Chiefs of Staff and District Directors have access to nonpartisan professional development and management training.
Why This Matters
Just like the Members they serve, chiefs of staff and district directors come from all walks of life and take on their role with a variety of prior management experience. However, they quickly find themselves managing a team of professional staff stretched between multiple locations, in very high-pace and emotionally charged environments, in service to hundreds of thousands of constituents. Although each of the 441 Members and Delegates have a chief of staff and district director, no institutionally hosted management training, professional development, or support has been available for individuals who take on these essential leadership roles. Recognizing the importance of supporting the House’s managers, ModCom made recommendation #98, calling on the House to provide management training for chiefs and district directors.
How It Happened
Recognizing the need to catalog and share best practices, provide one-on-one coaching, and help chiefs of staff and district directors navigate the unique environments the Hill fosters, the nonpartisan CAO Coach Program launched in 2022. Today, it is one of the most highly utilized HR resources provided to senior staff on the Hill.
The Impact
Although the Congressional Staff Academy has long been in existence to provide a curriculum of professional development courses for junior staff, prior to the CAO Coaches, no classes or support infrastructure existed for the managers on Capitol Hill: chiefs of staff and district directors. This left a gap in the institution’s ability to support these essential staff, who drastically influence team productivity and culture across the Hill. The CAO Coach Program filled this gap and has continued to expand its impact by partnering with the CAO Customer Advocates in hosting regional conferences to bring in-personal professional development and networking opportunities to district-based staff across the country. Past regional conferences have been held in Chicago, Seattle, and San Diego.
Glossary
ADA = Americans with Disabilities Act
AOC = Architect of the Capitol
CHA = Committee on House Administration
CAO = House Chief Administrative Officer
CDTF = Congressional Data Task Force
COLA = Cost-of-Living Adjustment
CPF = Community Project Funding
CR = Continuing Resolution
GAO = Government Accountability Office
GAO STAA = The Government Accountability Office’s Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team
GenAI = Generative Artificial Intelligence
HIRO = House Intern Resource Office
HDS = House Digital Service
LIS = Legislative Information Service
LLM = Large Language Model
MIA = Modernization Initiatives Account
ModCom = The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress
ModSub = Subcommittee on Modernization (ModSub) within the Committee on House Administration
MOU = Memorandum of Understanding
NMO = New Member Orientation
OCWR = Office of Congressional Workplace Rights
