Two guests pursuing their Master's of Public Administration at the University of Kansas joined the podcast to talk about Gen Z in local government. Emma Roniger is a Management Intern for the League of Kansas Municipalities and Jill Parsons is a Management Intern for the City of Leawood, Kansas. They shared the biggest myth local governments have about their generation and responses they received for a survey regarding Gen Z. They also talked about how different generations can work together.

Host: Meredith Reynolds

Adrianna Tušek Erickson, Connection & Impact Program Coordinator for the City of Chandler, Arizona, joined the podcast to talk about connection and belonging. She discussed the importance of serving all residents in the community and why allyship is important. She shared the impact that changes from the Federal government have had her work. She also talked about the transition of reentering the workforce after a ten year break.

Host: Ben Kittelson

Nick Lemmer, Outreach & Communications Specialist for Goodhue County, Minnesota joined the podcast to discuss public communications. He talked about the challenge and importance of building trust in rural communities. He shared rebranding projects from his past position, communicating cost shifts in reduced federal funding, and public communication related to data centers.

Host: Lauren Palmer

Emma Falkenstein, Associate Planner at Highland Planning joined the podcast to discuss participatory mapping. She talked about community walk audits and how can local governments can incorporate walk audits into their regular planning procedures. She also talked about the value of community relationships as it relates to shaping where people live.

Host: Toney Thompson

Cori Zarek, Vice President for North America at Apolitical joined the podcast to talk about her career in public interest technology and helping make government smarter. She shared how Apolitical is working to support peer learning among government staffers and a recent report they published on 50 states, 50 breakthroughs from organizations across the country. She also discussed the trends and insights they have found in how government staffers are using artificial intelligence and how organizations can support their staff.

Host: Meredith Reynolds

Chachi Angelo, Director of External Affairs at Pennie, the State of Pennsylvania's Health Insurance Marketplace, joined the podcast to discuss how state healthcare marketplaces and local governments are interconnected. He shared what the healthcare marketplace does and how residents interact with it, how municipalities partner with Pennie during enrollment periods, and how to communicate in a way that builds trust at the local level.

Host: Marissa Baum

Joseph Sherlock, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science and Public Policy at King's College London, joined the podcast to discuss the state of behavioral science in government. He talked about what is behavioral science and examples of how it has been applied in the public sector. Then he shared how the field is evolving and the importance of running experiments in your organization.

Host: Toney Thompson

Two guests from Reno County, Kansas joined the podcast to talk about the process behind unifying rural fire districts. Randy Partington is the County Administrator for Reno County and Adam Weishaar is the Director of Emergency Management for Reno County. They shared the challenges the fire districts were facing that led to the unification such as equipment, training, and staffing issues. Then they discussed the transition toward consolidation and lessons learned and takeaways from their experience.

Host: Lauren Palmer

Alex Lawrence, Chief People Officer for the City of Boston, Massachusetts, rejoined the podcast to talk about organizational change, development, and human resources. She discussed change management and the importance of communication for human resources. She shared how her background in innovation has influenced her career. She also reflected on local government trends from the last 10 years.

Host: Ben Kittelson

Chyanne Eyde, Deputy Chief of School Planning for the Government of the District of Columbia joined the podcast to discuss how not to engage historically marginalized communities in public outreach. She shared difficulties she was having in engagement and how it was negatively impacting her work. She then discussed how the engagement process has evolved and lessons learned in engagement.

Host: Toney Thompson