Public Programs: "Leadership Lessons" with David Uejio from the CFPB

Recently I sat in on David Uejio’s luncheon talk, “Leadership Lessons from Launching a New Government Agency.” Uejio, who currently serves as the Strategy Program Manager at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), spoke about his experiences in public service. He briefly discussed how he began his career in public service nearly a decade ago as a Presidential Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) before joining the CFPB. Uejio also spoke about the challenges associated with working for such a new government organization.

Uejio explained how work at the CFPB was inherently different from that in many other government agencies such as the NIH. This new organization, which works on some fairly partisan issues, is a challenge compared to working at an established agency. Uejio described the work, however, as very rewarding. He acquired significant knowledge and experience from interacting with a variety of industry leaders and seeing a tangible result of his efforts.

Throughout his talk, Uejio spoke of how his agency attracted some of the brightest minds in consulting, law, and other industries. With many Dartmouth students entering those areas, this struck a chord with me. Through the CFPB, he was able to develop a new way to incentivize individuals to work in public service. He discussed the difficulties in attracting individuals to a lifelong career in public service. It is much easier to ask people to put only five or ten years into public duty, especially when that time is invested in an organization with macro-level public benefit. I definitely enjoyed David Uejio’s thought-provoking talk, and I was able to learn a lot from his experiences and leadership examples.

--Shreya Indukuri '16, MLDP Spring 2014 Participant