Fellow Spotlight: Eusebio Salinas

Why did you choose GFA?

I chose Govern For America because I believe in the capabilities of our government to enact positive change in the lives of our citizens and I wanted to be a part of a community of like-minded peers that could help each other find success at their host agencies.

What does “public service” mean to you?

Public service means working your hardest to help all of the members of a community. No matter where I serve, I believe this to be my single guiding principle in public work.

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone who’s interested in government?

One piece of advice is to direct your efforts towards building the new and not fighting the old. The systems in place likely will not be changed until we find a better solution, and even at that point, it will still be difficult. So then some bonus advice is to also build your resolve.

What’s the best book you’ve read this year and why?

The best book I have read this year was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This has been one of the most affecting pieces of literature I have ever read. Topics of religion, colonialism, tradition, the inevitability of change, and the relativity of truth are only some of the topics approached in this extremely short novel. If you have not read this novel yet, do so.

Eusebio Salinas currently works in the Connecticut Department of Transportation as an Organizational Consultant. His focus is on addressing the department’s upcoming generational shift in leadership by creating an organization-wide succession plan, which includes a succession plan training curriculum, online courses in response to telework shift in the workforce, an online retirement planning resource tool, and direct consultant of different DOT teams on individualized succession plans.