What are the strengths of your organization? If you were in charge of a similar organization, are there any things you would do differently?

I could choose several levels to respond to this question- the entire City of Phoenix, the Department of Public Works, or the Solid Waste division. I'm going to focus on Solid Waste, although some things I think apply to both Public Works and the whole city.

• Innovation and Creativity: I feel very appreciated as an intern. The leaders at Solid Waste are always looking for innovative and creative ideas, and they like having new, young people to contribute. They have recruited several young master's educated students (mostly ASU MPA's) to the division.  Not to say that the workers who have been there a long time can't contribute creative ideas too- they welcome ideas from all levels.
• Value all of their employees and encourage communication: Something that is unique to solid waste is that they encourage all employees to do ridealongs to gain an understanding of operations firsthand. They do not want to have a deep chasm grow between those in the field, like drivers and landfill operators, and those of us who are at City Hall in a cubicle all day. I have also attended meetings out in the field with other City Hall folks. 
• Great Leaders: The supervisors I work with the most are great leaders. My supervisor is an Administrative Assistant II, Lorizelda, and she is a really great leader. She has a lot of responsibility, but she wants the interns to have a great learning experience, and she helps us out when necessary but also lets us take responsibility for our own projects. I also work with John Trujillo, the Assistant Director of Public Works. He is a great advocate for the internship program in general, and has a great enthusiasm for his work. I often see him walking around the office just to see how people are doing- this is not something you always see from a boss. Both Lorizelda and John have these very positive attitudes that inspire and motivate people to do a good job.

I'm actually not sure what I would change about my organization. I think I need to still spend more time here; I still feel like I only have a basic understanding of what goes on. I will be here for a year, so I feel at the end of my time I will have a better idea. So far, so good!