Kristina Ko on Government Relations

0:00 so thank you so much for joining me 0:02 today I'd like to get us started by 0:04 having you introduce yourself and talk 0:06 about what your role is here at the 0:07 University of Michigan sure my name is 0:09 christina CO and i'm the senior director 0:11 of federal relations for research for 0:13 the office of research got it so what 0:16 sort of experiences have you had an 0:18 engaging with policy and advocacy in 0:21 this space so I've worked in the policy 0:24 world for probably the last 15 years um 0:27 across industry government and most 0:30 currently academia yep of that time I 0:33 spent five years as the health policy 0:35 advisor for the former Senator Carl 0:37 Levin oh wow mm-hmm so that sounds like 0:40 you've got quite a range of experiences 0:42 so do you have a philosophy or approach 0:45 and trying to make these interactions 0:47 effective is there there something that 0:49 you keep in mind with regardless of what 0:52 sector that you're interacting with when 0:53 you're doing policy and advocacy work so 0:55 I try to keep in mind the point of view 0:57 of the stakeholder so in this case and 0:59 my current role it's the policymaker so 1:01 what is the policymaker interested in 1:03 what committees of jurisdiction do they 1:05 serve on what is what are the interest 1:07 of his constituents his or her 1:08 constituents sure I keep in mind the 1:11 interests of the policymaker yep and 1:14 then I try to bring in I try to ensure 1:18 that the message that we're bringing to 1:19 him is hers clear yep so we want to 1:23 ensure that if we haven't asked that the 1:25 ask is very clear so of staff walk away 1:27 and they're confused about what we're 1:28 asking then we have not done a good job 1:30 sure if we're trying to wait raise 1:33 awareness about an issue that we think 1:36 the policymaker is interested in then we 1:38 try to make sure that we're we're very 1:41 clear and concise about that issue so 1:43 what are we trying to highlight what is 1:46 the impact on the local state or nation 1:49 what does that translate into jobs 1:53 economy whatnot so we try to factor in 1:57 all of the different varying factors 1:59 that we think that the policymaker would 2:00 be interested in absolutely that makes a 2:02 lot of sense so that sounds like you're 2:04 really just getting to know your 2:05 audience and the hunger set or respect 2:07 so how much time do you spend like 2:09 really doing that homework to try and 2:11 figure out what that individual policy 2:13 makers 2:14 turns are I think we've won we try to 2:17 build relationships with our policy 2:18 shorter's in their offices and so you 2:20 know it's just paying attention and when 2:23 you have an opportunity we ask their 2:24 staff you know what is your boss 2:25 interested in what are the things that 2:27 you're interested in we followed the 2:29 Committees of jurisdiction that they're 2:30 on what is the committee's what are the 2:32 committee is looking at what is relevant 2:34 on the hill what is the hot topics on 2:36 the hill and you just constantly it's a 2:39 constant dialogue it's back and forth 2:41 where they're asking you questions 2:43 you're asking their them questions so I 2:46 think that if you just stay engaged with 2:47 the policymakers it's it's a it happens 2:50 naturally yeah our time if you're it's 2:52 like any relationship building so that 2:55 sounds like there are both probably some 2:57 rewards and challenges with building 2:59 those types of relationships could you 3:00 outline those a little bit for me well I 3:03 think the rewards for me at least is an 3:05 ideological one right I I really want to 3:08 make a positive impact on our nation and 3:10 society and the greater good and I think 3:13 that I'm really lucky to be working for 3:15 a university that has a long-standing 3:17 role in doing that and yeah and it's 3:20 part of the mission of the University of 3:21 Michigan to serve the nation and so I 3:24 feel lucky lucky and it's rewarding to 3:28 advocate for science for science 3:31 benefits our health our stabilities it 3:35 has a societal impact its national 3:38 security it impacts everything that we 3:40 do it ensures that we're a world leader 3:42 and we're innovating and it supports our 3:45 economy so there's research impacts our 3:47 lives in so many different ways and so 3:49 it's something that you can feel good 3:51 about Absalom I would say that the 3:54 challenges I think our challenges that 3:56 are similar and anything that you do it 3:58 takes time and things don't happen 4:01 overnight you impact doesn't happen 4:03 overnight yep and so I think that 4:05 sometimes you know we are working on a 4:08 societal challenge or we're working on 4:10 something and we expect change to happen 4:12 but it changes incremental and change is 4:15 slow and I think that that can be very 4:17 frustrating Shore requires a lot of 4:19 patience exactly yeah oh that makes a 4:22 lot of sense so we touched on this a 4:24 couple of minutes ago but I want to sort 4:26 of come back to the idea about 4:28 what is that you're interacting with so 4:29 you mentioned policymakers and you also 4:31 mentioned your staff so can you get 4:32 really concrete about who it is that you 4:35 work with in your role so we work with 4:37 legislators we work with legislators 4:39 staff and we work with agency officials 4:41 got it and what's different about these 4:44 particular individuals compared to other 4:46 groups that you might interact with like 4:48 media people like people Jenna lists or 4:50 people who are trying to cover 4:51 government relations so I don't 4:53 typically work with media or journalists 4:56 but I would say if I was to guess what 4:58 the difference is or what the different 4:59 interests are between let's say 5:01 legislators and media i would say 5:03 legislators are very interested in 5:05 issues that impact their constituents 5:06 sure medium might be more interested in 5:10 telling two sides of a story or two 5:12 sides of a date debate or they might be 5:14 looking for a breakthrough news story or 5:17 something really innovative for 5:19 something really new and highlighting 5:20 something that isn't widely reported on 5:24 already absolutely yeah so they're 5:26 looking for really interesting stories 5:28 and informing maybe the public on an 5:31 interesting debate so can you dig in a 5:33 little bit more about the types of 5:34 things that you do to prepare and how 5:37 you try to meet that need of interacting 5:40 with a policymaker to address the needs 5:42 and concerns of his or her constituents 5:44 so one as I said it's knowing your 5:47 policy makers so what are they 5:48 interested in having a very clear 5:51 message and very clear whether the 5:53 message is hey we're highlighting this 5:56 because we know it would be of interest 5:57 into you or if maybe it's an ask maybe 6:01 it's you know we've confronted some sort 6:03 of barrier that makes it hard for our 6:05 faculty to either educate students or do 6:08 research and if we think that the 6:09 policymaker can help with it then it's 6:11 you know clearly communicating that to 6:14 them and Ashley am how you know like 6:16 what what should we be doing or how can 6:18 they help but it's having I mean I think 6:21 the key is to really having a clear 6:23 message and knowing what the opportunity 6:26 is I mean I think that ultimately staff 6:28 are extremely busy yeah and they're 6:31 fielding a lot of meetings and they have 6:32 a broad constituency that they're 6:34 interested in or they're concerned about 6:36 or that they're working with and so I am 6:40 we are very strategic about one 6:42 we approach them when we think that they 6:44 can help us what you you know so we're 6:47 very mindful of their time and 6:49 respectful of the time that they have to 6:52 work with us absolutely so it sounds 6:54 like you spend a lot of time preparing 6:56 and then thinking out when you want to 6:58 deliver a message and then what that 6:59 message is so that it has the maximal 7:01 impact is that right or you know is it a 7:03 message that they can help with yeah 7:05 message so we don't bring you know we're 7:07 very strategic about thinking about you 7:09 know is this something that they can 7:11 help with this is something that we 7:12 should go to them with and so there's a 7:17 lot of thought that goes into how we 7:19 work with our legislature they are 7:21 legislators and their staff but it's 7:23 also being responsive so if you know we 7:28 work I think one of the reasons why our 7:30 legislators and their staff work with us 7:32 is because we're very responsive so 7:34 they're confronted with something or 7:36 they have a question about something and 7:38 they reach out to us you know they work 7:41 on very tight timelines yeah so I am 7:44 always I always try to ensure that we're 7:46 very responsive we get the information 7:50 that they're looking for we've vetted it 7:52 they know it's good they know that it's 7:54 based on sound resort research and so I 7:58 think part of it is creating a 8:01 relationship of trust where they trust 8:04 what we're giving them and we're 8:06 responsive timely to their needs so 8:10 you're really listening to make sure 8:12 that you're also filling the niche that 8:13 they need you to fill out any given 8:15 moment yes I would say a large role is 8:17 listening and making sure that we 8:19 understand what they're looking for also 8:20 yeah and then sometimes it's 8:22 anticipating their needs right so if we 8:24 know that they're really interested in 8:25 an issue and we know something's coming 8:27 down a pipeline you know we'll also 8:29 share that with them and it's it's so 8:31 it's a constant collaborative 8:34 relationship I think yeah absolutely 8:35 that makes a lot of sense so you spoke 8:38 to this sort of tangentially but I want 8:40 to ask the question very directly it 8:43 sounds like it really depends on the 8:45 moment in time and what you think that 8:49 you want to get across and what's going 8:51 to be of concern to the legislature but 8:53 when you approach them what 8:55 specific goals do you have so the goal 8:58 is either maybe the goal is that we just 9:00 want to highlight something yeah we want 9:02 to highlight something that is happening 9:04 in their district or in the state that 9:06 we think that they should be aware of 9:09 shouldn't that they should know about we 9:12 could be going to them to share with 9:14 them you know the importance of federal 9:16 funding for a research and you know why 9:19 is it important and the types of 9:21 benefits that federal funding has had on 9:23 research in the past that type of thing 9:24 exactly yeah it could be that you know 9:28 we faced a barrier to as I mentioned 9:32 before you know we're facing a barrier 9:34 that is preventing our faculty from 9:37 being able to do their research or to 9:39 educate students yeah and you know we 9:43 talked out that barrier with them and 9:44 find ways that they could possibly help 9:46 provide relief yeah or we're 9:49 highlighting something that is impacting 9:51 research or something that we're 9:53 concerned about or or maybe we just know 9:57 that there and they're specifically 9:58 interested in a specific issue and we 10:01 want to be able to provide the resources 10:03 for them and the guidance or maybe you 10:07 know just so that they know that we have 10:09 the expertise and I mean the goal 10:11 ultimately the goal is for them to I 10:13 mean the research the University of 10:16 Michigan's a large research university 10:18 we get a lot of federal investments in 10:21 research and as part of that you know we 10:24 have a duty to you know showcase what 10:26 are we doing with those federal funds we 10:29 it's important for us to show that we're 10:31 good stewards of this piece taxpayer 10:33 investments and it's very important yeah 10:36 absolutely so it's just to reiterate it 10:39 sounds like the goal really depends on a 10:41 couple of things it depends on the 10:43 relationship that you've built up with 10:45 them in the past and what their current 10:46 needs are and making sure that you 10:49 highlight the value of federal research 10:51 or federal support of research and also 10:53 specific advances that the University of 10:55 Michigan has so sounds like it's really 10:56 context-dependent absolutely absolutely 11:00 well I want to just thank you for thank 11:03 you for your time because sharing your 11:05 thoughts with audience in particular 11:07 with these types of audiences ism 11:09 valuable so I really appreciate it 11:10 absolutely