From Harvard to the White House and State Department: Perspectives on Public Service

Jon Finer ‘98
Institute of Politics Resident Fellow, Spring 2017
Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State (2016- 2017)
Foreign and National correspondent, Washington Post (2003 -2009)
Sarah Hurwitz `99
Institute of Politics Resident Fellow, Spring 2017
Chief Speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama (2010-2017)
Harvard Law School JD '04
Douglas Elmendorf (moderator)
Dean and Don K. Price Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Panelists and IOP Fellows Jon Finer, Former Washington Post Correspondent and State Department Chief of Staff, and Sarah Hurwitz, Chief Speechwriter for former First Lady Michelle Obama, joined moderator Douglas Elmendorf at the Forum for a discussion on public service. The conversation touched on the panelists’ paths to careers in public service, the transition from campaigning to working in government, and how the future of public service will be shaped in the age of the Trump Administration.