A first-time joint event of the Southeastern Conference on Public Administration (SECOPA) and the Northeast Conference on Public Administration (NECOPA) gave a large audience of academic researchers, as well as a smattering of practitioners, the chance to share information on multiple topics, including organizational performance, AI and Digital Governance, Public Budgeting, Emergency Preparedness and dozens of other topics.

The center of the event, held in Norfolk, Virginia from September 17-19, was a plenary lunch with speaker Mary E. Guy delivering a message about the critical nature of public administration work and the role of everyone at the conference in turning the “wheels of democracy.”

Guy is a University of Colorado Distinguished Professor, and past President of the American Society for Public Administration, which has a strong bond and long-term relationship with both SECOPA AND NECOPA. Beyond the multiple roles she plays in public administration, Guy is the author of a massive number of published works that cover multiple public administration fields, including human resources, the emotional aspects of public sector work, and social equity.

Guy’s message to the audience, titled “Where Democracy Takes Root: The Vital Role of Public Administration”, began by pointing out the difference in how the public thinks about democracy and the meaning it holds to those who are teaching and working in this multi-dimensional field.  “When the public thinks about democracy, they think about campaigns, candidates and elections,” she said. “But democracy is not sustained every four years, or every two years or whenever elections come around. It is – and must be – sustained every day.”

This includes: “When a child gets on a school bus and arrives safely at school”; “When you turn on the faucet and get clean water,” and “When you call 911 and the call taker hears you.”

As she told the audience:

• “It is public administration that enforces laws.

• “It is public administration that transforms policy aspirations into public outcomes.

• “It is public administration that balances efficiency with equity, expertise with accountability, and authority with transparency.”

Guy is well known for mentoring students and other professionals, in academia and in the aligned world of researchers, government observers and practitioners. “My argument is that democracy takes root through public administration and we all bear responsibility for cultivating it. We do it in three roles: as educators, as practitioners and as dreamers,” she said.

To Guy, the role of dreamers, “may be the role we talk about least, yet it may be the role we need most right now.  

“Public administration has always been a practical profession. But it has never survived on practicality alone. It relies on vision. On imagination. On the belief that government can be better tomorrow than it is today.”

To educators, she spoke of the mission to constantly shape the next generation of public servants, saying that good governance requires courage, and communicating that facts and integrity matter.   “As educators, we have the privilege of helping students see what government can be, not simply what it is today,” she said. “We can show them that serving the public means serving people who may not look like us, vote like us, or agree with us. Most important, we must help our students develop the perseverance to stay rooted in public values when circumstances become difficult.”

In talking about the role of practitioners, she recognized the pressure to solve problems without the luxury that academics have to endlessly debate issues. That means balancing budgets, maintaining roads, delivering services, and dealing with emergencies. The outcomes are shown not in journal articles or PowerPoints, but by communities’ first hand experiences – whether processes are fair, information is accurate,  residents are treated with respect and government promises are kept. 

“These daily interactions shape public trust more than any words ever can,” she said.

At the end of her talk, Guy relayed five suggestions for moving forward.

• “First, stay connected to the people you serve.” While data and evidence and research matter, “People matter most. Never lose sight of the human beings behind every public problem and every policy issue.

• “Second, protect public trust. Why? Because trust is so difficult to build and so easy to lose. Conduct your work with integrity, transparency and humility.”

• “Third, mentor someone. . . The future is already sitting in our classrooms, our offices and our communities.”

• “Fourth, be willing to innovate. The challenges facing government today will not be solved with yesterday’s solutions”.

• “Fifth, experiment thoughtfully: learn continuously; adapt responsibly and finally, and perhaps most difficult, remain hopeful . . .Because hope is what powers a better tomorrow.”

#PublicAdministrationAndDemocracy #StateandLocalPublicAdministration #AmericanSocietyForPublicAdministration #SECOPAandNECOPAJointConference2026 #MaryEGuy #MaryEGuyPlenarySpeech #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalPerformance #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #PublicAdmistrationEducation #CityandCountyGovermentManagement #StateandLocalPolicyImplementation #SocialEquity #StateandLocalHumanResources #StateandLocalHRManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentBudgeting #PublicSectorPublicTrust #TrustInGovernment #StateAndLocalMentorship #StateandLocalInnovation #CityInnovation #CountyInnovation #PublicSectorTransparency #PublicSectorIntegrity #PublicAdministrationAndBalancingBudgets #PublicAdministrationAndMaintainingRoads #MentoringNextGenerationPublicServants #ServantLeadership #PublicAdministrationAndAccountability #PublicAdministrationVision #PublicAdministrationAndPublicOutcomes #StateandLocalManagementNews #StateandLocalPublicAdministrationNews #BarrettandGreeneInc