Meet Our Presidential Management Finalist Kelsey Wingo
Kelsey Wingo is a third-year, dual-degree student in the Masters of Community and Regional Planning program at the UT School of Architecture and a Masters of Public Affairs program at the LBJ School. Recently, Wingo was one of only twelve students from The University of Texas at Austin, and the only student from the School of Architecture selected for the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship program. Created more than three decades ago by Executive Order, the PMF Program is a flagship leadership development program that matches outstanding graduate students with federal employment opportunities. The two-year fellowship includes a formal training program, individual professional development, mentorship, rotations to other federal agencies, and the opportunity to network with other future leaders.
As a graduate student, Wingo’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of power outages and energy security, socially vulnerable populations, and disaster preparedness and recovery. During her time at the UT School of Architecture, Kelsey has worked as a Grants Coordinator with the Center for Sustainable Development, and as a Government Affairs and Development intern for a utility-scale solar energy and battery storage company.
To recognize and celebrate Wingo’s selection as a Presidential Management Fellow, we recently caught up with her to learn more about her background, interests, and what she’s looking forward to as her fellowship kicks off later this year.
Tell us a bit about your background and what led you to Community & Regional Planning and Public Affairs.
I typically characterize myself as someone with a professional background in sustainability and resilience. Prior to graduate school and coming to the UT School of Architecture, I worked as a journalist and communications strategist for environmental advocacy groups. Bouncing around the green community in Missouri (my home state) led me to become the Sustainability Planner for Webster University in St. Louis. I was in that post for about three years and was lucky enough to work on projects ranging from bike share to food waste reduction, energy efficiency, curriculum development, student engagement and so much more. Acting as a campus advocate and an educator made me to want to expand my skill set and knowledge about how power (both in governance and in electricity) moves through our communities.
How did you become interested in resilient utility infrastructure, climate adaption strategies, and social vulnerabilities? What do you see as your career path/trajectory following graduate school?
Believe it or not, this interest came long before the 2021 Texas Winter Storm and subsequent state-wide blackout. I've always gravitated toward energy issues throughout my academic and professional career in sustainability. Decarbonization of the energy industry is underway, renewable projects are rolling out at record speed, and yet the regulation and governance structures are not well understood. As many around UT can attest, reliability is still an issue when it comes to extreme weather, cyber security threats, and aging physical infrastructure.
Following graduate school, I hope to continue working at the intersection of disaster management and energy reliability. There is so much work to be done and care to be taken to understand how outages will take place in the coming years, what their causes will be, and what consequences will follow.
What appealed to you about UT Austin for graduate school? What courses or experiences here have been particularly interesting or impactful?
I had a lot of trouble deciding between doing a Planning and a Policy graduate degree program, so UT was a great fit because I had the option to do both. The dual-degree program at UT is also different than some others I explored because the two programs are hosted by two different schools on campus: the School of Architecture and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Many people, students, and faculty alike, could attest that the School of Architecture and the LBJ School of Public Affairs are two different worlds: one rooted in theory, design, creativity, and the other emphasizing strategy, utility, and network-building – and in my experience, it has been such a joy to be a part of both worlds.
One of my stand-out experiences, and stand-out professors, would be Dr. Robert Paterson’s Disaster Planning for Resilient Cities class. Dr. Paterson is a fountain of knowledge on all things disaster management, including federal regulation, planning codes and standards, and the regional differences in hazard landscapes both domestically and internationally. That class involved such vivid, insightful readings and multimedia material, and some of the best creative and collaborative discussions on theory and practice when it comes to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Tell us a bit about the Presidential Management Fellow Program.
The Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program is a highly-competitive and professionally rewarding program hosted by the federal government, which historically accepts under 10% of the recent graduate applicants from graduate or doctoral programs – which I was lucky enough to be. Now, several other finalists and I have access to an online job board that hosts appointment opportunities from several different federal agencies. I will spend the coming months applying to positions in the hopes of getting a two-year appointment with an agency that will contain baked-in professional development and skills-building opportunities to set me up for a career in public service.
Currently, there are several agencies I would love to get hands-on experience learning in and working for, all of which I think would allow me to leverage my planning and policy education, such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of the Interior.
How has your time here at UTSOA changed how you view planning or your specific areas of interest? Do you have any parting words or insights to share as you get ready for the next chapter in your journey?
I found the planning program to be truly adaptive. In my opinion, both planning and policy education programs provide a foundational framework for data analysis and management, research activity and comprehension, and collaborative project skills. These programs also allow students to build the emphasis of their program through electives, research focus, and practicums. My time in the Community & Regional Planning program provided me with incomparable background knowledge in the history and impact of the planning profession, and how I can work to ensure that equity and community welfare are at the center of all of my future endeavors.
For those interested in the PMF program, you should apply! And reach out to alumni for insights, because the whole process can be quite wonky. Something I found surprising, a large chunk of the PMF program is based on an online assessment that acts as a personality match between you and the federal government. Academic and professional achievement are not the only weighted factors, and I think so many in the CRP program, and the UTSOA at large, would be spectacular fits for the program and federal service.