2020 Getzen Lecture on Government Accountability

presented by Shelley Metzenbaum

“Accountability: What Does It Mean, Constructively Managing It, and Avoiding the Blame and Claim Game”

Wednesday, March 4, 2020 • 1:30-2:30 pm
Special Collections Library Auditorium

A reception will immediately follow from 2:30-3:30pm

Shelley Metzenbaum works on projects to bring about a better world through better government, working both within and outside government.  She encourages governments and those funded or regulated by government to use and communicate goals, data, analyses, well-designed trials, incentives, and visualizations to find ways to improve outcomes and other aspects of performance and to avoid using these tools in ways that create fear and dysfunctional responses. Metzenbaum led federal efforts to improve government outcomes, productivity, and understandability as Associate Director for Performance and Personnel Management at the Office of Management and Budget, and subsequently served as founding president of The Volcker Alliance. Before that, she was Associate Administrator for Regional Operations and State/Local Relations at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Undersecretary of Environmental Affairs and Capital Budget Director in Massachusetts; founding director of UMass Boston’s Collins Center for Public Management; and Executive Director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Session on Public Sector Performance Management.  Current projects include helping the National Head Start Association’s Data Design Initiative make the reams of data Head Start programs collect more useful for helping Head Start children and their families, outcomes-improving grant reform, and more effective government human resource (HR) management with smarter HR data, analytics, and other evidence. Dr. Metzenbaum holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in Humanities and Asian Studies.

The Getzen Lecture on Government Accountability, an annual lecture series presented by the Department of Public Administration and Policy is made possible by UGA alumni Katherine Getzen Willoughby (PhD ‘91) and Dan Hall Willoughby, Jr. (JD ‘86) in honor of her parents, Evangeline Sferes Getzen and Forrest William Getzen, lifelong advocates of public service and education.