In This Story
George Mason University undergraduates Minh-Dy Pham and Kalkidan Zewdu share several similarities: Both are driven, passionate about volunteering, and hail from Virginia.
This year, the two Schar School of Policy and Government students were further connected by the receipt of a high federal honor: the U.S. Department of Transportation Partnership for Public Service Award. The award recognizes young leaders in federal government and is given by the Department of Transportation and Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that provides a wide variety of career training programs and leadership exercises to help build valuable skills for future federal leaders.
Pham, a junior public administration major, received the award in fall 2023 at the start of her internship with the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Civil Rights. She has since accepted an offer to extend her internship. While she wears a lot of hats within the office, Pham focuses on compiling reports of diversity-, equity-, and inclusion-related misconduct and assisting the antiharassment coordinator.
Her involvement in DEI initiatives began in spring 2022 with the Schar School Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP). Within the program, she studied under Bonnie Stabile, associate professor and founder of the Gender and Policy Center (GAP), as they researched inclusivity within public administration curriculum—an area Pham continues to study in her position in the Office of Civil Rights. She later enrolled in GOV357, a class on urban planning, which included transportation infrastructure now relevant to her internship. Through the combination of her prior experience at Mason, Pham now puts her passion for diversity and transportation policy toward the public good.
The importance of the Partnership of Public Service Award cannot be overstated, Pham says. In addition to gaining experience in policy analysis—a career she hopes to pursue postgraduation—the award provides an opportunity for vital youth voices in the federal government.
“We are the future,” she said.
Pham’s future, in particular, looks exceptionally bright—and the Schar School has helped guide her.
“This internship would have not been possible without the Schar School,” she said. “As someone who aspires to work in the federal government after graduation, the school has immensely supported me in my career and educational pursuits.”
Kalkidan Zewdu, who received the award and began her portion of the internship in spring 2024, views leadership as integral to the role. As a Schar School senior, she has explored various options within her major, ranging from public administration to international relations. Above all, one principle has guided Zewdu through her journey: Government is a form of leadership.
“Working at the Department of Transportation has provided invaluable opportunities for me to cultivate leadership skills within government institutions—tools I plan to take with me wherever I land in public service,” she said.
In particular, Zewdu credits the internship with immense educational benefit, adding the professional and intrapersonal skills provided in workshops were an attractive feature of the job.
As for the Schar School, it offered her the opportunity to explore her interests in government in broad strokes—eventually exploring diplomacy courses, law school preparation, and Mason’s study abroad programs. Mason also provided the chance for Zewdu to explore cultural initiatives in addition to academic ones. As a junior, she founded the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) Campus Ministry with the goal of connecting with other Ethiopian students through shared faith. Through EOTC, which now has 36 members, Zedwu cultivates her leadership skills both in and out of government.
“As president and cofounder, I wanted to create a place where other Ethiopian students who grew up speaking English could find each other,” she said.