PODCAST: Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers Season 2 · Ep 39
0:00
1529
PODCAST: Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers Season 2 · Ep 39
Podcast
On this episode, we welcome Academy Fellows, Michael Rogers and Joseph Kasputys, to discuss Elliot Richardson's public service career, the prize named in his honor, and the recipients of this year's prize, Dr. Francis Collins, Former Director of the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President. Register for the ELR Prize Award Ceremony The Elliot L. Richardson Prize is p...
Now Playing
On this episode, we welcome Academy Fellows, Michael Rogers and Joseph Kasputys, to discuss Elliot Richardson's public service career, the prize named in his honor, and the recipients of this year's prize, Dr. Francis Collins, Former Director of the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President.
Register for the ELR Prize Award Ceremony
The Elliot L. Richardson Prize is presented biennially to individuals possessing the public service virtues exemplified by Elliot L. Richardson, an Academy Fellow. Mr. Richardson was an exceptional public servant and the only individual in our nation's history to serve in four Cabinet-level positions in the U.S. government: Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW), Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Secretary of Commerce.]
Music Credits: Sea Breeze by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
Episode Details
Listen On
Listen Now
Opens in your podcast app
Keep Listening
May 18, 2026
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 Federal HR 2.0 initiative. Key elements include moving agencies onto a mandatory single cor...
May 4, 2026
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 unilateral action, creating separation-of-powers conflicts and court intervention. The conve...
April 20, 2026
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 ne...