Mike, thanks for sharing your perspective. As someone whose work is currently funded under a CDC grant, I feel this deeply. I left a lucrative career in management consulting to attempt to make a positive difference in governmental public health. My job and work is funded under a landmark grant called the Public Health Infrastructure Grant. Its focus is on strengthening the public health workforce by making sure our agencies are ones people want to work for and stay at. My first two years were incredible. I have a counterpart in every single state and we all banded together to share resources and get further together than we could apart. I am so proud of the work we collectively did but now I know it will be dismantled piece by piece.
I have been honored to work to create better jobs for our public health professional to thrive in. I am surrounded by bright, caring, passionate people who show up to work to do their best. They do this in a system that makes everything an uphill battle every single day. The red tape we have to traverse makes even the most basic tasks miserable to complete. Regardless, they show up every day to do what they can.
A loss of federal funding will not only gut the infrastructure work that we have been doing, it will eliminate the jobs of people who have dedicated their life to service. It is absolutely heartbreaking.
Mike, appreciated this so much. I'm in research, and we often talk about how hard it is to outline what often is our biggest impact - stopping our company from doing something, or stopping us from doing something in a way that will be detrimental. Really helpful to hear you talk about this in a government context. Not sure there's anything significant I can do right now (will just keep making calls), but I will keep your essay in my heart as I pray for wisdom and peace in our country.
THANK YOU, Mike. A thing it feels like we always forget... Nobody is more critical of the work being done in an industry than the actual people doing the actual work. Yes, we get defensive when we're backed into a corner, or when people miss the nuance and complexity. But I've never talked to a person who said, "we're perfect and I see no change needed."
You might enjoy Suzanne Lambert. She is a 30 something comedian who is getting a lot of notice for her "Republican Woman Make-up". She is not nuanced, but sometimes you just need a chuckle LOL
Mike, thanks for sharing your perspective. As someone whose work is currently funded under a CDC grant, I feel this deeply. I left a lucrative career in management consulting to attempt to make a positive difference in governmental public health. My job and work is funded under a landmark grant called the Public Health Infrastructure Grant. Its focus is on strengthening the public health workforce by making sure our agencies are ones people want to work for and stay at. My first two years were incredible. I have a counterpart in every single state and we all banded together to share resources and get further together than we could apart. I am so proud of the work we collectively did but now I know it will be dismantled piece by piece.
I have been honored to work to create better jobs for our public health professional to thrive in. I am surrounded by bright, caring, passionate people who show up to work to do their best. They do this in a system that makes everything an uphill battle every single day. The red tape we have to traverse makes even the most basic tasks miserable to complete. Regardless, they show up every day to do what they can.
A loss of federal funding will not only gut the infrastructure work that we have been doing, it will eliminate the jobs of people who have dedicated their life to service. It is absolutely heartbreaking.
Mike, appreciated this so much. I'm in research, and we often talk about how hard it is to outline what often is our biggest impact - stopping our company from doing something, or stopping us from doing something in a way that will be detrimental. Really helpful to hear you talk about this in a government context. Not sure there's anything significant I can do right now (will just keep making calls), but I will keep your essay in my heart as I pray for wisdom and peace in our country.
What a beautiful and meaningful gift!
Yay for Jen!
THANK YOU, Mike. A thing it feels like we always forget... Nobody is more critical of the work being done in an industry than the actual people doing the actual work. Yes, we get defensive when we're backed into a corner, or when people miss the nuance and complexity. But I've never talked to a person who said, "we're perfect and I see no change needed."
That MAGA Guess Who is AMAZING.
You might enjoy Suzanne Lambert. She is a 30 something comedian who is getting a lot of notice for her "Republican Woman Make-up". She is not nuanced, but sometimes you just need a chuckle LOL
Truly