Inspired to Serve: Experts Share Their Insights on Public Service
By Lindsay Marcellus
Why choose a career in public service? Is it possible to work in industry but still influence tech policy or help address the current challenges in national security? Through this semester’s installment of Conversations with Senior Leaders, we try to answer these questions. This speaker series, hosted by the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST), invites distinguished leaders in national security or technology to share their leadership strategies and offer lessons learned over the course of their careers. This fall, we welcomed two speakers who have experience bridging the private sector and public service: Dr. Stacey A. Dixon, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI), and Ambassador Nathaniel C. Fick, the inaugural U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy.
On September 25, the Rachel Mellon Walton Reception Room in Posner Hall was filled as that ranged from what a “typical day” looks like, to the benefits of pursuing a career in public service, to how she draws on her background in engineering as she addresses national security issues. While Dr. Dixon acknowledged that careers in public service are not known for their high salaries, she highlighted that they offer many other benefits, such as tuition support, childcare subsidies, and most importantly the sense of doing meaningful work. “At the end of the day, I go home knowing that I have done something to keep this country safe,” she said.
Possessing over 20 years of intelligence experience, Dr. Dixon first trained as an engineer. She holds both a doctorate and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. Mentioning that in her early twenties, she had not yet thought about connecting engineering with public service, Dr. Dixon encouraged those attending to consider bridging “STEM” fields and public service when planning their careers. She shared that her training in engineering has helped her break large problems into smaller ones, hypothesize and test solutions, ask effective questions, and work well in teams. Stressing that her work is apolitical, Dr. Dixon explained that she does not set policy, but rather does the intelligence work necessary to inform those who do.
While Dr. Dixon recognized that many perks make it easier to choose going into public service after college, she also noted that there is a place for mid-career and later career hires. “We get to decide what is going to be built,” she said as she encouraged those with backgrounds in industry to pivot to public service and become part of that decision-making process.
Two days later, on September 27, to celebrate CMIST’s one-year anniversary. Like Dr. Dixon, Ambassador Fick did not always know that he would choose a career in public service. “Life only looks linear in hindsight,” he observed.
As an undergraduate student in Dartmouth College, Fick majored in Classics. After graduation, he joined the Marine Corps, where he was struck by his mentor’s leadership philosophy of “Officers eat last.” He then spent time in the private sector, including as the CEO of the cybersecurity company Endgame, before transitioning to the U.S. Department of State.
Through the lens of his own career arc, Fick stressed that careers do not need to be characterized by what he called “monogamous choice,” that is, spending 40 years doing the same work. Rather, he argued that we have the opportunity to engage in a lot of different projects over the course of our careers. Fick encouraged everyone attending to consider spending time in public service, mentioning that there is a need for publicly-minded business executives and academics.
For Fick, public service is the most important work. He said that it is important for tech leaders to contribute back to the society that created opportunities for them, but also sought to debunk the myth that only those with a tech background are needed. “We need your diplomatic skills,” he said. As an example, he mentioned the State Department’s objective to have a trained cyber and digital diplomat in every U.S. mission around the world, explaining that the training isn’t designed to create software engineers but rather to equip diplomats with the technical knowledge they need. While the State Department is on track to hit their goal, the demand is “sky high” and continues to grow.
It was an honor to host Dr. Dixon and Ambassador Fick for these latest Conversations with Senior Leaders. Their willingness to share from their career experiences and respond to questions provided invaluable insight. In addition to showcasing a diversity of career paths, Dr. Dixon and Ambassador Fick highlighted the critical importance of public service—from doing the intelligence work critical to informing policy-makers, to engaging in tech diplomacy and digital solidarity, to advocating for a free, open, and secure digital future for all. Their encouragement of everyone—from academics, to tech innovators, to business executives—to consider the contributions they can make to addressing national and international security issues and combating the authoritarian use of new technologies challenges individuals to take action to ensure that emerging technologies are used to foster equal treatment of all people.
(Image 1, l to r: CMIST Director Audrey Kurth Cronin and Dr. Stacey A. Dixon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence; Image 2: Cronin and Dixon discuss Dixon's career; Image 3, l to r: Professor Audrey Kurth Cronin and U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Nathaniel C. Fick; Image 4, left: Ambassador Nathaniel Fick; right: Cronin and Fick)
View more events in CMIST’s Conversations with Senior Leaders speaker series.