I'll bet you didn't know that actress Ashley Judd just finished her Masters of Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School and is interested in public service.
As the founder of a social network dedicated to helping public servants and people in and around government connect with each other, I thought Ashley might appreciate a few suggestions for what she can do now that she has that MPA. Here are my "Top 5 Government Jobs for Ashley Judd":
1) CFC Chairperson: Why is it that all the other cool charities have great celebrity spokespersons and CFC still lacks any real star power? In case you don't know what CFC stands for, it stands for Combined Federal Campaign -- the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign, through which Federal civilian, postal and military donors give millions of dollars each year. The campaign kicks off again on September 1 and runs through December 15. We should let Ashley run it. Combining her celebrity and sense of social justice, Ashley would most certainly increase donations and draw celebrity friends to raise awareness about the generosity of public sector employees.
2) Government Recruiter: If Ashley Judd wants to work for the government, shouldn't everyone? Let's send Ashley out to all the college recruitment job fairs and invite people to consider working for government. I mean, if I saw Ashley Judd at a recruitment fair, I'd stand in line for an hour to shake her hand and grab a brochure, wouldn't you?
3) Mediator: Anyone who can mediate conflict in the Judd family has developed some solid experience for handling international conflicts. Ashley would be a great mediator in any situation, from Middle East conflict to OMB budget pass-backs. Of course, she also has a degree in French from the University of Kentucky, which can come in handy in places like the Congo.
4) Head of Government Accountability Office (GAO) or Congressional Budget Office (CBO): A large part of this job these days is to convince the general public to care what's going in government (and not just frame it in politics). Can Ashley convince the American public to care about the growing debt and convince both politicians and citizens to take small, meaningful actions in shoring up Social Security and Medicare?
5) PSA Queen: Government produces scores if not hundreds of public service announcements each year. Many of them are not well-coordinated and fail to grab the attention of the public. Maybe we could give Ashley Judd full reign - call her the PSA Queen. Give her a decent budget and invite her to add some Hollywood quality to our PSAs and promote them like crazy.
You? What do you think? What government job do you think Ashley should consider?
Open Invitation: Oh, and if you're reading this post, Ashley, we have a couple openings at GovLoop and we'd hire you in a second!
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