Let's save our civil service expertise for brighter days ahead and a new generation of leadership.
If you have any questions, or if you are a former federal servant who would like to be interviewed to add your knowledge, contact us today!
Civil Servants
Civil Servants
You were and are the experts who keep our government running.
Nothing can replace the trust, reputation, experience, and expertise of an experienced public servant. The experienced person who worked down the hall from you who always took the time to answer your questions may not work in government anymore. But we are hoping to build a tool that replicates part of that knowledge-transfer experience. And if we are going to rebuild lost civil service capacity and improve it for the next generation of civil servants, we need to know how it was done by the experts who know the work best. That’s where you come in. Every experienced civil servant has years of hard-won knowledge and expertise that is crucial for keeping our government functioning. Our project hopes to collect that knowledge to be a resource for transition teams and folks on the Hill hoping to rebuild government service capacity and to help the next generation of civil servants.
How do I schedule an interview?
If you are a former civil servant who would like to be interviewed, please submit your information via the contact us link above. After you contact us, we will reach out to set up an introductory meeting to learn more about you and your experience and to give you the opportunity to ask us any questions about the process or the Project. We will then schedule a 4-hour interview either in person (if you are based in the Washington, D.C. area) or via Zoom (if you are based elsewhere).
What happens to the information from my interview?
Your interview will be summarized into a text-based outline document like the one to the side here. The summary will cover lots of topics, but will focus on your day-to-day experience, your unique expertise, and your suggestions for improvement; basically, exactly the kind of information we think that folks on the Hill and on future presidential transition teams will want to have access to as they think about how to rebuild lost civil service capacity. The text-based summary will be publicly available and accessible through Callimachus, the chatbot we are building. The audio and transcript from your interview will be kept by The Callimachus Project, but we will not publish them. Only the summary will be available to be reviewed or queried by Callimachus or anyone accessing it.
Concerned about AI? So are we!
If you are concerned about your information being summarized by AI, we understand your concern!
We believe in the promise of AI, and the new power it has to make a wide range of important information and opinions available to decision makers without creating information overload. But it is a powerful tool, and we’re very mindful to use it responsibly. For more information, please read about our AI use policy and ethical framework.
Here's how you can help
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