Speakers

Max Stier is the founding president and CEO of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. Under his leadership, the Partnership has been widely hailed as a first-rate organization and thought leader on government management issues.  

Max has worked in all three branches of the federal government. He served on the personal staff of Congressman Jim Leach. He clerked for Chief Judge James Oakes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and, clerked for Justice David

Souter of the United States Supreme Court. In the interval between the two clerkships, he served as special litigation counsel to Assistant Attorney General Anne Bingaman at the Department of Justice. 

After working at the Department of Justice, Max joined the law firm of Williams & Connolly, where his practice focused primarily on white-collar defense. 

Max’s most recent government position was as the deputy general counsel for litigation at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

A graduate of Yale University and Stanford Law School, Max is a member of the Inaugural Advisory Council of the National Institute of Social Sciences, the National Academy of Public Administration, the Administrative Conference of the United States, the Advisory

Council for the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago, and the Advisory Board for the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University.  

John Hatton is the Staff Vice President for Policy and Programs at NARFE. In this position, Hatton directs NARFE’s advocacy efforts to impact public policy, and its programs department, which provides educational content and personal assistance related to federal benefits, and which manages NARFE’s annual conferences. Prior to taking on this role in December 2021, Hatton served in various roles as a member of NARFE’s Advocacy Department since July 2010.

Prior to NARFE, Hatton worked as a legal fellow for the U.S. Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal workforce issues. Before that, Hatton was an attorney with the international law firm, Steptoe & Johnson. He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Hatton hails from Lake Grove, NY, and now lives in Alexandria, VA, with his wife, Courtney, and their 7- and 5-year-old sons.

Rob Shriver is the Managing Director of the Civil Service Strong and Good Government Initiatives at Democracy Forward.

In this role, he leads DF’s efforts to ensure that the Federal government is delivering for all Americans, through a career civil service of experts hired based on their merits.  Prior to joining DF, Rob served as the Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the Biden-Harris Administration. In this role, Rob was a champion for the Federal workforce and helped to ensure that OPM supported Federal employees from “hire to retire.” His passions include improving government effectiveness and customer service and driving the federal government to be a model employer.

Rob has a long history of leadership, policy and program development, and operations. Rob was confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan vote to be OPM’s Deputy Director in December 2022. Rob previously served at OPM during President Obama’s Administration, where he expanded equality for LGBTQ+ federal employees, improved federal labor relations, and implemented major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Outside of OPM, Rob has worked in state government and private sector IT, and he began his career as a lawyer at the National Treasury Employees Union.

Rob is a graduate of Virginia Tech and the George Washington University Law School.

M. Shane Canfield has led WAEPA through a period of significant growth since joining the organization in 2016. Under his stewardship, membership has reached new heights, product and service offerings have been enhanced, and WAEPA’s financial strength has been bolstered. As CEO, he is committed to upholding WAEPA’s mission and duty to its members while achieving the goals of the business. 

Canfield has more than 25 years of executive leadership experience, primarily with nonprofit organizations in the group insurance / member benefits sector. Prior to joining WAEPA, he served as Executive Director of the Council on Employee Benefits. His expertise includes strategic planning, managing stakeholder relationships, working with boards of directors, coalition building, and ensuring sound financial operations. 

As an avid reader and lifelong learner, Canfield brings intellectual curiosity to all his endeavors. When he is not working, he can often be found enjoying the outdoors. 

George Jackson is Vice President of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.”

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.