Profiles in Public Service Partnership for Public Service

Two leaders committed to ensuring equity in both federal and local environmental justice initiatives join “Profiles in Public Service” to speak about their collaborative efforts to address public health issues for communities on the West Coast and beyond. Laura Ebbert works in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9 office based in San Francisco, where she leads environmental justice, equity and policy programs. Lauren Boitel runs ImpactNV, a statewide sustainability nonprofit and coalition builder in Las Vegas, Nevada. A recent recipient of the EPA’s environmental justice grant program, ImpactNV is using federal funds to support transformational investments to improve air quality and mitigate the impact of severe heat on predominantly Latinx communities in East Las Vegas. Ebbert and Boitel describe how listening to the lived experiences of community members is leading to more equitable statewide and federal solutions to environmental justice concerns. 

Additional Resources: 


Learn more about the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving Cooperative Agreement program 
Find updates about the Buen Aire Para Todos project led by ImpactNV. 

A full transcript of this episode is available here.

The third season of “Profiles in Public Service” is off to an exciting start as we highlight all that our federal government does to strengthen local communities across America. 

In our first episode, Craig Buerstatte, a program and policy leader at the Economic Development Administration, shares how he and his team managed to equitably distribute $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding to 780 projects that assist local communities in creating more robust and resilient regional economies. These efforts included the EDA’s $500 million Good Jobs Challenge, led by Lauren Starks, and benefited organizations like the Illinois-based nonprofit, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, led by Patrick Combs.  

Buerstatte, Starks and Combs discuss why they work in public service, what they have learned about enabling economic development at the local level, and how they have built community-informed projects that bring together diverse partners to support the U.S. workforce. 

A transcript for this episode is available here.

Additional Resources:  


Learn more about the EDA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan funding. 
Learn more about the Good Jobs Challenge. 
Press Release: U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $18.5 Million to Strengthen Workforce Training Programs in Chicago, Illinois, Through American Rescue Plan Good Jobs Challenge.
Read more about Service to America Medals Winner Philip Rosenfelt.

“Profiles in Public Service” is honored to have Rep. Andy Kim from New Jersey’s 3rd District join us as the final guest of our second season. Congressman Kim is committed to empowering a greater belief in service, democracy, and a more mission-driven government. In 2018, Kim chose to apply his unique combination of experiences working as a career public servant at the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House National Security Council to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. Once elected, he became the first Korean American Democrat elected to Congress. In this episode, Congressman Kim discusses his professional journey in public service, what he is doing to build greater trust in government among not only his constituents, but among all Americans, and his proposed legislation to aimed at “supercharging national service” and creating more pathways for all to enter government work.

A full transcript is available here.

Resources mentioned during interview


Learn more about Congressman Andy Kim.
Learn more about the Truman Fellowship Program.
Remember Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
Legislation to Supercharge National Service.
Service Spotlights in New Jersey’s 3rd District.

Paloma Adams-Allen, the deputy administrator for management and resources at the U.S. Agency for International Development, is responsible for ensuring that the agency has the technological, financial, and human resources to deliver on its mission—in other words, for advancing the success of USAID’s people, partnerships, and processes. Working in support of Administrator Samantha Power, Adams-Allen speaks to the agency’s ongoing initiatives to build a more diverse, inclusive, and accessible workforce and her office’s efforts to encourage young professionals, students and leaders of color to pursue career opportunities with USAID.  She also discusses the process of forming partnerships with local development organizations, civil society organizations, and community enterprises across the world to be more responsive to the needs and priorities of the international communities USAID supports.

A complete transcript is available here.

Additional Resources:


Read Deputy Administrator Paloma Adams-Allen's bio.
Learn more about the partnering organizations that work with USAID.
Learn more about the DEIA Achievements of USAID including the Respectful, Inclusive, and Safe Environments (RISE) Learning and Engagement Platform.
Careers with USAID.
Learn more about USAID’s Minority Serving Institutions Program.

The government is filled with public servants leading in technology, innovation, and improving government customer experiences for the public. On this episode we hear from Brian Whittaker and Amber Chaudhry, who are not only two such leaders, but also share a passion for creating support networks for emerging public servants from a diversity of backgrounds. Whittaker is the founder of Humans of Public Service, an organization and project he started to share the stories of public servants from across the country on social media. One of the first people interviewed by Humans of Public Service was Chaudhry, an emerging government leader and current Customer Experience Lead at the Department of Housing and Urban Development where she works to implement a more human-centered approach to government customer service. She is also the founder of Muslim Americans in Public Service and a former Presidential Management Fellow.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

Reach out to Brian Whittaker and Humans of Public Service:


Check out the stories of public servants featured on Humans of Public Service.
Learn more about the Partnership’s Federal Innovation Council.

Reach out to Amber Chaudhry:


Learn more about Muslim Americans in Public Service.
Learn more about the Presidential Management Fellowship.
Learn more about opportunities with AmeriCorps.

Samantha Sutton, a 2022 Service to America Medals® Emerging Leader finalist and current Political Advisor for the United States Mission to the United Nations, shares her story of working in diplomacy as a career civil servant who started as an intern with the State Department. Sutton has worked on Middle East peace issues across three different presidential administrations and has provided important continuity during transitions to advance peace in the region. Sutton joined Profiles in Public Service from Israel where she was most recently serving as chief of staff to Ambassador Tom Nides, alongside Fred Wilson, the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s first Chief Diversity Officer. Wilson led efforts to encourage greater dialogue among senior leaders, embassy staff, and the diverse communities Mission Jerusalem works alongside. Sutton and Wilson discuss their accomplishments and challenges working on the Israel-Palestinian conflict as well as their suggestions for emerging leaders interested in pursuing international relations and diplomacy work through the federal government.

This episode is the fourth of four highlighting some of our 2022 Service to America Medals® finalists. Nominate an outstanding public servant for a 2023 Sammies medal today through our nomination form!

Tune in on November 23rd at 8 pm on Bloomberg Television and the Partnership’s YouTube Channel linked in our show notes.

A transcript of this episode can be found here.

Additional Resources:


Reach out to Sam Sutton and Fred Wilson on LinkedIn.
Learn more about internships and fellowships at the Department of State.
Learn more about the United States Mission to the United Nations.