County of San Mateo, California: Optimas Silver Winner for Partnership

The reality is not many college graduates are clamoring to enter the job market by way of a public-sector government career — especially in the land of Google and Facebook. So San Mateo (California) County decided it had to find a way to entice young workers.

With more baby boomers inching closer to retirement age, the county government decided to partner with San Francisco State University to create a fellowship program to help attract young talent. Under the Management Fellowship Program, graduates of the school’s Master of Public Administration program get to work with and learn from high-level county officials for one- to three-year periods, and the school’s faculty helps promote the program to its students.

The first three fellows started in June, and eventually San Mateo County hopes to have fellows for all 23 of its departments.

For addressing a talent shortage by partnering with a local university, San Mateo County is the silver 2015 Optimas Award winner for Partnership.