Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood

James-Christian Blockwood interviews Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Governing’s 2026 Public Official of the Year, and National Association of Counties CEO Matt Chase about executive leadership and city-county collaboration amid declining public trust, affordability pressures, and shifting federal policies and funding. They argue local governments must work together through regionalism, clarify rol...

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews former U.S. Mint directors Ed Moy (38th) and Ventris Gibson (40th) about how U.S. currency, specifically coinage, is created and managed. They discuss why physical currency still matters for the unbanked and for privacy concerns, and why bullion demand spikes in crises. The conversation covers the costs and policy debates around the penny and nickel, Mint...

With back-to-school season in full swing, we've got two Fellows and public administration education experts on the podcast: David Van Slyke, dean of The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and Susan Gooden, professor and former dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Both join host James-Ch...

Daniel Schuman of the American Governance Institute joins Management Matters host James-Christian Blockwood this week! Are we in a “crisis point” for U.S. institutions driven by expanded presidential power, courts overturning precedent and reshaping agency independence, and Congress failing to assert its authorities? Daniel Schuman brings an encyclopedic knowledge of history and the legislative br...

James-Christian Blockwood interviews Academy Fellow Dr. Howard Balanoff of the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service at Texas State University and municipal attorney Alan Bojorquez about defining “good government” amid declining public trust and growing conflict at even local meetings.  We learn about the value of the "Ten Texas Traits of Good Government": Good Government is Respect...

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Ambassador Joe Westphal and former senior FBI executive Lauren Anderson about how national security has evolved from the Cold War through 9/11 to today’s interconnected threats, including terrorism, geopolitical shifts, and emerging technologies. Both warn that global changes, partner uncertainty, polarization, and reduced information sharing can make the...

In this special Crossover episode with Governance Matters, James-Christian Blockwood is joined by Raphe Sonenshein, President and CEO of the the Haynes Foundation. We're focused on local government charters as “local constitutions” that can be changed more easily, and impact people more immediately, than the U.S. Constitution. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Pu...

It's a special “Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood” episode featuring highlights from the Academy’s Celebration of the American Public Servant 250 Gala at the Library of Congress during America’s 250th anniversary, including a Future of Public Service panel with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Inspector General Michael Horowitz, retired Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Joanne B...

Host James-Christian Blockwood discusses government performance and HR systems with Gabe Menchaca of the Niskanen Center and Academy Fellow and Government HR expert Steve Krauss.  Menchaca summarizes a Niskanen-Academy study describing wide variation in state civil service models, limited scholarship on state HR, and mixed early results from skills-based hiring due to assessment and measurement bo...

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Soraya Correa, President and CEO of  the National Industries for the Blind and former Chief Procurement Officer at the US Department of Homeland Security,  and Greg Giddens, of Potomac Ridge Consulting, and former Chief Acquisition Officer at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, on how federal acquisition enables mission outcomes beyond compliance.  Gidd...

James-Christian Blockwood discusses U.S. Office of Personnel Management's modernization of federal HR and retirement IT systems with OPM’s Rebecca Ayers and Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot.  Building on a 2021 academy report urging congressional funding to modernize OPM systems, they describe the administration’s goal to build a merit-based workforce and modernize people management through the...

Host James-Christian Blockwood talks with Academy Fellow and McGeorge School of Law Professor Clark Kelso and American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Adam White about why public agencies struggle and what the executive branch does in response. They discuss how checks and balances slow action and make errors hard to undo, while polarization and congressional dysfunction push presidents toward u...

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Teri Gullo, former CBO Director of Budget Analysis, and Karl Maschino, former GAO Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, about why federal budget work matters amid scrutiny of spending, workforce cuts, and “DOGE”-style reforms.   They outline the normal OMB-agency-Congress budget timeline, emphasize GAO/CBO’s nonpartisan transparency and need to expla...

Acting Comptroller General of the United States and Head of the US Government Accountability Office Orice Williams Brown joined us in conversation at the Academy offices last month to talk about a hugely important document to everyone in the federal government: the GAO High Risk List. For more than three decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s High-Risk List has identified programs vu...

Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Diana Maurer, Director of Defense Capabilities and Management at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and Kari D'Elia, Chief Product Officer at USAFacts, on managing public institutions amid declining trust and fast-changing information. Both address data gaps honestly and talk about rising distrust of both government and data. Management Matter...

Whether Americans realize it or not, federal oversight and watchdog organizations can be enormously impactful in how the government spends money, makes laws and builds for the future. So why don't more Americans know about the connections between lawmakers and oversight bodies?  Fellow Tim Persons, Principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Dan Lips of the Foundation for American Innovation join...

James-Christian Blockwood is joined by Michael Keegan, host of The Business of Government Hour and Dave Martin, host of The Good Government Show.  Michael and Dave have interviewed hundreds of public administrators, government workers, and agency heads in their careers, at every level.  What do the best public administrators have in common? Why is storytelling more important to public service work...

Host James-Christian Blockwood is joined this week by former U.S. Rep. and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and Norm Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.  Our guests will take a long look at how government is functioning now at the local, state and particularly federal level so that they can make some bold predictions about the future. The next 250 y...

On Wednesday, January 28, the Academy held the presentation of the 2025 Elliot L. Richardson Prize for Excellence in Public Service to Hon. Janet L. Yellen and Hon. Gary F. Locke, featuring a moderated discussion with Jenn White of NPR's 1A. The honorees spoke to a live audience about a range of issues in modern governance, and how their own experiences helped them see what was most important...

Academy Fellow David Powner, acting managing director for congressional relations at the US Government Accountability Office, joins host James-Christian Blockwood in this week's episode. They get into the details about the importance of GAO's role and the importance of Congress, what oversight can and should be in government, and what's next in the ongoing search for the comptroller...

With careers in public service under unprecedented scrutiny, David Wilson, Dean of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, and Jodi Sandfort, Dean of the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, explain why it has never been more critical to reimagine how we prepare students for these roles. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of...

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept. It’s a practical tool reshaping how we work, learn, and govern. Academy Fellow Alexis Bonnell of OpenAI and Karen Lee of FedsForward join host James-Christian Blockwood to discuss strategies for building AI literacy, how experts and public servants are incorporating AI, and what the challenges are today, and tomorrow.

As we approach the end of the year, we wanted to share a note of optimism for what lies ahead with our "Stories of Service: Reflections on Purpose, Progress, and the Path Ahead" panel from the 2025 Academy National Conference.  This panel opens with Academy President and CEO James-Christian Blockwood then features moving stories from former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, former Fiscal As...

In this episode of Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood, we're giving you access to one of our most impactful panels from the 2025 Academy National Conference: Bridging the Gap – State and Local Capacity in a Shifting Federal Landscape The panel is moderated by Nisha Botchwey, Dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and features Dav...

In this in-depth panel discussion from the 2025 National Conference, moderator Norm Ornstein of American Enterprise Institute talks to an all-star panel including Loren DeJonge Schulman of the Federation of American Scientists, Mindy Romero from the Center for Inclusive Democracy at USC's Price School, Soren Dayton of Foundation for American Innovation, and Cecili Wake of Democracy 2076. The...