"If you can see it, you can be it." Melissa Newberg has been a lot of things. She's an intelligence leader with over 15 years of experience in both the public and private sectors, and she began her career with the U.S. Air Force as a civilian, later serving as a Defense Fellow in the House of Representatives, before moving into the corporate world. Melissa isn't fearless - she's brave. And she isn't an extrovert - she's an extremely generous introvert. She's seeking and defining her own purpose, and sharing practical advice on translating skills, reaching for new opportunities, and finding mission-driven work outside of government.
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34:06
On Storytelling and Sabbaticals with Bill Russo
Bill Russo is doing well, and doing good. He's deliberately made time and space for both. On his quest to leave the world a little better than he found it, Bill served in Senior roles in the Obama and Biden administrations, contributing to the Biden campaign's successful bid for the White House in 2020, and most recently leading the State Department's Bureau of Global Public Affairs as Assistant Secretary of State. Other experiences include a transformative trip abroad, a near miss with a career as a psychiatrist, and a brief (and unlucrative) stint as a barista. Bill's commitment to service extends to the way he shows up for his family, friends, and colleagues. He did the work to peel the "burnout onion," finding his way to a new season of life and career, and now he's reflecting on the power of storytelling, the loneliness epidemic, and the magic of a sabbatical.
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46:30
On Crisis and Multilateral Diplomacy with Josh Black
Josh Black is not just the "UN Guy" - he's a true believer in the art of multilateral diplomacy. His resume is too long and his career too storied to summarize here, but the through-line is his persistent belief in our collective ability (and shared responsibility) to work together as a global community to address the worst crises we face.In this episode, Josh shares his journey from Toledo, Ohio, to Kosovo, to exhausting nuclear talks in poorly ventilated spaces, to the private sector, and then back to the White House in his dream job as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs on the National Security Council.If you're genuinely wondering why it's still in the U.S. national interest to engage with the United Nations, look no further. And if you're already a multilat nerd, then listen for a refresher on how we can try to avoid the scourge of war.
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42:41
On Costco and Brain Waves with Maggie Feldman-Piltch
Maggie is a self proclaimed "bedazzled cockroach for democracy." She's a unicorn. She's all about connection - connecting skilled people to amazing experiences; connecting those less interested in foreign policy with relevant policy conversations through weirdly effective analogies; and connecting seemingly disparate ideas inside her unique, inspired brain. Maggie is an advocate for competent diversity in the field of national security and she's happy to talk about what she means by that.She's fun and real and you honestly never know what she's going to say, so buckle up for a little ride to Costco and leave with the appropriate degree of reverence for first chair clarinet.
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37:38
On Resilience and Existential Dread with Jill
Jill is a current public servant with a story to tell. She's sharing her winding path to service, her experiences with truly terrible bosses and wonderful bosses, and her persistent existential dread - a delightfully surprising discovery based on the stark contrast with her sunny disposition, which you can even hear in her voice. Together, Jill and I contemplated the definition of resilience, the gap between our national values and interests, and the possibility that we're in the middle of a great big national adolescence. We're just a couple of Deeply Feeling Kids, sorting through it together.
This is a really hard time to be an American public servant. This is the place where we get to know who they are, what experiences shaped them, why they chose a path of service, and how they're continuously reimagining their lives and careers. We want to know them on a deeper level, and maybe learn a thing or two about ourselves.
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