When I was in MPA School I had to complete an organizational blueprint for a public entity. Because of my interest in community and economic development, my professor assigned me to a state agency whose mission is to “assist local governments with economic development, community development, growth management and downtown revitalization”.
Even though I was a [...]
The Cosmopolitan Urbanist
Ideas, People, Communities
Author Archives: Monica
Beware the Bitter Bureaucrat: A Cautionary Tale and a PSA
In Honor of World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day was yesterday and over the course of the day, I thought about how HIV/AIDS have affected my life. It wasn’t until today that I actually got a chance to get anything on paper.
When I was in middle school my uncle, who lived with my family, started to go blind. It started slowly [...]
Social Media for Governments: An Explanation (Part Two)
How would my organization use Twitter and other social media tools?
Would you like to be able to quickly inform and update the community of fire emergencies in the area?
Twitter can help you do that. Check out the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Napa City Fire Department.
Here is another article about how the fire department [...]
Social Media: An explanation for public organizations (Part One)
Social Media. Does your organization need it?
Do you have customers, clients, or citizens or other audiences with which you want to communicate?
Do you wish your message could reach a wider audience?
Do you sometimes need to get information disseminated quickly?
Are you looking to engage and enable your base?
Do you want to build a community?
If you answered [...]
Things I’ve Learned at Work: Technology is our friend
In my current work, I’m a management consultant and internal performance auditor for a state agency. Simply put, I analyze existing state programs and service functions; I investigate their strengths and weaknesses, and identify strategies that can help them to be the best they can be.
I love my job. Finding ways to make stuff better [...]
Thank You for Your Contribution and Service
I, like many others, have had a slight obsession with the Kennedys. The Kennedy Family, for longer than I’ve been alive, has been a cornerstone in American politics and popular culture.
My obsession started years ago, and developed as I tried to understand how so many fighters for the common good could spring from such an [...]
THE best explanation of the credit crisis that I’ve seen.
I’ve heard everyone- professors, media, finance people, government officials, non-profit leaders (all with their many-armed diagrams) try to explain how the housing/credit crisis all started. Best case scenario, those presentations are boring. Worst case scenario, they leave you more confused than when you started!
Today, I discovered this video, done by a graduate student, explaining [...]
People make the place. Change the people, change the place.
A new job has brought me to Atlanta, and I’m in the process of looking for a new home. In Atlanta, sprawling metropolis that it is, where you live largely determines what you do. It’s fun to be young and professional in a city, but it is only fun if you live in the right [...]
Redwood City Events: Downtown Done Right
On a recent trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, I had the opportunity to visit Redwood City for the first time. In the past, I’ve seldom ventured outside of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. Let me tell you, my visit to Downtown Redwood City on Friday night was a pleasant surprise.
The experience:
My friend [...]
