In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin interview two working dads who work in government relations: Clif Porter and Jeff McNichols.
Clif is the Senior Vice President of government relations at the American Healthcare Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL), which represents more than 14,000 for-and not-for-profit nursing homes, assisted living residences, and facilities for the care of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
He has been married for 31 years and has three children (Chanel, 28, Christian, 25, and Clifton, 22). He has served in various leadership positions within his local church and has been actively involved in several professional and community organizations.
Jeff is the Director of the Alliance for Congress at the Partnership for Public Service, a new program committed to strengthening the institution of congress to better serve the American public. His career in government affairs began in 2004 when he left the Navy to work as a congressional staffer. Subsequent opportunities took him to the Department of Defence and the Boston Consulting Group. Jeff has been married for eight years and has two children (ages 5 and 3)
The four of us dug into the life cycle of a government relations career, what it’s like to work as a congressional staffer, the adjustments to make when one has to constantly travel for work to ensure that they still stay engaged as a parent, creating a work environment where parents feel that their family life is considered, thriving at raising kids while building a successful career, and so much more. Cliff and Jeff’s candor on their experience as working parents in the government relations space was not just incredibly insightful but inspirational. Stay tuned for more.
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In this episode of Parents at Work, Lori Mihalich-Levin and Jason Levin interview Nedra Pickler. Nedra is a partner at the global public affairs firm, Finsbury Glover Hering, where she advises clients on communications strategy, including crisis communications, reputation management, thought leadership, and brand awareness. She brings deep perspective from inside the media after 17 years at The Associated Press and as a commentator on television and radio. Nedra covered the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies, and the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns.
Nedra is a single mother to two amazing young boys and has successfully managed to thrive in her career despite the numerous challenges and bumps in the road that come with juggling the two. From constantly travelling on the campaign trail as a journalist covering presidential politics to dealing with different working parent challenges in the different roles she’s held throughout her career, Nedra has always found ways to make sure that she strikes some kind of balance between work and parenting her boys.
In this conversation, she talks about the advantages of working in public relations as a working parent and expresses her concerns about the issue of paid leave in America. At the end of this episode, you’ll have learned so much about how you can make it work as a working parent in a way that suits you and your kids, so don’t miss out.
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