Opening the Door to Public Service: A Pathway for the Next Generation of Changemakers

Shannon Portillo Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Terry Gerton You’re working to launch a new federal career track at ASU. We’ll dive into the specifics shortly, but first, I’d like to understand the motivation. What are you and your students in Arizona hearing about the federal workforce and federal service that continues to inspire them to pursue it?

Shannon Portillo Let me take you back to when we first began developing this initiative. Planning started in the fall of 2024, prior to the last election. I was hearing from more students than ever before who were genuinely enthusiastic about the idea of public service. Many of them didn’t associate public service with government, and for many, Washington, D.C. felt incredibly distant. They had no idea how to even begin a federal career, yet these were exactly the kind of people we want contributing to public life—they simply lacked a clear path forward. So we created this program to answer the question: how do we build a pipeline? How do we guide students passionate about public service toward understanding what a federal government career actually involves? We mapped everything out in fall 2024 and began recruiting our first cohort in January 2025. You might expect students would have been frightened by the headlines they were seeing. That wasn’t the case at all. Students were actually energized—they said, “I want to be part of the solution.” They weren’t deterred by what was happening; they were doubling down, saying, “I want to make a difference. I want to contribute. I just need to figure out how.” But they still had plenty of questions about what that contribution would look like for them personally, how to get started, how to make connections, and how to get involved. This program is really built to help students picture what a federal career could look like and to address all those unspoken elements of career building—what we call the hidden curriculum. How do you network? How do you find housing? How do you actually make the transition from Arizona to D.C.? Many of our students have never left the state of Arizona before, so the logistics of relocating become a bigger hurdle than the idea of federal service itself.

Terry Gerton When we think about federal service, we often focus on the pipeline problem—how long hiring takes, where recruits will come from. You’re approaching it from the opposite angle: what draws people into the pipeline in the first place. So walk us through what this program will actually look like for a student. How does it take them from the ASU campus to a federal career?

Shannon Portillo We’re building on a decade of success with our Next Generation Service Corps. NGSC is designed to cultivate character-driven leadership and prepare students from any academic discipline at the university to think about public service. NGSC students complete three internships—one in the private sector, one in the public sector, and one in the nonprofit sector. They collaborate on mission teams addressing major social challenges in a cross-disciplinary way. They receive scholarship support to free up time for these experiences, with a strong emphasis on leadership development. NGSC was originally conceived ten years ago as a four-year undergraduate program. We later introduced transfer cohorts so community college students could join and complete the program in two years. This new federal track is designed for students entering as rising juniors from any major who express interest in federal service. They join our accelerated Master of Public Administration program, completing those three internships, the leadership development, and professional development over two years in Arizona while finishing their undergraduate degree. Then they move to Washington, D.C. for a one-year accelerated MPA at the ASU-D.C. location, ideally completing an additional internship with a federal agency or a federal government-adjacent organization, and launching their career from there.

Terry Gerton Dr. Shannon Portillo is the director and co-presidential chair of the School of Public Affairs at the Watts College of Public Service at ASU. Shannon, let’s talk about that year in Washington. Why is it essential for students to spend that year here? What about that experience will truly prepare them for federal service?

Shannon Portillo As I mentioned, one of the things that makes students anxious is the prospect of relocating to D.C. They arrive as a cohort, so they’ve already spent two years building relationships with their peers. They’ve also spent two years developing connections with our professors of practice in the school who will be with them here in D.C. That year in Washington is really about helping them expand their professional network, sharpen their skills, and figure out what they want their careers to look like. It’s a year for them to truly experience what working in federal service is all about.

Terry Gerton One of the challenges of being in D.C. is that you often need to know someone to get your foot in the door. ASU’s programs place a strong emphasis on first-generation students. How are you creating a structure that can support a first-generation college student making the leap to D.C.—spending a year there and then hopefully transitioning into federal service?

Shannon Portillo That’s actually why I’m here right now. Our goal is to get ahead of this challenge for students—helping them build that network before they even arrive. We want to activate the ASU alumni and supporters we already have in the D.C. area and ensure we’re developing the networking skills students need. We’re helping them understand all those intangible elements that contribute to a successful career. They go through professional development with us during their junior and senior years as undergraduates. By the time they get here, we hope they’re ready to hit the ground running, build their own networks, and launch their careers. Then this first cohort will help the second cohort, who will help the third, and so on. The goal is to build that pipeline and have everyone lift as they climb.

Terry Gerton I know you’ve been developing this program for a while before launching it. I’m curious—what have you changed in the traditional MPA curriculum to better prepare these students for the 21st-century world of government?

Shannon Portillo That’s a great question. I’m not sure it’s so much about changing the core curriculum itself as it is about shifting our perspective on who we expect to serve in 21st-century government. As I mentioned, it’s a transdisciplinary program. We have students from engineering, from business, from public service, from emergencyOur goal is to attract students from across the country, because federal service benefits from individuals with diverse backgrounds. The core curriculum is designed to ensure that students develop a solid understanding of key competencies: What does it mean to possess strong management abilities? What does it take to build strong data analytics skills? How can they enhance their communication skills? And how should we consider the evolving role of technology in government? All students will follow the same core Master of Public Administration (MPA) curriculum. Their elective courses will focus on internship experiences, professional work, and a broader exploration of federal career paths. As part of the program, we will offer an experiential internship course. However, they will complete the same core curriculum as all other MPA graduates.

Terry Gerton Looking ahead, your first cohort consists of 11 students. They are expected to complete the program in 2028, correct? Now, think about the next five years. How do you envision this program growing and expanding? How will you measure its success?

Shannon Portillo ASU is known for scaling initiatives. We prefer to pilot, experiment, innovate, design, gather feedback, and refine. In five years, I hope that the program will expand beyond ASU to include students from the 28 universities in the Next Generation Core Network. How can we involve more universities in this pipeline? How can we ensure we are recruiting broadly across all ASU majors? And how can we secure the resources to scale the program so that any student interested in this path can pursue it?

Terry Gerton For federal agencies interested in engaging with these students during their year for internships, or for private sector nonprofits, where can people go to learn more about the program?

Shannon Portillo Absolutely, I encourage anyone interested to reach out to me directly. I am happy to provide my email address for direct communication. Additionally, on our Next Generation Service Corps website, there is a dedicated page for the accelerated federal career track. Visitors can explore the page to learn more about our initiatives and get in touch. We welcome internship opportunities in federal agencies, non-profits, and the private sector. We aim to provide students with a wide range of experiences.