Advertise on podcast: Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood

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 explain “the story behind the numbers,” discuss polarization blocking fiscal solutions as net interest costs reach over $1 trillion, and urge young public servants to see budgeting as policy and values. Chapters:  01:11 Reform Cycle or Shock03:09 Congress vs Executive Power04:18 How Budgeting Works07:20 Executing Enacted Budgets08:30 Speaking Truth to Power12:55 Fixing an Unsustainable Path?15:42 Management Lessons Learned20:49 Making Big Numbers Real24:39 Advice for New Public ServantsManagement Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 vulnerable to waste, mismanagement, and operational weakness. But beyond oversight, the High-Risk List has become a powerful driver of modernization, reform, and performance improvement across government. Brown joined Academy Fellow Kimberly Walton of the Standing Panel on the Public Service to talk about how agencies and priorities get on the High Risk List, why some welcome it, and what it takes to be moved off! Stick around to learn what the future might hold for GAO and more. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 joined James-Christian Blockwood to discuss the importance of oversight and how we should think about the role of Congress in everything from spending to building, for the future and beyond.  Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 workers than it's ever been? And how do we help the best stories find their way to the biggest audiences?  Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 years of American government will require reform, rebuilding and in particular reimagining how to best serve the public. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 general. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 Assistant Secretary at the US Department of the Treasury David Lebryk, Deputy CEO of SoundTransit Victoria Wassmer, former USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Basil Gooden, and COO/CFO Katie Malague of the Maryland Department of Management and Budget.  Each panelist shared a story of how and why public service matters to them. We hope you'll enjoy! Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 David Adkins, Executive Director of the Council of State Governments, Julia Novak, Executive Director and CEO of the International City/County Management Association, and Matt Chase, CEO and Executive Director of the National Association of Counties.  This was an in-depth discussion of the challenges facing state and local governments as they deal with a shifting landscape of federal government support. What's happening today, tomorrow, and in the future? Check it out now! Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

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 conversation took on a wide range of topics about how American governance could and should develop over the next half-century.  Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

In this episode of Management Matters, host James-Christian Blockwood sits down with Romina Boccia, Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute and a leading voice on federal spending and entitlement reform, and Academy Fellow Rob Shriver, Managing Director of the Civil Service Strong and Good Government Initiatives at Democracy Forward and former Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to reflect on the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Together, they explore its root causes, economic and social impacts, and the lessons policymakers can draw to prevent future crises. Tune in for an insightful discussion on governance, fiscal responsibility, and the ripple effects of political gridlock. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT

This episode of Management Matters with James-Christian Blockwood features Frank Fukuyama, author, political scientist and professor at Stanford University, Vanessa Williamson of the Brookings Institution, and Philip Howard, founder and chair of Common Good for "The State of Public Administration" in front of a live audience during the 2025 National Conference in Washington, D.C. on November 3.  Part 2 of this episode features questions from the Academy Fellows in attendance about reform efforts, and how to foster communication with the public. Management Matters is a presentation of the National Academy of Public Administration produced by Lizzie Alwan and Matt Hampton and edited by Matt Hampton.  Support the Podcast Today at: [email protected] or 202-347-3190 Episode music: Hope by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Follow us on YouTube for clips and more: @NAPAWASH_YT