Online Resources for MPA/MPP Programs

Seema Bansal, Head Partner & Director, Social Impact and Shoikat Roy, School Education Consultant for the Boston Consulting Group, discuss Black Lives Matter in India

Charlie Bolden, former four-time space shuttle astronaut and former administrator of NASA speaks with Don Kettl on leading people through change. 

 Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen served as the Incident Commander of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and later replaced Michael Brown as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in September of 2005. In this 12 minute interview, Allen speaks about the importance of leadership during a crisis, his role in directing the Hurricane Katrina response efforts, and his expertise in an evaluation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interview conducted by Don Kettl, LBJ School of Public Affairs

Memo Description of Video

In this fifteen minute interview, Managing Director for Strategic Issues at the US General Accountability Office (GAO), Chris Mihm discusses the general roles of the GAO, important lessons learned from past stimulus acts, and projects how that knowledge will help government confront problems in administering oversight for the Coronvirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Mihm concludes this dialogue with an interesting perspective on what the skills current policy students will need utilize governments of the future to address the needs of society. Video Memo Description

12 min video on the big issues of complexity theory as they apply to the virus, by Danny Buerkli.  Danny is a Co-Founder of staatslabor and former Director at the Centre for Public Impact.   This video makes a great companion piece to the Module developed by Don Kettl of the LBJ School of Public Affairs in the section above. 

Article referenced in Video

Having the experience as a past Mayor of Baltimore, a past presidential candidate, and the former Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley offers an exceptional perspective in this 13-minute interview that branches across all levels of government. Leadership in a crisis, utilizing technology and data to improve government by building trust, and the potential social progress and innovation that can occur through adversity are a few of the topics former Governor O’Malley discusses with LBJ School Professor Don Kettl. Video Description Memo

Background Reading: Smarter Government--Collaborative Leadership

Steve Goldsmith serves as a current Harvard Kennedy School Professor, was previously a Deputy Mayor of New York City under Michael Bloomberg, and was also a two-term Republican Mayor of the City of Indianapolis from 1992-2000. In this eleven-minute interview, Professors Kettl and Goldsmith discuss issues, strategies, and concepts such as: effective strategies for leading cities, leveraging technology to improve government services and drive innovation, and operating across vertically integrated governments to efficiently utilize horizontal agencies to confront challenging tasks.

Memo Description of Video

Philip Howard is a noted lawyer, founder of nonprofit called Common Good that organizes around nonpartisan government reform, and devout commentator on the effects of modern law and bureaucracy on human behavior and the workings of society. In this 17-minute video, Howard and Professor Don Kettl discuss problems with the current bureaucratic system of governance, some potential areas for government reform, and how this topic intersects with the current pandemic and COVID-19. Video Description Memo

Articles for further discussion:

New York Times article by Nicole Hong, that details the challenges New York City has had with overcoming bureaucratic hurdles.

Bloomberg Opinion Article by Cass R Sunstein on dealing with administrative barriers. 

Mike Nichols, the President of the Coalition for the Homeless in Houston, Texas, discusses the dynamics of leading a coalition composed of 100+ different member organizations to address homelessness. Houston is considered national leader by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for their extensive efforts in the past decade to reduce homelessness. President Nichols discusses the development of the coalition, obstacles that have delayed potential progress, and issues on the horizon for policy makers with the growth of pandemic COVID-19. 

Interview conducted by Don Kettl, LBJ School of Public Affairs Memo Description of Video

Teaching PowerPoint