By Eli Melendrez MPP 2026
During his Dukakis Fellowship in the Office of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Eli Melendrez MPP 2026 discovered just how unpredictable—and deeply human—public service can be. What began as a summer focused on providing school finance policy recommendations quickly became a lesson in the compassion and quiet dedication that comes with work in state government when Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman MC/MPA 2018 was tragically assassinated in June.
In this essay, Melendrez reflects on his time working in the Governor’s Office, how the experience reshaped his understanding of public service, and the lessons learned in the face of tragedy.
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A common refrain from a supervisor during my Dukakis Fellowship in the Office of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was that working in state government is a “weird job.” Each day brought new and unexpected challenges, and I witnessed the public servants around me roll with the punches and rise to the occasion. Nothing epitomized that more than my first week on the job: it began with a one-day special session of the Minnesota Legislature, saw Governor Walz testify before Congress in Washington, D.C., and ended in tragedy when I woke up on Saturday, June 14, to the horrific news that Speaker of the Minnesota House—and HKS alumna—Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their family’s dog had been killed in their home.
“Public service is as much about compassion as it is about policy. I’ll carry that lesson with me back to HKS and back home to Texas for the rest of my career.”
Speaker Hortman’s passing was personal to many in the office and immediately altered the mood and pace of work across the Capitol. I could feel the weight of her impact on the state, even as an outsider. Born and raised in Texas, I had never met Speaker Hortman and knew little of the Minnesota Legislature. I came to HKS to learn how to best serve my home state as a public servant and advocate for progressive political change. My first opportunity to do that while at HKS came through the Taubman Center for State and Local Government’s Transition Term program, where I worked in the office of the incoming mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Supporting the administration in its first days gave me a close look at the responsibility of public leadership and solidified my desire to continue working in government this summer.
Having previously worked in government relations and legislative strategy for the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, I was inspired by the monumental investments into schools and students Minnesota made in the 2023 legislative session and chose to pursue the Minnesota Dukakis Fellowship to learn more about those reforms.
In learning about Speaker Hortman’s legacy, I discovered the decisive role she played in passing that 2023 public education legislation—not as a public face seeking credit, but as an unassuming leader singularly focused on improving the lives of Minnesotans. Throughout the summer, I saw in the Governor’s Office the same quiet dedication to service that defined her leadership.
I tried to carry that approach into the wide range of assignments I took on during my fellowship. I supported the Governor’s Boards and Commissions team through the process of selecting four new Regents for the University of Minnesota Board, sorting applications, drafting interview questions, and joining interviews with the candidates. I joined the legal team prepping the Governor for chairing the Board of Pardons by reviewing case files, drafting recommendations, and briefing the Governor on a handful of applicants that ultimately had their offenses pardoned. My primary assignment throughout the summer was focused on providing school finance recommendations to the Governor with assistance from his education policy advisor.
Whether it was with the Boards and Commissions, Legal, or Policy team, I made myself open to any task, no matter how minor it seemed, to support our office’s mission. My behind-the-scenes role on these projects was rewarding, not because of any public attention these processes garnered, but because of the impact they had on the lives of Minnesotans.
The most meaningful day of my fellowship by far was the Friday before Speaker Hortman’s funeral. My role was small—printing name tags and folding placards to mark seating in the cathedral’s pews—but the weight of the day made those tasks feel significant. That day, Speaker Hortman, her husband, and their dog’s ashes lay in state in the Capitol rotunda, where mourners from across Minnesota came to pay their respects. In a moment that underscored the significance of her loss, President Biden even came to the Capitol to pay his respects. Assisting with the funeral preparations, even in a modest way, and seeing the care staff brought to every detail left me with a deeper understanding that public service is as much about compassion as it is about policy. I’ll carry that lesson with me back to HKS and back home to Texas for the rest of my career.
Photos courtesy of Eli Melendrez
Through the fully-funded, nonpartisan Michael S. Dukakis Governors’ Summer Fellowship Program, students apply leadership and analytic skills to tackle critical state-level policy issues in health care, education, economic development, public safety, budgeting, and other areas.
