Platform Gives Departing Feds a Voice on Bottlenecks Between Congress, Agencies

There is often a disconnect between the laws Congress writes and passes, and how they are implemented in federal agencies. With thousands of federal employees leaving service this year, several groups have gotten together to capture their knowledge on how to better bridge that gap. 

POPVOX Foundation launched a platform called “Departure Dialogues” in conjunction with the Foundation for American Innovation, Niskanen Center, the Partnership for Public Service, and Democracy Forward’s Civil Service Strong initiative. 

The goal: hear from former federal employees about the frustrations they’ve seen through their years of service, and take that knowledge to better implement policies and make government work better.  

“There are a lot of things that look obvious to folks in the executive branch that are absolutely mind-blowing over on the legislative branch. That divide is incredible,” said POPVOX Managing Director Anne Meeker to Federal News Network. 

Oral History and AI Help Connect the Dots

The nonpartisan platform “empowers recently terminated civil servants and contractors to contribute their expertise about implementation challenges and reform opportunities in a safe, structured environment.”

Participants tell their story and their observations on the job using a technology called TheirStory through a series of ten questions about program challenges, successes, and inefficiencies that could better inform Congressional oversight and/or policy. TheirStory uses oral history technology to capture employee observations, analyzes the responses using AI, and then translates the findings into actionable intelligence for Congress, oversight bodies, and others. 

POPVOX says the program is open to current and former feds at any level and they are welcome to share as much or as little as they like. The goal is to capture their knowledge before they depart.

“If you are a departing federal employee and you’re like, hey, my life story is my life story. I don’t really want to share this. But I really have to tell you that this report to Congress that Congress has asked for, that I know no one reads, is a problem. We want to be the home for that kind of information,” said POPVOX Managing Director Anne Meeker to Federal News Network. 

POPVOX is planning to keep the program open until the end of the year, and encourages people to participate as soon as possible, so the first reports can be written and shared with Congress. 

“It is critical that civil society organizations step in to capture as much knowledge as we can as some 200,000 civil servants walk out the door at the end of September alone,” said Rob Shriver, Managing Director of Democracy Forward’s Civil Service Strong initiative.

Meanwhile, the Volcker Alliance and the Organization of American Historians have also teamed up to capture stories of public service via the Federal Employees and Contractors Oral History Project (FECOHP).