An earlier version of this story was originally published by the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University.
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When Samantha Beck MPP 2022 arrived in Boise, Idaho, to work at City Hall two years ago, the city was facing challenges that required innovative approaches, including a crisis with childcare. As in many other places, there was a shortage of providers in Boise and the cost was more than many working families could afford. Mayor Lauren McLean and her staff hoped Beck could help find solutions.
Beck had come to Boise via the Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellowship, which offers graduates of Harvard master’s or professional degree programs two-year leadership roles in local governments across the U.S. During the fellowship, Beck and other fellows convened regularly to learn from each other’s experiences and get professional support from Harvard faculty and staff. Fellows not only tackled big priorities identified by the mayors they worked for but also helped to build lasting innovation capabilities in City Hall.
In Boise, Beck started on the childcare issue by building a deep understanding of the problem. She interviewed residents who’d launched in-home childcare centers, who told her how expensive and time consuming it was to get the required city permits. She also sat down with staff from the relevant city departments to map out the permitting process in all its complexity. “I tried looking up on the city’s website how to get a permit to open a childcare center and couldn’t find it,” Beck recalls. “That was pretty indicative of the challenges.”
By eliminating redundant steps and combining two permits into one—without compromising care quality or needed regulatory changes—Beck and her colleagues were able to reduce the time it takes childcare operators to get a license from 90 days to 30, and slashed fees by more than one-third, from an average of $701 to $444. The project was so successful that city leaders adopted the same methodology Beck used to streamline licensing for special events.
The childcare project represented something of a twist for Beck. With a background in water resources engineering, she was drawn to Boise by Mayor McLean’s ambition to make her city more resilient to climate change. While she joined that effort, Beck was happy to apply her skills to other priorities—and gratified, she says, to work on “something that impacts women so profoundly.”
“To make an impact in city government, you don’t need subject matter expertise,” Beck says. “You just need to want to be there and be really excited. If you’re smart and willing to take on side quests that help you build relationships and credibility, there’s so much you can contribute all over.” Beck’s climate resilience work was focused on a resource unique to Boise: a city-owned geothermal system that provides carbon-neutral heat for buildings downtown. She piloted new approaches to helping building owners make the switch to geothermal, as well as helping existing customers—including City Hall—use their heat more efficiently. “My City Hall Fellowship allowed me access to top leaders in my city, as well as advice and guidance from leading practitioners at Harvard, both of which helped me better understand how to drive change in local government,” Beck says, reflecting on her time in Boise. “The most unique part of the fellowship is having a cohort of other fellows to learn from—and lean on.”
Beck is now deputy chief of staff for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. She was drawn to work in a place that she says “is leading the U.S. in how they’re thinking about issues related to climate.” And she’s excited to keep working at the local-government level, where Beck believes changemakers like her are most able to make a positive impact that people can feel in their daily lives. “You’re closer to the people,” she says. “There’s more flexibility to try new things. And you have access to the budget and tools you need to implement change.”
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Headshot by Hannah Rose Photography LLC; construction image provided by Samantha Beck