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Event Recap | NAPA Social Equity Leadership Conference

The 20th Annual National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) Social Equity Leadership Conference (SELC) was held June 9 – 11, 2021. This year’s theme, “Fostering Social Equity: Innovation and Change,” emphasized developing and promoting concrete actions with lasting impact. The conference provided a space to discuss how public administrators can develop a broader understanding of social equity and recognize social equity’s implications within the administrative context.

Social equity—a key pillar of public administration alongside economy, efficiency, and effectiveness—addresses fairness, justice, and equity within a variety of public contexts. In its continuing fight for social equity in public administration, NAPA envisions transforming the public administration landscape and the public it serves by developing a framework that would enable public administrators, policy makers, legislators, and other like-minded organizations at all levels of government to assess the social equity impact of proposed legislation, regulations and policies and make necessary adjustments before they are implemented.

Read the Evans School’s conference report, “Promising Practices: Investment in Social Infrastructure,” and watch the full conference sessions below.

Conference Report

Q&A with Dean Jodi Sandfort and Gary Glickman, Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance Chair, NAPA:

Understanding Social and Economic Factors of Social Infrastructure

Given events of the last few years, many things are changing in our political, economic, and social lives. This panel provides cutting edge research to help us understand some of these changes, from the racial reckoning and social response that pulled down confederate statutes to changes in the workforce and contracting practices during COVID and in recent years.

Blueprint for a Just & Equitable Future: Washington State’s 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty

Stubbornly high rates of poverty are the product of inherently unjust and unequal policies, programs, and practices that have underwritten our economy for decades. In response, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee created a Poverty Reduction Work Group (PRWG) in 2018, tasking the group with the creation of a comprehensive, 10-year plan to dismantle poverty. With sincerity and humor, PRWG members Jennifer Bereskin, Drayton Jackson, Lori Pfingst, and Shereese Rhodes will share the journey to create the plan – the trials and tribulations of overcoming institutional distrust of agencies, the implicit biases we hold about people experiencing poverty and those serving them, how we are all undermined by systems underwritten by white supremacy, and the power in recognizing each other’s humanity.

Racial Justice: Not a Zero Sum Game – Government’s Role in the Racial Justice Reckoning

Join panelists from the Seattle Office for Civil Rights in a discussion about the growing polarization and entrenchment surrounding the racial justice reckoning the country is experiencing; how the Seattle Office for Civil Rights’ Race and Social Justice Initiative is structured and works; our journey to rebuild accountability to community; and how city departments make the work of antiracism their own.

Event Recap | Public Matters 2021

On May 13th, the Evans School community convened for Public Matters 2021. We heard from six amazing and dynamic storytellers as they shared their own reflections on this year’s theme, “Transforming Public Service.” Attendees were invited to listen and learn, and called upon to engage and commit to a new vision for anti-racist public service by sharing their gifts with the Evans School – whether they be time, experience, or financial gifts – as we build a community of reciprocity.

The inaugural Public Matters was a true celebration of the knowledge of our wider community. Watch the recording, learn more about our storytellers and their work, explore the takeaways, and join us as together we envision inclusively built societies powered by brave leadership, rigorous action, and collective wisdom.

Watch the Full Recording:

Watch the Recording

Explore the Takeaways

Our Collective Wisdom

During the event, Evans School staff distilled the themes, patterns, and chat comments that emerged into a resource document for you to review and reflect upon.

Explore the Graphic Harvest

Our Collective Commitment

We asked those in attendance to share, “What is a takeaway, action step, or commitment you are leaving this event with today?”

See what they had to say

Our Public Matters Storytellers:

Priya D. Saxena, MPA (They/Them)

Founder + President of Equitable Future
Continue reading “Event Recap | Public Matters 2021”

Event Recap | Dean’s Forum on Race & Public Policy: Leading and Managing Anti-Racist Organizations

Dean's Forum of Public Policy & Governance

At the heart of the Evans School’s mission is a call to host community conversations that support and inspire public leaders, and our Dean’s Forum events have focused on the intersection of race and public policy. The series continued with a live conversation between Dr. Susan Gooden, Dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Dr. Jodi Sandfort, Dean of the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington, as they discussed ways to advance anti-racist public administration and management.

Review Resources

Susan T. Gooden, Ph.D., is dean and professor of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an internationally recognized expert on social equity. Gooden is an elected fellow of the congressionally chartered National Academy of Public Administration and is past president of the American Society for Public Administration.

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She is the Vice-President of the Network of Associated Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). Her books include Global Equity in Administration (2020); Why Research Methods Matter (2018, Melvin and Leigh); Race and Social Equity: A Nervous Area of Government (2014, Routledge); and Cultural Competency for Public Administrators (2012, Routledge). Her research has been funded by several organizations including the Russell Sage Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, MDRC, and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

Gooden has received several honors including the 2021 Charles H. Levine Award for Excellence in Public Administration presented jointly by ASPA and NASPAA, the Herbert Simon Best Book Award presented by the American Political Science Association and the Jewel Prestage Pioneer Award from the Conference of Minority Public Administrators. She received a Fulbright Specialist Award to Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Gooden was appointed to the Commission on Peer Review and Accreditation, the accrediting arm of the Network of Associated Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration. She has previously served as an elected member to the national policy council of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. She was appointed to the Virginia Community College System board and served as board chair. She currently serves on the board of the Virginia Retirement System. A native of Martinsville & Henry County, Virginia, Gooden earned an A.S. in Natural Science from Patrick Henry Community College, a B.A. in English from Virginia Tech, and an M.A. in Political Science from Virginia Tech. She received her doctorate from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

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Dr. Jodi Sandfort joined the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance as dean in January 2021. Formerly a professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, her work focuses on improving the implementation of social policy, particularly those policies designed to support low-income children and their families.

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She is the founder and academic director of the Hubert Project, a global community focused on improving professional education and effectiveness through development and sharing of multimedia learning materials, such as e-cases, e-studies, and video briefs. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Public Administration, a distinguished honor recognizing her innovative leadership in the field.

For six years she directed the human services program at the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis, where she managed a portfolio of $20 million in annual giving. Sandfort has served as a Family Self-Sufficiency Scholar funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation. In 2015, she was the co-chair of the Public Management Research Association conference, hosting scholars from around the world in Minneapolis. She has also worked as a senior strategy consultant with the Bush Foundation and special assistant to the President of the University of Minnesota.

Sandfort is the author of books, many academic articles, book chapters, and reports for policymakers and practitioners about social welfare system design, organizational effectiveness, early childhood education, welfare reform, nonprofit management, and research methodology. She is currently on the editorial boards of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, American Review of Public Administration, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and the Journal of Public Affairs Education.

She has worked as a consultant with national and statewide foundations, think tanks, and other nonprofit human service organizations. She has provided leadership coaching, executive development, and organizational development services to nonprofit, philanthropic, and public organizations. She has accepted academic appointments solely in professional schools because they are promising sites for scholar-practitioner dialogue.

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Evans School Embarks on Bold Journey With New Vision for Public Service

This is a critical time for our nation. The inequitable impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting economic disparities, and the pervasive violence experienced by Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color shed new light on the disfunction of our public institutions and the increasing erosion of trust in our public institutions. The fundamental strengthening of our democratic system will depend on our ability to address racial bias, reinvigorate a shared belief in the sacred work of public service, and rebuild lasting faith in our public institutions.

Driven by our values, we are building a necessary engine of change.

Evans School Ranks Among Best in the Nation

U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Graduate Schools places the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance among the best schools in the nation and the world. The Evans School ranked fourth among public affairs graduate programs overall, and second among public institutions.

Six of our specializations were also ranked in the top ten: Environmental Policy, Nonprofit Management, Social Policy, Public Finance & Budgeting, Public Policy Analysis, and Public Management and Leadership.

Evans School Dean Jodi Sandford noted: “I am pleased by Evans’ continued top-five ranking because of the ways it positions us to engage deeply with public policy and implementation issues moving forward, sharing our learning with peers throughout the country and the world. We should all take great pride in our School’s work to inspire public service and democratize public policy.”

These rankings are released annually and are based on reputation and respect among peer institutions. These rankings are representative our leadership and expertise in these areas as an institution. View the full rankings.

The Evans School Welcomes New Faculty Members in Fall 2021

The Evans School is proud to welcome two new faculty members to the Evans School community for the 2021-22 academic year. Dr. Sebawit G. Bishu and Isabelle M. Cohen are both highly accomplished scholars and educators who will significantly enhance the Evans School’s offerings and add great vibrancy to the Evans School community.

Sebawit G. Bishu, Ph.D.

Sebawit G. Bishu is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver, School of Public Affairs. She also holds a non-resident fellow appointment at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP).

Bishu’s research centers around making government effective and equitable through conscious and ethical public management practice. Her work aims at understanding and improving the circumstances under which government provides equitable opportunity to all its workforce and equitable service outcome to citizens. Bishu is passionate about improving women’s and racial minority group’s participation in decision-making roles in government in Africa and the United States.

Isabelle M. Cohen

Isabelle Cohen’s research focuses on understanding technological and organizational innovations in developing countries. She partners with governmental and non-governmental organizations to rigorously evaluate new programs, policies and procedures, using tools such as randomized evaluations, administrative data analysis, geocoding and machine learning techniques. Much of her current research is focused in Uganda, although she has worked and done research in many other countries, including India, Peru and Greece.

Cohen will receive her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2021. She received her Master’s in Public Policy from the College of William & Mary in 2012, and her B.A. in International Relations from the same university in 2011.

Many thanks to the dedicated work of the Search Committee Chairs and all who served on the search committees for their careful reviews, engaged participation, and generous welcome toward the candidates.

Anti-Racism Action in 2020 and the Road Ahead

In June of 2020, I wrote to the Evans School community with a call to make anti-racism action our cornerstone for the year ahead. I am deeply appreciative of the many initiatives spearheaded, conceived, and supported in partnership between staff, faculty, students, and the administration over this time. While I realize and understand that – in many ways – we are just beginning, I also acknowledge the longer-term efforts of those in our community who have engaged in this work with passion and purpose for many years.

I am particularly grateful for the staff’s focus on identifying funds within all sub-budgets to dedicate to this work, as well as the identification of, development of, and engagement with internal and external training opportunities. Staff have inspired change in every team, as individuals and units identified actions and dove in. In particular, staff have thought deeply about every aspect of our engagement mission, including our approach to hosting internal and external events that embrace equity and inclusion.

Additionally, staff and faculty were pivotal in the autumn quarter launch of the Dean’s Forum on Race and Public Policy, which engaged more than 300 members of our wider community in conversations about race, voter rights and suppression, as well as policy, legal, and informational solutions. The election season was contentious and historic and called on us to lead in a special way given our platform as a top policy school. With the transition in Washington D.C. now underway, we will continue to use our voice and leverage our role in national conversations about racial justice, economic impact, community development, and public sector rebuilding.

Faculty and staff have been charged with leading anti-racism action in their service roles, particularly in the standing and ad-hoc committees which support the school’s educational and research programs and carry out school business. Committees that impact admissions, curriculum, merit evaluation, promotion, and hiring all reflect this priority. The partnership of students on many of these committees has also been a tremendous asset.

Related to our teaching mission, faculty have undertaken training and practical exercises to increase their capacity to lead discussions on race and equity in the classroom, and more generally. As one example, this autumn the Evans School collaborated with the Foster School and the Information School to tackle inclusive teaching and learning in a faculty workshop supported by a UW Diversity and Inclusion Seed Grant. Faculty worked on syllabi and classroom techniques, and also brought key takeaways back to their peers, further increasing this program’s impact. To support this work during this pandemic era of remote instruction, assistance was provided to faculty by the Dean’s Office to help develop accessible and inclusive classrooms and course materials. In addition, the Center for Teaching and Learning provided a workshop for Evans School faculty, and we set aside time for targeted discussions during faculty meetings.

We acknowledge the disproportionate burden carried by our faculty and staff of color during this time of increased awareness of longstanding racial injustice, especially in supporting student needs and particularly BIPOC students, but also in educating their peers and providing critical insights and role modeling, and we have worked to target support that reflects these often-unseen contributions.

Students have been partners in numerous efforts related to our programs and teaching mission, bringing a race, equity, and public policy lens. Notably, last spring the MPA students on the Curriculum Advocacy Team completed an independent research study to help the school think deeply about incorporating race and equity content into our curriculum and classrooms. Over the summer, faculty reviewed the report and its recommendations, some of which have been actionable in the short term, while others reflect longer term initiatives. PhD students also engaged in their own dedicated training and brought forward suggestions for action to promote racial justice in their program. And the EMPA program is engaging in an equity audit of its curriculum, ably led by an outstanding EMPA alum.

As I end my term as interim dean, I celebrate incoming Dean Jodi Sandfort’s commitment to lead the Evans School to be anti-racist institution. In her tenure as dean, anti-racism action will continue to be a cornerstone of our work and will expand further as our school explores how to diversify the pipeline of public servants through partnerships with the Public Policy & International Affairs Program and re-define our curriculum. While we are early in this journey, it has been inspiring to witness the energy and intention demonstrated throughout our community. I look forward to the time ahead as the Evans School begins its next chapter, together!

Professor Ann Bostrom joins National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee to review space radiation risks.

The committee will review and assess NASA’s space radiation risk management process as it relates to long-term cancer risks due to radiation exposure during crewed space missions. Based on the committee’s review and assessment of NASA’s proposed strategies, the committee will make recommendations to NASA for assessing and managing the processes for addressing space radiation risk for astronauts.

Evans School researchers document approaches and challenges in ensuring access to small business grant and loan programs during COVID-19

This summer, Evans School Associate Professor Crystal Hall, and recent alumni Puja Kumar (MPA ’20) and Sehej Singh (MPA’20) will work with the U.S. Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES) and Small Business Administration (SBA). In this work, they will work with a set of local governments around the country to understand how they are incorporating considerations of equity into the design and implementation of their COVID-19 grant and loan programs for small businesses.

Parrington Hall Remodeled – Celebrating the Evans School’s Historic Home

After five years of planning, garnering support and execution, it is with great pride and joy that we celebrate the transformation of Parrington Hall. To the Evans School community – alumni, friends, staff, faculty and students – as well as the UW and the State of Washington, thank you. The vision of Dean Emerita Sandy Archibald, the enthusiasm of Dan and Nancy Evans, the project management of Rebecca Ehrlichman Blume, the contributions of our architectural and construction partners and the generosity of 517 donors led by co-chairs Bill Clapp, Maria Denny and Tom Waldron, were critical in bringing the project to this incredible conclusion. I hope you will take a few minutes to join a virtual tour to see this truly remarkable remodel for yourself and to realize just what this transformation means for our students, faculty, staff, and community!

This is a unique time to celebrate the completion of a building project, with so many of us teaching, learning, and engaging from home. In this period of upheaval and isolation, we long more than ever to gather physically and philosophically during this traditional season of coming home. In a way, Parrington Hall’s transformation symbolizes where we have been, where we are going, and what we can accomplish together.

Within our responsibilities as an academic institution is the mandate to continue to learn and to share an awareness of our own history with humility in order to forge stronger more inclusive public policy, toward a more equitable future. As we celebrate our newly renovated home in Parrington Hall, I would like to acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples, upon whose land Parrington Hall and the University of Washington were built. Their ancestors have resided here since time immemorial and they continue to live in this place today, deeply rooted in their cultural traditions.

Land acknowledgement is a traditional practice in many Indigenous communities. Long before Parrington Hall — or Science Hall, as it was first named — was built in 1902, Coast Salish communities were already in relationship with this land. Recognizing this continuing history reminds us of the importance of centering Indigenous, Black, and other communities of color within our Evans community, and it reminds us of our own connection to this land where we live, learn, and work.

I recognize that this acknowledgement is a small gesture, but an important initial step in our commitment to “make anti-racism work [our] cornerstone, focus, and overarching mission.” This step carries the further responsibility to dedicate ourselves to building respectful, collaborative, and accountable relationships, and to allow those relationships to inform our actions.

When it is safe to do so, we will welcome all of you to Parrington Hall to celebrate its incredible transformation to a light filled and inspiring space in which to connect, engage with community, bridge divides, and move our mission forward! Until then, please remember that even when we are far from campus, our community’s passion for public service and unceasing dedication to making change and elevating equity, distinguish us as the Evans School in all places and at all times.