Public policy & society

Nov 8, 2020 by Dr. Wendy Bolyard

Failure to recognize and appreciate that Americans are not all of the same culture undermines public service values and service delivery, something that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights. While federal agencies and contractors were recently banned by a presidential executive order from offering “divisive” and “un-American” anti-racism training, it is difficult not to see the value of learning to understand and adapt to cultural contexts. Cultural intelligence, or CQ, manifests respect and dignity for all while fostering fairness and equity. Thus, public administrators must seek opportunities for themselves and their teams to develop capabilities to function and manage in culturally diverse settings. Recognizing United States public administrators and the constituents they serve indeed reflect cultural diversity, and should, is paramount.

Oct 14, 2020 by Professor Christopher Weible

Professor Chris Weible and PhD student Jill Yordy discuss a faltering U.S. democracy in the face of a calamitous combination of crises in the pandemic, economy, climate change, and social inequities. They offer four guiding principles for bringing political equality into societal discourse, developing tools and techniques for its assessments, and fostering better theories of our understandings and practices for its emergence, realization, and maintenance.

Nov 17, 2020

November is Native American Heritage Month, which is also the month many people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. While it’s tempting to ignore history and focus on the benign, familiar archetypes of Pilgrims and Indians, the reality for Indigenous Peoples is far more complex. At CU Denver, Native student Queana Maher, students from the Native American Student Organization (NASO), and Professor John Ronquillo, PhD, co-chair of the university’s new Equity Task Force, discussed what Native American Heritage Month means to them.

Nov 10, 2020

Iman Jodeh earned her Master of Public Administration from the CU Denver School of Public Affairs in 2006.

Oct 20, 2020 by Emma Martz

On October 6, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs hosted its second virtual First Friday on the topic of What Are We Voting On? Joined by an expert panel, the event was moderated by Paul Teske, Dean of the School of Public Affairs. The panelists were Michael Fields, Executive Director of Colorado Rising Action; Lynea Hansen, Senior Vice President of Strategies 360; and Andrew Kenney, Public Affairs Reporter for Colorado Public Radio. The discussion covered a range of topics from the upcoming presidential election to the state and local ballot amendments and proposals.

Oct 19, 2020

John Ronquillo, an assistant professor at the CU Denver School of Public Affairs, will serve as a co-chair of the Equity Task Force.

Oct 16, 2020

Winners from the CU Denver School of Public Affairs are Associate Professor Todd Ely, with his project titled “Understanding and Leveraging Philanthropic Foundations in Colorado’s Urban Areas,” and Scholar in Residence Dr. Serena Kim, with her project titled “Integrated Solar Energy for Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Communities.”

Sep 29, 2020 by Emma Martz

As more organizations increasingly recognize the need to move beyond solidarity statements and into the work of creating more equitable policies and cultures in their workplaces, the CU Denver School of Public Affairs dedicated its inaugural First Fridays event for the 2020-21 academic year to this topic. The virtual event, Leading Towards Equity: Stories of Organizational Change, held on Sept. 11, brought together panelists who have been doing this organizational work for some time.