August 5, 2021

Dr. Mary Kirlin is a consultant who works with organizations and individuals on a range of topics, including strategic planning, performance management, organizational capacity assessments, and executive coaching. She was an associate professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration at California State University Sacramento for 14 years. She spent a year with the recently formed Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency working on integration, strategy, finance, and communications. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Kirlin spent 15 years working for elected officials in California state and local government. She holds a Doctorate of Public Administration from the University of Southern California.  

We spoke with Dr. Kirlin about her experiences in the CSAC William “Bill” Chiat Institute for Excellence in County Government (CSAC Institute). Here are her responses. 

Please describe your experience with the CSAC Institute, how you learned about it and how long you’ve been an instructor. 

Bill Chiat reached out to me within the first year or so of the CSAC Institute (2008) and I’ve been an instructor ever since. The CSAC Institute offers a unique opportunity for people in counties to learn from each other in a county-focused professional development program. County governments have a distinctive set of responsibilities and constraints, different than those encountered working at a city or a state level. The work of counties is both incredibly valuable and incredibly difficult. The CSAC Institute acknowledges this and allows people who understand those constraints and responsibilities to come together to learn. 

What are your thoughts on the importance of continuing education?  

Continuing education is one of the hallmarks of being a professional. If you’re going to be a professional, a set of knowledge and skills will travel with you from job to job. Professionals keep learning and finding new ways to do their work, in addition to whatever they are learning on the job. CSAC continuing education offers you exposure to new ways of doing things, in part by comparing to other departments and counties. Much like travel allows you to learn as much about where you come from as where you’re going, bringing people together across counties and geographical areas enhances the learning in CSAC Institute courses.   

What draws you to the types of courses you present? 

I have taught various courses over my tenure, and the underlying themes are strategy and problem-solving. My new class, Performance and Accountability in a Virtual World, on Friday, September 24, continues that theme. I teach courses that empower County leaders to take a step back and think about the big picture to fix or improve what they are doing for their community. CSAC attendees are full of curiosity and wisdom and I am always learning from them as well.    

Is there anything about you that class attendees should know, or may be surprised to learn about you? 

Early in high school, I considered attending the Ringling Brothers school in Florida to become a professional clown.   

And what should your students come to your courses prepared for? 

I come to the classroom with County and State Government experience, in addition to being a college professor. I was the classic “generalist.” I know a little something about higher education, k-12 education, housing, transportation, health and human services and financial matters. The range of experiences reminds me how much I don’t know but also gives me a good sense of how to ask questions and pull examples from across lots of departments and situations.  

My teaching style has always been to come in with a set of goals, but to teach to the people in the room and be adaptable with the material I prepare. I work hard in my classes to get people to engage with each other, respond, react, and think about how the material applies to them.