{"id":29267,"date":"2018-09-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-06T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/about\/board-and-history\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:26:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T19:26:58","slug":"board-and-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/about\/board-and-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Board and History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The story of the Partnership begins with Samuel J. Heyman.<\/strong> Inspired by President Kennedy\u2019s call to serve, Heyman joined the Justice Department after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1963, eventually rising to become an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut. Following his father\u2019s death in 1968, Heyman left government to run his family\u2019s business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his deep faith in the value of public service never wavered. As the new millennium dawned, Heyman sought to address what he saw as the most urgent challenge facing our government: a lack of critical young talent choosing to enter the federal workforce\u2014just as he had nearly three decades earlier.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address this issue, Heyman wanted to initiate a renewed call to serve that would inspire the next generation to public service, restore pride in federal work and enable government to meet the challenges of the 21st<\/sup> century. \u201cThe future of our nation quite simply depends on the quality of our government,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heyman planned to launch a new nonprofit organization to make his vision a reality. But he first needed someone to head up this work.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The early years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Heyman found that person in Max Stier, an accomplished leader who had learned about government from the inside by clerking for a Supreme Court justice, working for a congressman and serving in a large federal agency.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stier\u2019s expertise and fierce dedication to public service transformed the Partnership from a scrappy startup to the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to building a better government and a stronger democracy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Partnership\u2019s president and CEO, Stier has spent more than 20 years growing the Partnership\u2019s budget, portfolio and profile, elevating the organization as a well-recognized authority on federal management and workforce issues in the eyes of popular, political, academic, government, nonprofit and private sector audiences. In his book, \u201cThe Fifth Risk,\u201d author Michael Lewis surmised that Stier was perhaps \u201cthe American with the greatest understanding of how the U.S. government actually worked.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This steadfast entrepreneurial spirit has enabled the Partnership to continually break new ground and make an impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early flagship initiatives like the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals\u00ae<\/a>, the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government\u00ae<\/a> rankings and the Call to Serve network<\/a>\u2014as well as the organization\u2019s support for critical workforce legislation\u2014continue to shine a spotlight on exceptional public servants, create new paths to federal service for students and recent graduates, and hold agencies accountable for creating healthy workplaces and a good employee experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finding our footing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In our second decade, we launched leadership development programs<\/a> that provide federal employees working across government with the skills to lead at their agencies. Soon, premier programs like the Excellence in Government Fellows<\/a> program complemented an extensive set of federal networks<\/a> that enable communities of government leaders to share best practices to address common challenges in their respective fields.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This period also saw us develop a wide-ranging research agenda that has generated critical insights, forward-thinking solutions and actionable recommendations that help government better serve the public. We also championed landmark legislation<\/a> and launched groundbreaking initiatives<\/a> for political appointees that have helped transform the presidential transition process. In 2016, we created the Center for Presidential Transition<\/a>\u00ae, the premier nonpartisan resource for presidential candidates and their teams, incoming senior leaders, career officials and members of Congress as they prepare to lay the groundwork for a new administration or a president\u2019s second term.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deepening our impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Partnership continues to expand its horizons to help government reach its full potential. Our current strategy seeks to deepen our impact in three main areas: <\/p>\n\n\n\n