The 2023 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) 2023 conference’s theme was Protecting Democracy for the Next Generation: The Role and Responsibility of Public Administration. The conference included panels as wide-ranging as “Climate Change, Sustainability and Resilience: The Role of Local Governments” to “Diversity, Social Equity and Inclusiveness in Public Administration.” The various workshops, panels and roundtable discussions brought together practitioners and academics to examine the cutting edge issues facing public administration today. 

One of Evergreen’s MPA faculty, Dr. Meghan Doughty, participated in the ASPA conference. Dr. Doughty’s panel was “Protecting the Homeland: Gun Violence, Extremists, Refugees and Cyber Attacks.” The panel included presentation on citizen volunteer’s role in addressing gun violence and an analysis of School Based Active Shooter Incidents. Dr. Doughty presented her paper, “Searching for Utopia: Tactics and Strategies of Extremist Groups in Rural Areas.” The paper focused on the tactics and strategies extremist groups use to influence local rural governments. She and her co-author, Richard Doughty, are developing an initial typology of the actions used, from legal means of influence to violent terrorist actions. Overall, the conference was a robust professional development opportunity. For more professional development opportunities with ASPA, please check out the Evergreen chapter. You can also contact Evergreen’s own Dr. Anguelov, current president of the local chapter, for more information.