Mary K. Priddy-Bain

I had wanted to be a vet since birth. Got into vet school and cried my way out. So I became a teacher for seven years. Loved it. But Texas isn't fond of loudmouth, lesbian teachers. I took my show on the road and became a stand-up comic for twelve years.

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Eventually, I landed as an executive assistant to Austin's city manager. I felt like I'd found my calling. I'd leave everyday thinking, “I did something good today.” Even if I just kept her on track, it felt like the city moved a little better.

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Now I'm the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability at the City of Austin. Been here 17 years. It's fabulous. I get to be a teacher without the teacher stuff. I saw teachers having bake sales for pencils and thought, “'That's wrong.” So I created the Bright Green Futures grants. We give $3,000 to schools for sustainability projects.

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You don't need to be a grant writer. Just answer six simple questions in 15 minutes. Last March, we passed $1 million in grants. Pretty proud of that. It's like being a teacher and a comic rolled into one, but with vacation days and dental insurance. How many comics get that?

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My wife Denice and I started Denmars Animal Refuge Network - DARN, because we give a darn. The Bastrop fires in 2011 were our wake-up call. We saw all these non-profits step up and save the day. We started volunteering more and noticed some big gaps. So we decided to fill them.

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We help rural shelters and do disaster relief. During Hurricane Harvey, we drove to Houston with pallets of food, got in the water, and pulled animals out. The need was overwhelming. We heard about shelters where volunteers had been trapped for days. No water, no electricity, but they wouldn't leave the animals.

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One of our things is driving to the Texas valley, picking up 50 dogs on the euthanasia list, and transporting them to the northeast. It's like getting pineapples to Hawaii, driving all night. But it's worth it to save these animals.

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Once, we rescued some ducks for a local school. The kids had already named them April, May, and June. They'd built an enclosure and everything. I would've gone to Alaska to find ducks for those kids. You can't disappoint children. We should all be as loved as April, May, and June.

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When Denice and I got married in 2005, we had a big wedding at the Austin Airport Hilton. It was like a who's who of City of Austin officials. The city manager's staff, the mayor's staff - they were all there. Austin's just the most supportive little community.

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I'm very open about being lesbian. I work my wife's name into every conversation within the first ten minutes. Working for the city, it's never been an issue. People ask why I've stayed for 20 years. Why would I leave? I wanted to be a teacher and a comic. Here, I get to be both.

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For professionals worried about how their identity might limit their career in public service, I'd say this: If you're going into public service, there's something in you that wants to give back, to level the playing field. Those people are usually the accepting ones.

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So I encourage everyone to go into public service and be themselves. People respect that. There are no surprises down the road. Plus, you might end up with a job where you can make jokes, teach kids about sustainability, and still have dental insurance. That's pretty hard to beat.