Link: ELGL Spreads Across the Country
“Think of it as a cross between The Atlantic magazine and Buzzfeed.”
Welcome to our new member feature. We’ve all heard the excuse “I’m too busy” so we’ve simplified our feature to illicit short, meaningful responses for our new members. As a side note, ELGL is adamantly opposed to the excuse, “I’m too busy.”
Rebecca Olson, Shoreview (MN) assistant to the city manager, has more than 15 years of experience working in the public sector, the last nine of which have been in local government. Rebecca (LinkedIn and Twitter) graduated from Hamline University with an MPA.
What I Am Watching:
Better Call Saul
What I Am Reading:
Boys in the Boat (by Daniel James Brown), Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office (by Lois P. Frankel)
What I Want From ELGL:
An opportunity to connect with other professionals in my field in order to come together and create a positive impact on all of our communities through knowledge sharing, inspiration, and education.
What I Wish Local Government Did Better:
Creativity, Risk Taking and Employee Appreciation
What I Am Afraid Of:
Having good ideas or knowing of others who do and not having an outlet to share them. Not all good ideas can be implemented in the same place at the same time, but it is possible those ideas can take root somewhere else.
What I Wish I Was Doing (Instead of Completing This Questionnaire):
Running
What I Consider As My Career Accomplishments:
Being the driving force behind the creation of a non-profit that works to connect Servicemembers and their families with community support, training, services and resources.
What I Am Listening To:
My Running Playlist
What I Wish People Knew About Me:
I’m older than I look
What I Wish Would Go Away:
Toe Shoes. They creep me out when I see someone wearing them.
What I Think of Professional Associations:
They can be beneficial if enough people put in the time to make them so, otherwise they tend to dry up pretty quickly.
What I Wished You Asked Me:
How did I find my way into local government?
Supplemental Reading
Yellow Ribbon volunteers help vet get back on the road
Coming Together Around Military Families
What I Am – The Archives
Roger Gonzalez, University of Texas MPA
Rachel Nolin, City of Monterey, CA
Sareen Papakhian, Hazel Park, MI, Director of Parks
Robbie Lippard, George Washington University MPA Student