Dana Berchman

Guiding conversations with community leaders.

In this podcast, we'll explore the human journey of leaders, their stories of humility, triumph, roadblocks and lessons learned. Come join us as we journey together and uncover the questions you've always wanted to know. This podcast is brought to you by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, providing resources, connections and belonging for business professionals and modern moments.

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I have been waiting for a very long time for this guest. I'm so excited. I believe she is the only guest of our podcast who can claim she started her career at MTV in New York City. She she is an Arizona native, a graduate of Gilbert High School and the Emmy award winning Chief Digital Officer for the town of Gilbert. She is the daughter of high school sweethearts and she shares a beautiful relationship with her one and only sister. Today she is living her own love story with her husband Scott and two beautiful and amazingly talented daughters. To know her is to know family is everything and love can be found anywhere. Please welcome Dana Birchman.

There we go. Dana's in the house. Hi, Dana.

Thank you. Hi. So happy to be here. What a lovely introduction.

So happy to have you.

It probably took her a long time to write that, I'm sure, but it was good.

It was really good. That's one of those you have to think really hard. Yes, we know this.

Well, let's get started with what we call rapid fire. You go first, Sarah.

Fill in the blank.

Happiness is family.

What is your hidden talent?

Ooh, hidden talent.

Yeah, everybody knows the other stuff.

Reading people instantly when they walk in the room.

Okay, this is a trick question now. I guess a concert you will never forget.

Taylor Swift, three times down. Oh, yes.

Have you ever lived abroad?

Yes, I have. In Spain, actually.

What is something people get wrong about you?

That's a great question. Rapid fire. And I'm trying to think, what did they get wrong? That's a hard one.

You can pass.

I don't think I'm gonna have to pass on that.

How about this one? What makes you hopeful?

My children. 100%.

Are you more of a thinker or a doer?

Doer.

Alright, this is fun. If someone were to play you in a movie, who would you want that to be?

Ooh, Emma Stone.

What is your favorite pastime or hobby?

Probably listening to music. Going to concerts. For sure. Traveling. I love to travel too.

Final question. What is one thing you are grateful for? Just one.

Health.

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Learn more@dignityhealth.org Arizona all right, thank you for being here today. So excited.

I'm so happy to be here.

So much to talk about. Let's start at the very beginning. Let's start growing up Gilbert. Talk about your childhood, what that looked like for you.

Oh my gosh. Well, so I know it's hard to believe a lot of Arizona natives that are here. I left and came back, which you mentioned briefly with my stint at mtv. But my parents came here as you mentioned. They were high school sweethearts and my dad played professional baseball out of high school and he was originally going to play football at U of A. And then he got drafted by the Yankees out of high school so he made a shift. But my mom had already committed to coming to U of A to follow him here. So they ended up getting there under undergrad at U of A and then their graduate degrees at asu. So don't ask them to pick a team. I'm a Sun Devil, but they can enjoy both of those Arizona teams. And so they settled here and they actually were married when they were 20 and married 10 years, lived the baseball life and traveled around before they had me. And then I was born in Mesa in 1979 and had an amazing childhood. I was an only child for eight years. So. So that's a whole separate podcast of things we could unpack later. And then believe it or not, between seventh and eighth grade, which is a time that most kids would say that they wouldn't want to make a move. I know that because I have daughters in those ages now those are junior high years are interesting. But my parents were both my dad was teaching and he was a baseball coach at Chandler High School and my mom took a job at Chandler Gilbert Community College, which was a new community college at the time. And they wanted to move from Mesa to this new place that was really hot and upcoming and it was a developed community on water called the Islands in Gilbert. And so they just thought this was like their dream home and would I be open to moving schools and moving my whole life? And I said absolutely.

It Was the water, right?

You're like, water, water.

We'll go.

No, we couldn't afford to live on the lake. We lived across the street from the lake. Good enough. My dad can still walk across the street and go fishing. And I moved to Gilbert and it changed my whole life. I went to Mesquite Junior High and then Gilbert High School, where I had an amazing experience as a tiger and had a teacher pluck me out of a ninth grade class to run for student council. Encouraged me to get involved in the school and have leadership roles and really formed my love for politics and led me to choosing political science as my undergraduate degree. So growing up in Gilbert was a wonderful experience for me. Now, at that time, you have to remember, small town, not much going on downtown, except a maybe Circle K that sold liquor to underage kids and, you know, a lot of stoplights. And one high school, Highland, opened when I was a senior, so it was one, you know, you knew everyone and I didn't. I was actually boundaried for Chandler High, but my dad taught there, and I was like, no way. So I had to get a boundary exception to go to Gilbert.

I got a question for you. Go back for one second. This teacher that plucked you, Say more about that teacher. I'm curious.

Oh, my gosh. Well, unfortunately, he's no longer with us. He passed away of a heart attack. So Suddenly and sadly, Mr. Beatty, he was my science teacher, and he asked me to stay after class one day and said, hey. And I mean, I was new relatively. You know, high school is always a new experience when you're a freshman and you're coming in with all these junior highs. But I'd only been in Gilbert for one year, and I had friends, but he was like, have you ever thought about running for student council? I think you'd be amazing. And I was, no. Nobody knows who I am. Like, they wouldn't vote for me. So, no, it hasn't crossed my mind. He said, I'm going to give you an appointed position. You can be the homecoming director. And I was like, okay, what does that mean? And so I became the homecoming director, and then I ended up running, you know, running in the future and was the student body vice president now.

Your parents were both teachers?

Yes.

How does that influence you in this model at all? You think about now and what you're doing and what they did. Teaching is a whole different kind of spectrum, right?

Yeah. Well, I think it's the love for public service, you know, never doing anything for a paycheck. But really doing the work because you're so passionate about it. And I was just fortunate enough that, you know, both of my. My dad played professional baseball. And, you know, like I said, I had. I've had big jobs in New York City, and you can have a huge job and make a lot of money and not be fulfilled. And so it's really about service to others, and it's why I love my job more than anything in the world and why at any point, I know that I can't lose that public service aspect. And it was something that was taught, really. I mean, I was really fortunate, too, because I had my mom's mom that went to college and had a college degree, which is very. Not that common at that time. My great grandmother always worked, so it's work ethic, but then also, I think just passion for doing what you love and helping and teaching. And it's what I love, too. And I've taught. When we first moved back to Arizona, I taught at the Cronkite School at ASU for a while. And I love teaching, so if I wasn't doing this, I'd probably be teaching well.

And I want to sidebar for just a minute, too, because you mentioning your grandma and I actually have in my notes that you are, you have such a passion for empowering women. And you yourself empower your daughters who are very strong. Your mom is a strong woman as well. And then now to share that your grandma did something that was sort of a trailblazing for her generation as well. It just, it doesn't surprise me. But I love your heart for empowering women and strengthening and just bringing that bond together.

Thank you. Well, it's funny because I know in the rapid fire, you know, I was thinking maybe you would ask me what my favorite book was like you have in others. Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf is a book that my mom made me read in high school, which basically, it was written in 1929, actually, way before women really had important roles in society, honestly. But it just says that women must have their own money and place to write. And I just, my mom taught me that. I teach my girls that. And I think it really is so true. I mean, her mother taught her, like I said, her grandmother. And it's just really important. And I think, you know, at that point in time, too, way back when, my great grandmother became a single mom early on, and so she had to work and had to support her. And so, you know, it's just, it's something that I've Always I kind of joke sometimes, like with my daughters now I'm like, if I hadn't met your dad, I would not be married. Okay? Like I wasn't ever out searching to look to get married. It's just I happened to meet an amazing guy because I was, I am fiercely independent. Always have been. Do you know, just to be able, like I said, to have your own money and space and time, to be able to take care of yourself and support yourself. And it's not a novel thing as much anymore, right? In this day and age it shouldn't be. But definitely you're right. Back then in my grandparents age, it was. And so I've been really fortunate to have a strong line of women. My great aunt as well, she was an artist and lived in Paris and had many husbands and helped to raise me because my mom was working, you know, all along. So I had my grandmother and my great aunt and kind of this village that we always talk about needing when you're a working mom, it's just so critical. It's the reason we moved back to New York from New York actually was because my parents were retiring and I felt that I couldn't be the mom that I wanted to be and the career woman I wanted to be. And so I needed help and it was the best decision we ever made because getting to see my parents raise my kids with me is just, it's the best.

And I will also say the men in your life, both your dad and your husband, man, they embrace it as well. They knew what they were getting into and they are so supportive and empowering as well.

They are, they are self proclaimed feminists also and I love that about them. And most of the men in my life don't have a choice to be, but it's pretty amazing and true. And I think like I said, you mentioned my parents being together since they were 16 and married 53 years. I mean that's just kind of unheard of nowadays. And it's pretty special. And I try to remind my kids because my husband's parents are also still married and very long time, I'm like, do you know what it's like to have four grandparents here living and still together? And so whenever they're all together, I'm constantly telling my daughters, you know, who are 11 and 13, do you know how special this is? Like most people don't get to have this experience in their life.

Yeah, mom. Okay.

Yeah, yeah. No, I think they know. I think they know.

Well, your girls are wise, so. All right, talk about, let's go back to high school. So you graduate high school. What does it look like after you go to asu?

Yeah, I only applied one place, and I. There's another thing I look back on and think that could be something people get wrong about me because I, you know, I was such a high. You know, I graduated pretty much, I think, top 25 in my class. And. And yet I really wanted to, like, stay close to home right out of school. I don't know, maybe I was young. I was only 17 when I graduated high school. But I look back now, I'm like, why wasn't I applying other places? Like, why. Why didn't I?

I think that's just the thing, too. I was the same way. And now I look and I'm like, you know, I have spreadsheets of colleges for my kids, right? Yeah, right.

My kids, I couldn't pay them to stay in Arizona if I tried. They're like, how fast can we get out of here? To the furthest point on the map from, you know, definitely New York, because my oldest was born there, and that's where she wants to end up. But, you know, I stayed close to home. I went to asu. I did move out and move into the dorm and had that whole experience, which, you know, obviously was formative as well for me. But I was a political science major. And honestly, you know, I was one of how many. I mean, even in my senior year at asu, actually, I went in as a broadcast major my freshman year, and I thought it was a little too limiting. I felt like I thought I wanted to go to law school, and so I switched to political science my sophomore year. I thought it was more broad and would give me more opportunities to do more things, and so I stayed there. And then when it came to intern the summer between my junior and senior year, my best friend, who was my first day tour guide at Mesquite Junior High in eighth grade, had gone on a theater scholarship to nyu. And so she was living in the city, in Manhattan. And I decided that I didn't want to do a political internship with anyone here who was in office. So I interned, applied, and got accepted to intern for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign. At the time, she was a first lady and running for Senate in New York. And so I. I moved with my best girlfriend, who stayed for the summer and lived in the city. And I fell in love with New York then. And I knew, you know, that I loved this kind of melding of politics and journalism, which was still Kind of at the core of what I was passionate about. But I knew I was gonna live in New York City at that point. So I graduated and actually had a business minor and then decided I was gonna take the lsat. So I studied and took the LSAT and started looking at law schools and I had a gap year in between. And I'd never studied abroad in. And so I went and lived in Spain, Southern Spain and Sevilla while I was applying for graduate school. And when I visited and I knew that I wanted to have a polar opposite experience than my large university experience, I wanted something small and just more intimate class size and just holistic experience. And so I was touring and I was looking at smaller schools on the east coast. And I visited American University in D.C. and they had a 12 month journalism and public policy program, master's program. And I was like, well, that's kind of cool. And I could do that and then maybe go to law school after. I had never met an attorney who said that they loved what they did. And I had met a lot of other people, you know, journalism and that kind of line of work, and even in politics who said they loved what they did. And I was like, oh. So that was kind of in the back of my head. Another reason why I think we still force people too young to make decisions sometimes about what you want to do with your life. So you really have to journey to figure that out. And so I applied, got into the master's program there, moved to D.C. and did the 12 month intensive program. Loved it. Had to pick journalism at the time, still, you had to pick between print and broadcast, and then in broadcast you had to pick radio or TV. I'm dating myself and it was like 100% TV. But then I had to decide at the end of that if I wanted to do on camera or behind camera. That is something people get wrong about me. They think, I think oftentimes that I'd be someone that likes to be out in front of the camera. I do tend to love a microphone, but mostly to direct other people. I like to make other people look good. I like to set other people up for success. It's like the greatest joy of my career. Whether it's an elected official, it's a mayor, it's my boss, it's my anchor, it's the politician I'm working for. Making other people look their best, sound great and show up that way is like, that's my jam right there. And so I think that would be a misconception about me is I Think. People often think, oh, you know, you must wanna, especially in that line of work, like, you must wanna be on camera. It's like, not really. I love being behind the scenes. I love writing.

But you're not afraid of a camera.

No, but these days, I leave that to my kids, other people, or, you know, again, other people that I work with. And we talk about this a lot. Even when I deal with work now with, like, our police chief, you know, I say these. We're here to make you look good, to make you sound good, to set you up, to talk to the community the way you would. And they're like, oh, okay, I get this. It's just a different way of thinking. And so after graduate school, I had to decide I had a job offer actually in El Paso, Texas, to be on camera, or I could go behind the scenes and make a move to New York, which is what I wanted to do. And so I did. And my best friend, who I mentioned's roommate at the time, worked at mtv. And I moved to New York, and within two weeks, I had a job at MTV and had met my future husband, who sat cubicle to cubicle across from me and never really looked back from there. So, you know, again, back to those, like, big life moments and making choices and taking your time to be sure you really know what it is that you want to do and just following those passions. Funny that I stayed so close to home right out of the gate, and then was like, as far as you can go, I'm out of here. Now I'm back. So I don't know.

So that's a lot that you went through. And. And I know you already said you're a pretty independent person, but thinking back on that, does anybody come to mind, other than maybe your friend that you leaned into to help kind of get you through these things? Because how do you make all these decisions on your own without consulting or is there somebody mentoring you there?

So, funny enough, there were actually three of my best friends from Gilbert High School, and I all ended up in New York City together. And one of my best friends from high school moved to D.C. with me first. When I went to grad school, she actually moved into the dorm, and she was not a student. And they put her on a meal plan. And it's quite comical because she was job hunting, and we were 22 years old, and she'd never really left Arizona either. And so she was with me kind of along the way. And ironically, I moved to New York, and then two weeks later, she got A job with Ralph Lauren also in the city. So she called me. Otherwise I would have been looking for a roommate or been on my own, but I had her. And so. So it's always my girlfriends. I mean, my friendships are like at the core of kind of who I am. And I've just been so fortunate. I mean, I work really hard at those relationships. And obviously other than my family, they are my family and some of my best friends that have known me forever. And so we had a wonderful adventure and I'm not quite sure I would have made it. My husband ended up moving in with my best girlfriend and I in a year old six floor walk up at 33rd and 3rd in New York City. And he was the best roommate I ever had. And she would agree with that because he. That's when I knew I was gonna marry him. You know, it was like, girls, how long has it been that you haven't had toilet paper or hmm, is this what you eat for dinner? Like cereal every night? It's like honey bunches of oats again. Yep, that's how we do it, you know. And those experiences, I think being financially independent and in a very expensive city and like making. I had a master's degree, but I was like logging tape and making $125 a day because I had to hustle to get in there. And I think I couldn't really afford, I couldn't afford to live there, but I made it work. And I think those are really formative experiences. I was able to rise really quickly kind of through the ranks at mtv and then I moved on to news at NBC and msnbc. But I was able to rise quickly, I think because of my background and because of my work ethic, which is something I should mention that back to the Hillary Clinton internship, I was the only non Ivy league student that was an intern there. And I was known as the girl that goes to the party school from asu. But I was the first one there and the last one to leave. And I always tell my girls this, like just outwork, right? Like just show up and outwork and it will pay off every time. And I think for me in the Hustle in New York City, like we would work 12, 14 hour days, like you're in your 20s, what else do you have to do? Like it was a dream, it was awesome. And I was able to move up really quickly one I think, cause I had a political background. A lot of the stuff I was doing was like choose or lose the election initiative at MTV or True life or those types of. I was still able to combine my love and passion for politics with the work I was doing for tv. And it was great. And a lot of people didn't have the same background as I did, and so they're like, wait, you actually know about politics? Like, hey, you can direct this, or, hey, we're gonna make you this producer. And it was like, you could rise through the ranks really quickly. And I did, and I was really fortunate. But it didn't start that way. I mean, it was. You know, you said, how do you get there? My mom going, wait, you're a freelancer? For six years, I had no health insurance, and I went job to job, and I never had a steady job. And my parents just. Just thought this was crazy because they were on the state retirement system and you gotta have all of these benefits. And I'm like, no. I'm like, oh, my God, how is she gonna pay next month's rent? And I look back, and those were the best times of my life. They formed definitely who I am today.

So is there ever a what if I had stayed? What would life look like?

No, never. Never. Oh, I mean, it doesn't mean I'm not gonna go back. I do threaten that on a daily basis. But now I have kids here. No, because I have the best job I've ever had. And that's the irony of the story, is that I thought I had an amazing job. So I left. I was the original casting director for 16 and Pregnant, which was my last job at MTV. And I always joke I made more money probably than I'll ever make in my life. But I just felt awful. Even though that the show's been actually proven to have lowered teen pregnancy rates. It didn't feel so great when you're working on a show like that. You know, at the time, the industry was really changing a lot. And reality tv, you know, there were parents and people negotiating to be paid per episode. And it was just different than what documentary television that I had been a part of had been like. And so I didn't love the changes that were happening there and honestly didn't love the job. Although casting. I'm fabulous at kind of, like, hiring, you know, Like I said, I can't tell you. This is my hidden talent. And so I am a brilliant casting director. So if anyone's listening and is looking for casting, that could be my next career. But I love, like, that's the coolest thing is, like, knowing and seeing someone. And a real challenge was we did. I'm very proud that I produced the True Life. I have autism, when none of the characters were verbal. And we were told by executives at MTV that we could never produce the show because how could we do it if they couldn't speak? And I was like, oh, yeah, watch me. And we used a light writer and we used art, and we found all these other ways to communicate these stories and actually won an Emmy for that production as well. And it was. It was amazing and really showed me, you know, And I love that storytelling piece of amplifying other people, and especially people like that who had. I've never had their story told. And at the end of the episode, one of the kids ends up inviting a friend he never had a friend over use the light rider to invite a friend to his birthday party. And it was very powerful experience.

Very cool.

Yeah, it was amazing. And so then I left that after the 16 and pregnant experience, I left to go to news, which was what I always was really passionate about. And I became a news writer for Andrea Mitchell at msnbc. And I loved that. And then I had a baby. And every day, I don't know, I would sit on the subway platform around 3:30am going to work. My alarm would go off at like 2:30 and I'd be at my desk by 5am and again, new York, you don't think anything about this. And then you have a newborn baby in your arms at 1am crying, and you're like, how am I gonna do this and keep that pace? Cause it was a crazy pace. I mean, I did six years at mtv. Crazy. The first summer that my husband and I were married, we never were. He was also at MTV for 12 years. We were never home one weekend together. We never. We really didn't see each other. We were always traveling and working. And, you know, then I went to news. And that was a different kind of marathon. You know, every day is different, but it's like running a race every day for live TV especially, which I loved, loved, loved, loved. But I also was like, how am I going to do this and be the parent that I want to be? And so when you ask about that regret, it was like, no, because I know I made the best decision to be the mom I wanted to be and then still have a job. And then what I was trying to get to was leading me to the best job I ever had, which was here now. I did have a stop briefly at asu. Like I mentioned teaching before. And my husband also kept his job for a while and then was doing some AV work for a company here. And like, we both looked at each other, like, did we have, like, makeup? Ultimate career suicide decisions? Like, what were we thinking? Like, this might not be, you know, the pace for me when I'm so used to the pace of the city and that business. And then in higher ed, it felt really slow. Like, how do people get anything done around here? Like, sabbatical? Like, I need this, you know, I need this to move. And which is why it's so ironic that I love working in government, because I love. I love that fast pace, and I always want to bring people along to that. But I quickly saw a job, actually a Chief Digital officer job, advertised in a newspaper, ironically not advertised online. But my mom still got the Arizona Republic at the time, and I'd had my second daughter and I was on maternity leave, and she brought the paper over and laid it down on my lap and said, look at this job in Gilbert. This job looks like, perfect for you. And it said, town of Gilbert to create Chief Digital Officer. I'm like, what? So I read through it and I was like, this job sounds like it's made for me. Like, it's not a traditional comms person. It's all the things that I used to do in my previous jobs, which was get old school reporters like Andrea Mitchell to think about moving beyond a pen and paper and using blogging and social media to connect with audiences, right? And I was like, this is amazing. Like, the average age in Gilbert at the time was 32. It's now 34. And, you know, a third of the residents are under 18 and 20 and figuring out how to meet people, where they are in the way they want to be met. I'm like, this is my dream job. And honestly, it has been since the day I started. And so the last 11 years, believe it or not, I've been working in the government space. And like I said, you wouldn't imagine that after a big fancy life and job in New York that you'd think, really, that's your favorite job. But it really, truly is because it's that perfect melding of all the things, right? The public service piece where I grew up, you know, giving back to the community, amplifying voices that don't get to get heard, you know, meeting people where they are, you know, telling stories of people, again, like I mentioned, who don't have a chance to have their story told. It's just been a dream job and it's met its challenges. I mean, the world is changing, but I'm used to that. I've worked in industries that were being disrupted long before, and it's good to have those types of challenges.

You know, that's a brand new position that you jumped into as well. So you probably had a lot of legwork to get going on that one, right? Cause they kind of just created it, right?

Yeah. Well, I got to build it. I'm a builder. I mean, I love that creation space. So to start with, nothing was really key. I think if I had inherited something. It's tough in government to make lemonade when you don't have any lemons. And I say that a lot because I think it's what I hear the most often from my counterparts or other cities is, well, I'm stuck with what I have. I have to figure out how to make something with this. And, you know, if you're not willing to change. We were just talking about this the other day about demanding skill sets for people that have been here a long time. I think about our resident every day. Right. They're 34. How do they want to interact with their city? How do they want to pay a bill? How do they want to sign up for a class? How do they want to receive their information? Information on social media, like, that's how we should be delivering services. And a lot of times in these government spaces, you have people who've been doing jobs for a long time. It's like they need to evolve their skill sets, you know, and I'm. I have to challenge myself to do this too. Having young kids helps, but, you know, if there's like a new social media platform tomorrow that our residents are on, like, we need to be on it. We need to meet them there. And I don't know why people think government is an exception to the way the world works. It's not. And neither is Gilbert. We are evolving as the world is. And so I think this is, again, something that I've learned over time. And I kind of call this a new way of recreating it again, a reinvention, a reimagination of the space I'm in, because I'm not a wheels turning kind of person. And so I've built something. If I'm gonna stay another decade, it's like, how do I kind of blow this up and think about doing it differently again? And I think you said started with nothing. That was, you know, that was really key for me because I could create job descriptions that you would see in the private sector. Right. Like digital journalists and storytellers and not, you know, Av people that were pushing buttons at public meetings. That's not what we needed to serve our residents or to help get us where we needed to go. And so I had that. That benefit. But I do think that, you know, a lot of times, even in other cities or other spaces like this, it's a scary thing to think about, you know, but if a new job opens, rewriting that job description, because what we needed even a year ago isn't necessarily what we need today.

Well, and I think you and I talked about that, like, yes, it's so important to just continue to evolve and. And that's important for all of our leadership too. All right, let's go ten years from now. You. You brought up a decade from now. What does a decade from now look like for you? And what do you hope your girls take from their childhood when they reflect back?

Oh, my gosh, a decade from now, we're gonna be empty nest parents, which is crazy to think about. Well, I mean, I hope so. I mean, I don't hope to have an empty nest, but I really hope my kids are gone and living their most amazing lives outside of.

I totally understand everything you meant in all of that. I got it.

Yes. Gosh, honestly, I would love to live in New York City again. I'm secretly hoping that our oldest daughter, who's really into theater, lands on Broadway and that I can live vicariously through her again.

And also, there's a really good chance she will.

Oh, yeah, Well, I don't know. She's mine, so. I always say, I don't want my mom goggles on to say, oh, she's so amazing. And then everyone's like, okay, no, I think she's pretty special. Thank you. Both of our daughters are extremely talented. They're both into theater. They're both very musical, which is pretty awesome. Our youngest is also tremendous athlete, and so she's a softball pitcher. And so I just look forward in 10 years to, like, living again vicariously through them and all of the amazing things they're gonna do and traveling. I'll still be working. I love working. I'll always be working. What I'll be doing, I don't know.

What does government look like?

Oh, my gosh. I just said this to someone yesterday. I was like, there's not. We're not gonna have wallet. We're not going to have, you know, like, I think of all the things that we're not going to have, is there going to be government?

I don't know.

That's terrifying to me. Someone who studied political science as a, you know, as their major. However, you know, I've seen things in the last few years that I never imagined I would see. And so although I think, I think our children, my children, this next generation of children, it's kind of a phase. I call it the pendulum swing. It swings one way, it swings back. I think our kids understand probably better than most adults about the future that they want. And I often think that if we had elected leaders that are 13 year olds or 17 year olds, 16 year olds, they could provide some much needed perspective. And I think we should listen to our youth a lot more and put them in spaces and places to participate in government. And so if we don't, which we always say, why is it always retirees? Or why is. You hear all the time, why are these candidates so old and why is this and that we have to reinvent the space? Just kind of like I always talk about, reimagine it to open up room for people like our children to run for office and to want to run for office.

And let's push it and say it's not just, just like a program that checks the box, like truly seek their feedback, seek their engagement, or even just have an hour long car ride with them and you will see the world differently.

Yeah, invite them into that space. I think they are our best hope. And I think we have not done a great job, especially in the last decade of thinking about young leadership. So in 10 years I see kind of my department evolving. The dream for me has always been more of like I've gone from everything from Office of Communications to Office of Digital Government to Office of Civic Engagement to truly be able to understand how to engage our youth, whether it's just in local government and what local government does, or thinking about staying in Gilbert and having a career, giving back to the community in some way, shape or form. And you know, and I know that there's opportunities to do that. We've created coding contests for kids and done other things creatively to get out of the box to do that. But we need more people in local, state and federal government thinking about, you know, I saw one of the things was people brought in TikTok influencers, you know, at one point into the White House or in to understand how government works. You know, invite them into Congress for a day, let them go back and tell their followers the things they see. I think this is a brilliant idea because people don't want to hear government talking at them anymore. Let other people come in, invite them in and let them tell you what they think about what you're doing. Not people that show up at council meetings or, you know, I was call, say, the pitchfork people that have a grievance. The average person who's busy living their lives. What do they really think? Because they do care about a lot of these issues, whether it's parks or, you know, their schools and the future. We know that everyone is passionate about these same things, but we don't often create spaces. I think I, you know, done a great job building a team of people that's, you know, really creative and thinks about doing these things. But, like, how can we go further? How can our whole organization, or how can local government in general go further to truly engage and bring in, you know, young people to want to work in local government? Just like we always say, there's going to be a shortage of teachers. Like, who are these next generation, you know, civic leaders? And I think that's really critical and what we need to be focusing on right now. Because I always say I'm old, you know, like, I have these moments. I'm like, I'm, you know, am I out of touch and making sure that if I even feel that way, then there's no doubt. And our students, our kids, our children, they see, they hear everything and they have opinions. And like I said, we just haven't created spaces or we don't always create spaces where they can participate and come and tell us what they think of it. I mean, if Mr. Beatty hadn't plucked me out of ninth grade, I wouldn't have. Who knows what my life would have been? Who knows if I even would have been a political science major? I mean, I would have never ended up in New York. Never. And so it's just those little moments, you know, that you have with students or with your children or with the people in your life that can make all the difference.

Okay, so let's go back to this. What do you hope your girls take away from their childhood?

Oh, my gosh, I just hope that they see a happy home. You know, just knowing that they can do anything, be anything they want to be. It's just so important, especially raising young girls today, that being that example. And, you know, I do that a lot where I say I miss a lot of things because I have to go to work. And I think that's so important that they see that I have an incredible partner who's, you know, does so much, and I couldn't do it without him. It's a team effort. So I think that they would look and. And think of us as equal partners. A happy home, a place that, you know, they know that they were raised and always told they've had every opportunity to try to do and be everything they can be and to go out and be inspired and to do better than even I did. Like I said, like, maybe I stayed too close to home. Maybe I didn't do X, Y or Z. Right. Like, there's no doubt that they, they will not be staying close to home and they'll be doing those things. And I think that's the joy of raising them. It is the greatest joy of my life. And honestly, the choice to move to Arizona to raise them here and not in New York City was probably a really, really important one. I don't know that they'd be the same kids without my parents nearby and the lifestyle that we have here and them getting to see me, you know, do this job that has had its challenges, but that I love so much.

Well, I know your girls well enough to say they are beautiful, capable, independent girls who will grow up to be amazing women. And I feel fortunate to be able to witness that as well. You're doing a great job and you do a fantastic job for our community, too.

Thank you.

We appreciate you. We appreciate your time today.

Thank you. Wouldn't be a Dana Birchman podcast without some tears, let's be honest.

Well, I noticed. I've noticed this. I'm just looking forward to your guys next video that comes out.

Oh, oh, it's coming out Wednesday. Okay. And it's a fun one.

Those are fun. Those are ones that I enjoy.

Okay. Thank you.

All right, well, thank you for being here. This has been a great. Your story is amazing. It's so fun to listen to so many different angles and things. And you're right. You can talk. This is good. This is a good podcast.

So thanks for being here.

Here.

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. So much fun, easy to talk to you both. So good. It's like being with friends.

Indeed. So I know you like this show because we love this show and this has been a great episode. If you want more of these, subscribe to our tribe, join our crowd and get these in your inbox. We'd love to have you listen some more. Thanks for being here. Guiding growth conversations with community leaders.

Ben, let me ask you a question. How do you see other community members being involved in this podcast?

This is going to be a great opportunity for so many people in the community to have a chance to be heard. If they want to tell their story story, or if they just want to be part of this journey with us and help sponsor in a way that helps bring more people to the table with us. So I think there's many opportunities at hand. Whether you want to again be on the show, Reach out to us, let us know what your story is and how you think you could be part of it. We'd love to hear from you. Reach out, let us know and we'll see if we can make that connection. Sam.