There is an upcoming virtual speaker series on emerging tech, national security, and US policy careers and wanted to share this opportunity. I’ve heard some of these speakers before think the series could be really helpful for anyone interested in working on AI/bio policy in the US.  I've pasted the announcement of the speaker series below.

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Summer webinar series on emerging technology & national security policy careers

The Horizon Institute for Public Service, in collaboration with partners at the Scowcroft Center for International Affairs at the Texas A&M Bush School and SeedAI, is excited to announce an upcoming webinar series on US emerging technology policy careers to help individuals decide if they should pursue careers in this field. In line with Horizon’s and our partners’ focus areas, the series will focus primarily on policy opportunities related to AI and biosecurity and run from late June to early August.  

Sessions will not be recorded and individuals must sign up to receive event access — you can express interest in attending here.

Horizon’s mission is to help the US government navigate our era of rapid technological change by fostering the next generation of public servants with emerging technology expertise. The policy opportunities and challenges related to emerging technology are interdisciplinary and will require talent from a range of backgrounds and communities, including many that don’t have ready access to information about what policy work is like and what a career transition might look like. As a result, this series will cover: 

• Examples of individuals with non-traditional (e.g. technical or legal) backgrounds transitioning into emerging technology policy 
• Examples of what a “day in a life” is like at a think tank, advocacy organization, executive agency, or in Congress 
• Examples of ongoing policy efforts and debates related to AI or biosecurity policy 

All sessions will involve interactive conversations with experienced policy practitioners and opportunities for audience questions. Some of the sessions will be useful for individuals from all fields and career stages, while others are more focused — you may choose to attend all or only some of the sessions. Currently scheduled sessions include:

1. Q&A with Jason Matheny, CEO of the RAND Corporation 
2. Q&A with Nikki Teran, Institute for Progress Fellow, on biosecurity challenges and policy careers to address them
3. Q&A with Helen Toner‚ Director of Strategy and Foundational Research Grants at CSET, on AI challenges and policy careers to address them
4. What’s it like working in the executive branch?
5. What’s it like working in a think tank?  
6. What’s it like working in Congress? 
7. Choosing graduate schools for policy careers (master’s, PhD, JD)
8. Transitioning from law to policy
9. Transitioning from science and tech to policy
10. Advancing in policy from underrepresented backgrounds 
11. Horizon Fellowship info session