Patricia McGinnis announced earlier this month that she will heave her position as President and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government later this year.  Her list of accomplishments since joining the council in 1994 is very long, and her guidance in the overall movement to improve government will be greatly missed.

"Under the extraordinary leadership of Pat McGinnis and the team she has built, the Council has become a strong and respected voice for innovation and accountability in government," said John Macomber, Chair of the Council's Board of Trustees.

Founded in 1983, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Council's mission is to improve the performance of government and to engage the public in the governance process.  Diverse in its activities, the Council's primary work focuses on four important goals:

1.    To attract and develop talented people for public service;

2.    To encourage innovation and results-oriented performance in government;

3.    To promote e-government as a revolutionary tool for improving performance and better connecting people to government; and

4.    To improve the connection between citizens and government and encourage their participation in governance.

Under McGinnis's leadership, the Council has graduated more than 2,500 from its Excellence in Government Fellows leadership development programs for senior government managers and conceived the SAGE (Strategic Advisors to Government Executives) programs where public and private sector leaders share successful strategies and lessons learned.

In 2001, the Council formed the Coalition for Evidence Based Policy, which promotes public programs based on rigorous evidence of best practices.  This has lead to key reforms in OMB's performance assessment and the design and funding of numerous programs in education, health, and criminal justice.

The recently held "Public Service Recognition Week" is also a project of the Council.  Th week included activities and events on the National Mall and in cities and states across the country, designed to expose the general public, particularly potential hires, to public service.

Of particular interest to us at OhMyGov!, the Council produced a Blueprint for Electronic Government, in collaboration with leaders in government, business, and academia.  This Blueprint is recognized as the basis for the E-Government Act, which established a federal chief information officer along with other e-government initiatives.  

Prior to joining the Council, McGinnis, was a founder and Principal of a public strategy firm where she concentrated on education, energy and communications policy.  She will remain as President and CEO of the Council until a successor is named.  She says she has no particular plans for the future, except to take advantage of the opportunity to delve deeper into certain issues.  

While "Excellence in government" might sound like an oxymoron to many, but McGinnis has been a significant force in moving toward that ideal.  We salute her many accomplishments and wish her and the Council continued success.