Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley reflects on her remarkable public service journey spanning three decades, and shares her unfiltered thoughts on some of the most challenging and rewarding moments in her very public diplomatic career. She passes along some wisdom on resilience and dignity in unfriendly spaces; on walking away when it's time to go; and on sustaining a decades long marriage through seasons of personal and professional change. Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley still wakes up each day feeling inspired and motivated to contribute to the American project, and we're honored to have her participate in the Public Service Project.

Laurel Rapp is the Director of the U.S. and North America Programme at Chatham House, and she brings to this position all the wisdom and experience accrued through her nearly two decades of public service at the Department of State, the National Security Council, the United States Senate, and nonprofits.

Laurel began her international affairs career as a Rotary Fellow researching voting attitudes in Morocco at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and went on to join the State Department covering Middle East issues during the Arab Spring. She talks about what it was like being a new officer covering a geographically small but strategically important country like Bahrain at such a complex moment in history, and then goes on to share her thoughts a wide range of topics, from the role of the United Nations, to the function(s) served by the Secretary's Policy Planning staff. Finally, we take an unfiltered look at the uncomfortable but necessary tension existing when many unique individuals come together to advance (and sometimes question) shared objectives, and it was an absolute joy and honor to have Laurel join me to unpack these challenging topics.

Nate Fick is an investor, CEO, Marine, author, and the first U.S. Ambassador for Cyberspace and Digital Policy. He's also a father, husband, brother, leader, and devoted American citizen. In this episode, he shared reflections on his idyllic childhood, his decision to join the Marines, his experience leading one of the first American units in both Afghanistan ('01) and Iraq ('03) and his decision to write his New York Times bestseller, One Bullet Away.

Nate has spent his career moving between public service and the private sector, and he shares his perspective on innovation, culture, sovereignty, solidarity, and being the least popular dad in school.

If you're grappling with questions around how to foster innovation with appropriate safety guardrails, or how to advance the U.S. national interest without having to go it alone, this is the conversation for you.

Katelyn Choe is a very recently retired Foreign Service Officer, who served 25 years in places like South Korea, the Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Afghanistan, and most recently as Diplomat in Residence for Southern California, Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa. Katelyn's first experience with the U.S. government occurred when she and her family applied for their Immigrant Visas at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, and remarkably, she found herself back on the other side of that window decades later. Katelyn's career is full of too many remarkable stories to capture in 30 minutes, but her message - that any and every background is relevant to the project of diplomacy - comes across loud and clear. It was a privilege to record this moment of reflection in the sacred pause between an incredible service journey, and what lies ahead.

Abby Andre is the Executive Director of The Impact Project, a new interactive platform to help visualize how federal employment, funding, and policy decisions affect our communities. She specializes in the art of connecting the dots, and her first step is plotting them on the map so we can all see what she sees - both data and narrative. Abby is a former DOJ Attorney, and her public service journey has been a fight for transparency, accountability, truth, and justice for every American citizen and charismatic megafauna. She is a connector, a matchmaker, a bridge, and she is using her fascinating collection of experiences and her brilliant brain to contribute to a better informed citizenry, a more accountable government, and a more resilient democracy. Not too shabby.

Check out The Impact Project (a nonpartisan initiative for all Americans) here: https://theimpactproject.org

Delphi Cleaveland is a seasoned foreign policy professional with over 10 years of experience serving inside and outside government to advance human rights and democracy at home and around the world. She's continuing the mission of advancing and enhancing U.S. foreign policy by shifting her focus to providing public servants with the resources they need in order to live well, work effectively, and advance their policy objectives. Delphi is a ridiculously accomplished, deeply thoughtful, effervescent human being. This kind of conversation - incisive, constructive, relatable, honest, and fair - is exactly why I started this project. Listen in for Delphi's reflections on human rights, counterterrorism, the future of foreign policy, and the growing threat environment confronting public servants.

Jared Banks spent over 20 years in the Foreign Service, serving in DC, London, Geneva, Kabul, Warsaw, Brasilia, and advancing U.S. priorities on issues like critical emerging tech, science diplomacy, peacekeeping, and human rights. He's here to talk about his background as an academic, his time serving in Afghanistan as his family stayed behind, and his experience of faith communities as anchors in each new location.

While its form has changed, the spirit of service has not left Jared! He's leading a Great Decisions discussion group at his local library with resources provided by the Foreign Policy Association, and in doing so, creating a safe space for learning and the exchange of ideas. Can you think of anything better for democracy? For more on the program, click the link: https://fpa.org/great-decisions/

Brianna Clarke-Schwelm is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Global Health Alliance, a nonprofit organization striving to advance the state as a center of global health. Brianna has spent her career blending her love of rural communities (starting with the one that raised her) with her passion for access to public health as the foundation for a good life - one that includes safety, equity, and opportunity.

Our conversation touches on everything from birth order and sibling dynamics, to the college courses we loved and loathed, to motherhood, sacrifice, and social safety nets. We studied topics like religion and philosophy and politics to better understand how we organize ourselves and serve each other (especially in vulnerable moments), and then we had babies and got them through a global pandemic, so in many ways, every moment of this winding conversation is circling the same question: How do we want to live, and what can we do to get there?

Toward the end, Brianna tells us all about how NC is a center for global health, innovation, medicine and tech, and then she drops some wisdom about translating international experience to state and local contexts. Public servants from all walks, listen to that part twice!