Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, Federal Executive Boards, Mid-America Regional Council, Robertson Foundation for Government, The Lab at the United States Office of Personnel Management, University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government, The University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and the United States Office of Management and Budget.
The Volcker Alliance advances effective management of government to achieve results that matter to citizens. We envision a public sector workforce with the experience, preparation, and commitment to ensure that government—local, state, and federal—delivers with excellence. Visit volckeralliance.org to learn more. Follow us on social media @VolckerAlliance and subscribe to the Volcker Alliance newsletter for the latest news and developments. The Volcker Alliance is a 501(c)(3) organization.
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SOURCE The Volcker Alliance
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