G2U Coalition in Kansas City is off to the races!

Since launching the Government-to-University Initiative (G2U) in Kansas City in March, the team on the ground in Kansas City has been working hard and fast to turn the vision for a G2U Regional Coalition into a reality.

MARC is the regional planning organization for the Kansas City region, and it serves as the Volcker Alliance’s lead G2U partner. For decades, MARC has had a hand in almost every economic and community development effort in the region. We are excited that they are focusing energy on the public service talent pipeline and are dedicating such productive attention to G2U.

As the G2U "lead agency,” MARC plays a critical role in both assembling key stakeholders and driving discrete G2U projects. Regarding stakeholder engagement, we have been blown away by the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness with which the Kansas City government, university, and nonprofit sectors are joining together for this effort. At the end of May, MARC pulled together leaders from local universities and all levels of government to affirm a Statement of Purpose for a regional G2U Coalition. A G2U Steering Committee, whose role is to organize convenings of the full Regional Coalition and oversee progress on project priorities, will convene for the first time in August.

The Steering Committee will oversee work groups to implement an initial set of priority projects to recruit and train the next generation of public sector leaders:

• A Regional Recruitment Strategy. The G2U Coalition in Kansas City aims to increase the awareness and access of public sector careers among job seekers. One strategy is to develop a centralized job portal, aggregating government job postings—full-time employment, fellowships and internships, from any interested public agency at any level of government—for the entire region. The G2U Coalition, with support from the Volcker Alliance, is exploring strategies for customizing existing open source platforms successfully used in the public and private sector.
• Talent to Industry Exchange. Using tested private sector methodology, the Talent to Industry Exchange (TIE) is gearing up to produce a detailed economic and labor market analysis of government employment in the Kansas City region. Leveraging this analysis, government and university stakeholders will confirm public sector workforce development priorities and implement an action plan to recruit top talent where there is the greatest need.
• A Regional Data Academy. In partnership with the Centers for Civic Impact (“Civic Impact”) at Johns Hopkins University and regional higher education partners, the G2U Coalition is exploring implementation of a robust training curriculum around data use and management for government practitioners. Through its work with more than 140 governments, Civic Impact has designed effective content and learning strategies for the public workforce in critical areas such as data management, open data, and advanced analytics.

Pushing the Envelope

Our G2U partners in Kansas City have constructively challenged our team to expand and refine our vision for G2U. They have engaged with the region’s community colleges, on the basis that many hard-to-hire positions in public service do not require four-year degrees. The team is examining the historic role public sector employment opportunities have played in economic mobility for Americans of color. Our G2U partners are also considering opportunities to cultivate interest in public service careers well before college, starting in high school or even earlier.

Our team at the Volcker Alliance is thrilled to work alongside Kansas City’s G2U Coalition as it picks up steam. We will continue to write about progress in the coming months, and encourage you to send questions, observations, or feedback our way.

We invite any government, university, or civic leaders who are interested in exploring a G2U site in their region to contact Peter Morrissey at pmorrissey@volckeralliance.org or Yesenia Martinez at ymartinez@volckeralliance.org to learn more.