Moving Forward

Mobilis is Latin for movement. Whether it’s political uncertainty, technology adoption, or a transitioning economy, change is accelerating. This moment requires more than just another report. It requires the ability to move quickly, translating problems into policy and policy into implementable solutions. That’s why after six years serving in Governor Whitmer’s administration I’m launching Mobilis Works, an advisory firm focused on helping funders, public agencies, and mission-driven organizations translate policy into real-world impact. This newsletter is where I’ll share what I’m working on, what I’m learning, and what I think matters for the people trying to make policy actually work.

Before joining the Whitmer Administration, I spent fifteen years on Capitol Hill as a Chief of Staff and Legislative Director, working for Carl Levin, John Dingell, Gary Peters and Derek Kilmer. That experience taught me how to design policy that could actually get signed into law and be durable enough to hold up long after the signing ceremony.

Gary Peters was first elected to Congress in 2008 as the Great Recession was devastating the auto industry. I helped him work with the Obama Administration to design and pass the State Small Business Credit Initiative, one of the most significant federal small business capital programs in a generation. SSBCI is responsible for over $10 billion in credit to small businesses in all fifty states. Thanks to the formula we built, Michigan received one of the highest allotments of funding in the country in 2011, providing critical capital for auto suppliers to restructure operations and save jobs. When the program was recapitalized in 2021 for COVID recovery, that same formula again delivered for Michigan.

Serving in Governor Whitmer’s administration I had to do more than just develop policy. I had to implement it by deploying dollars, launching programs, and building teams. Implementation means knowing when to move fast and when to slow down, when to tackle a hard problem head on and when to look for an off-ramp, and how to anticipate a challenge far enough in advance that it can be avoided altogether.

When Governor Whitmer signed an Executive Directive creating an Office of High Speed Internet, we knew that billions of dollars in federal broadband funding was likely to be available and the states that had organized ahead of that opportunity would be in the strongest position to compete for funding. Creating a new office by executive action allowed us to move quickly, but didn’t provide dedicated funding or the authority to hire full time employees that only the legislature can approve. I was able to navigate around these challenges, getting the new office up and running immediately, and onboarding an industry-recognized leader to serve as the state’s first Chief Broadband Officer. Thanks to these early efforts, the state received the fourth largest award in the nation to expand broadband access to Michigan residents and businesses.

Having real-world impact requires more than just good policy ideas. It requires aligning the priorities of elected officials and policymakers, balancing the competing views of stakeholders, and coordinating across different government agencies and levels of government all while avoiding getting bogged down by inefficiency, unclear decision making processes, and administrative systems that rarely prioritize speed.

During the post-COVID period there was a surge in state and federal grants available for local communities. However, different state agencies all use different systems to advertise grant opportunities making it hard for communities to easily find and apply for grants that would help them address their needs. We wanted to fix that, but government systems for IT procurement move slowly and it would have taken months or even years to get a new solution in place and adopted by every department. Instead, I moved quickly to issue a grant to the Michigan Municipal League, partnering with them to launch MI Funding Hub in just months. Implementing smart public policy means understanding the limitations of government action, and forming effective partnerships to get things done.

Mobilis Works exists to help organizations that need more than a report. I work with state agencies, funders, philanthropic organizations, and national intermediaries to connect big-picture priorities to conditions on the ground, and build the coalitions, shared agendas, and implementation capacity needed to move from strategy to results. Because strategy is only valuable if it gets built.

In 2023 Governor Whitmer signed legislation creating the Michigan Community & Worker Economic Transition Office and tasked it with helping the state’s auto and utility sectors prepare for economic change likely to result from the adoption of clean energy technology, a challenge impacting our largest industry and touching every corner of the state. Recognizing that public spending alone was never going to meet the scale of the challenge, I led the creation of a public-private partnership between the state and Michigan’s investor-owned utilities. That partnership leverages $3.5 billion in annual utility procurement spending with Michigan firms to create new business opportunities for auto suppliers looking to diversify into a growing sector. Michigan’s Transition Office has become a national model, with other states and national organizations looking to us for inspiration for how to address potential AI-driven workforce disruption.

While these examples are rooted in Michigan, the challenges they address are universal. Every state is navigating economic transition, federal funding complexity, and the gap between policy design and implementation. Michigan’s complex economy is large enough to have relevance for other regions, and its experience with industrial transition offers lessons that can be applied to any organization looking to prepare for future disruption.

I am creating Mobilis Works so that I can focus on projects that I believe will make our economy and our communities more resilient in the face of change, and to increase the capacity of those implementing policy to be effective. In addition to client work, I’ll be using this newsletter to write about policy implementation, economic competitiveness, and what it takes to get things done in a complicated political environment. Subscribe if that’s useful to you, and get in touch if you want to work together or trade ideas.