Joe Schuman

Both of my grandfathers served in the military during World War II. My father worked in the federal government as an attorney and as a judge for the State of Connecticut. My mother has always been active in our local community, including volunteering and teaching at elementary schools. Yet, my path to public service wasn’t easy. It began with medical rejections from the Army, Navy, and National Guard on account of congenital scoliosis, which kept me out of military service for 3.5 years. I was able to secure a medical waiver with the Air National Guard and I have been serving for the last 4 years.

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I believe that change happens through “people, ideas, and technology—in that order.” As an Air National Guard officer, I worked to improve bureaucratic personnel and recruiting processes while helping stand up one of the first ANG SPARK Innovation cells, which challenges Guardsmen to identify and solve real-world problems across the Wing. Since then, as a Department of Defense civilian, I have helped develop and deploy emerging technologies and future capabilities in various offices, including for the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Joint Staff. I’m currently the Action Officer for the Joint Staff Innovation Group. 

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I’ve made it my mission to pay it forward to others who want to join public service and be part of positive change. I’ve published two articles on improving the military medical waiver process and advising over 350 applicants in similar situations, many of which were eventually granted a waiver. In addition, during my time in NSIN, I built a portfolio of programs designed to provide new pathways to service—through college courses, internships, fellowships, and hiring programs—for over 1,000 diverse, STEM students across the country. And finally, I founded Divided We Fall, a 501c(3) non-profit dedicated to bipartisanship and civility, and have published over 200 cross-partisan debates by experts on both sides of the aisle.

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