Biography
Lauren Azevedo is assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg. Her volunteer work and past experience as a grant writer with public and nonprofit organizations on program evaluation and capacity building, and consulting with several of these agencies, has shaped her research agenda on nonprofit leadership and commitment to social equity. She has consulted with organizations including the Florida Department of Children and Families, Planned Parenthood and the TA Network for Children’s Behavioral Health. Her research focuses on capacity building, leadership and governance, diversity issues and social equity. She has published in
Public Integrity,
Journal of Public Affairs Education,
Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship and
Journal of Latinos and Education. She is an active contributor at ASPA, presenting at Annual Conferences, as well as regional organizations including SECoPA and NECoPA. She also has presented at the American Evaluation Association and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. She has been a member of ASPA since she was a doctoral student and is currently active in the ASPA Keystone State Chapter.
Candidate Statement
My commitment to advancing public service excellence and past experiences benefiting from ASPA make me an ideal candidate for District Representative for District II on ASPA's National Council. ASPA offers many opportunities for building new skills and upholding best practices, networking and promoting dialogue on social equity, from which I have benefited beginning as a doctoral student at the University of Central Florida and now in my current position as faculty member at Penn State Harrisburg. I enjoy contributing actively to and networking at ASPA conferences, Book
Talks and Keeping
Current webinars, as well as within the Keystone State Chapter of ASPA, and I am excited about the opportunity for a leadership position. ASPA has allowed me to share my research in nonprofit leadership and social equity areas, connected me with a book publisher for forthcoming work and provided me with opportunities to network with other researchers and create collaborative projects, as well as find an academic position. ASPA workshops also have helped me develop, as a doctoral student, a doctoral candidate and an instructor. I value these opportunities and actively promote relevant ASPA news and activities within my networks to support public service professions. I have a personal goal to share best practices, as well as promote professional ethics and integrity, and development opportunities for rising public servants within our public administration programs and make a positive impact on the field. I look forward to the opportunity to meet with and share ASPA’s values, resources and activities among colleagues, students and other professionals within my region.
Biography
Marlon Brown is committed to a life of public service and civic engagement. He works for the State of Michigan as director of policy and legislative affairs for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. He also has previously worked for the Michigan Supreme Court, the State Budget Office and the Delaware Senate, in addition to teaching at Davenport University and Albion College. He is very active in his community and serves as a city councilmember and mayor pro tempore for the City of Mason, Michigan. He is a member of the board of trustees for the Michigan Municipal League and is a former trustee of the Mason Area Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of ASPA since 2009 and serves on the executive committee for the Section on Public Performance and Management. Moreover, he is a member of the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management and the Conference of Minority Public Administrators, and has presented at conferences for ASPA, the Michigan Capital Area Chapter and
GOVERNING magazine. Brown earned a Bachelor’s degree from American University, a Master’s degree in public administration from the University of Delaware and is pursuing a doctorate in public administration at Valdosta State University.
Candidate Statement
I believe my personal commitment to public service, combined with my unique background and experiences, will enable me to be an effective member and positive voice on ASPA’s National Council. Throughout my life I have always viewed public service as a vocation where I could do the most good and help as many individuals as possible. Accordingly, I personally identify with ASPA’s mission of “advancing excellence in public service” and have sought to uphold the highest ideals of public administration in my work as a practitioner, elected official, instructor and aspiring scholar. Furthermore, I believe my diverse experiences in state and local government, higher education and nonprofit governance will bring a unique perspective to the National Council. My desire is to continue working with ASPA leaders to broaden our organization’s reach toward practitioners, as well as those who aspire to careers in public service. Serving on the National Council would provide a tremendous opportunity for me to invest in the lives of others, give back to my profession and contribute toward enhancing the scope and work of ASPA.
Biography
A lifelong public servant, Diane Disney has worked at multiple levels for entities as diverse as the U.S. Department of Defense, the Urban Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Project, and Pennsylvania State University. She successfully has managed a 12-campus college, advised a governor on human resource and economic development issues, crafted legislative language to help Defense workers affected by budget cuts, and developed housing for low-income, single-parent families. Her ability to generate collaboration across economic sectors and levels of government is exemplary. She has been a tenured management professor at Penn State (where she also has been dean and chancellor) and the University of Rhode Island (where she headed the Research Center in Business and Economics), as well as a management consultant to numerous state and federal departments. Internationally, she has worked with governments of Slovenia, Croatia, Chile, and others to design executive development programs to promote civilian control of the military. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, Disney has shared research through mass media, worked as a federal and state executive, and served on multiple commissions, such as the Federal Human Resources Technology Council, the Governor's Personnel System Review Committee, and the Civil Justice Advisory Board for the U.S. District Court. She headed negotiations for labor agreements with Portugal, South Korea, and Germany, as well as serving on several bilateral defense commissions. Being a board or committee member for nearly 50 nonprofit organizations has made her aware of the importance of strengthening Chapters and Sections to foster sound working relationships and networks within ASPA. A longtime fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, Disney has served two terms on its Board, most recently as chair. She also has received the George Graham Award for outstanding service to the Academy. Her education includes degrees from Stetson (BA), Duke (MAT), URI (MBA), and Brandeis (Ph.D.).
Candidate Statement
My life has been dedicated to public service, as both a practitioner and an academic. Therefore, I want to continue on ASPA’s National Council to help convey the truth about public administration and the people who devote their professional lives to it, as well as to help make “good enough for government work” convey the excellence it did a century ago. Indeed, developing the next generation of public leaders is an imperative for ASPA as a whole. That’s why I have recently paid a year’s dues for three young political science majors to get them involved early. My ASPA service has included membership on selection committees for the Founders’ Fellows, the Elmer B. Staats Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Donald C. Stone Award. A member of Pennsylvania’s Keystone State Chapter, I have been a conference session chair for NECoPA and served on ASPA’s Governance Task Force, which has successfully recommended updates to ASPA’s bylaws. Recently, ASPA Executive Director Bill Shields and I developed and presented a webinar for District II, “Coping with COVIDs: How to Cancel Major Events and Keep Your Organization Intact.” I also have served on the Ad Hoc Committee on ASPA’s journals and continue to serve on
PAR’s Board of Editors and ASPA’s Endowment Board, as well as co-chair the Council’s Workgroup on Fundraising and Unrestricted Revenue Streams. Of particular relevance to the District II position is my time on a range of boards, including those for the Federation of State Humanities Councils, the Naval War College Foundation, and SER=Jobs for Progress. In short, I have years of experience in helping boards work well, and I want to continue using that to help ASPA.
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Biography
Lorenda Naylor is associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and the program director for the undergraduate degree in Politics, Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) program at the University of Baltimore. She trains public servants to make a difference in their communities, cities and country. She is on the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Specialist roster and is an international scholar. She has traveled to six continents and more than 20 countries. She is a social equity researcher and utilizes a multidisciplinary framework in her research and teaching. Her research focuses on ensuring democratic values, equality, justice and representation are reflected in public policy outcomes. She has written on subjects including affirmative action, diversity, education, health, LGBT and pedagogy. She has distinguished herself as one of the top 10 scholars in public administration pedagogy. She has more than 30 publications and delivered more than 65 presentations. Her work has been published in
Public Integrity,
Review of Public Personnel Administration,
Journal of Public Affairs Education,
Journal of Health and Human Services,
Journal of Maternal Child Health,
Clinical Therapeutics,
Journal on Leadership and Development and the
Journal on Comparative Asian Development. Naylor earned her Ph.D. in public administration from American University, Washington, DC; her Master of Public Health from the University of Kansas Medical School, Kansas City, KS; and Master of Public Administration from Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.
Candidate Statement
I believe in gender equality, I believe in the mission of the Section for Women in Public Administration and I want to contribute and serve. I am a social equity researcher and focus on women and children, as well as LGBTQ issues. I have been a member of ASPA since 1994, joining as a MPA student, and bring more than 25 years of ASPA knowledge and leadership to the position. I have held various Section leadership positions including the Section on Public Administration Education, the Section on Ethics and Integrity in Governance and the LGBT Advocacy Alliance Section. This includes serving as president, president-elect, secretary and treasurer for the three Sections. I am also a member of the Section on Democracy and Social Justice and the Section on Public Law and Administration. In addition, I bring a wealth of knowledge to the position. I welcome the opportunity to represent District II.
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