Greetings from ASTD's Government Community of Practice. This community is a resource for government employees and collaborators—whether federal, state, local, municipality, or tribal—working across all functions within the learning and development and human capital fields.

It is an exciting time to be working in the public sector, wrought with challenges and opportunities to help develop the future of our government workforce. The challenges are clear: tightening budgets, shifting demands, and the unpredictability of changing government policies, administrations, and political appointees. Fortunately, opportunities abound for learning leaders to create and enhance experiences that help agencies be proactive about addressing workforce planning and development needs.

The mission of government is critical, and its challenges are unique. You need to hear from peers on everything from how to create a strategic learning plan in your agency to how to choose the right learning management system—and how to do it within specific government mandates and timelines. By paying special attention to the talent needs and trends in the public sector, this community is creating content that not only answers these questions, but also meets the human capital and training requirements of government at all levels.

Through this community, we publish a quarterly best practices journal, The Public Manager, about government leadership that works. We also host webcasts covering the latest news affecting the public sector. For practitioners seeking peer-to-peer learning experiences, we host government expert training forums on such topics as "Become a Champion of Change." Finally, we hold Government Workforce: Learning Innovations, an annual conference in Washington, D.C., that brings it all together.

We've got things started, but this community is for you—so tell us what you need. We want to help connect you to the people with bright ideas and tested solutions that work in government. Share with us the unique challenges you, as a government employee or collaborator with government, have in the learning field. Reach out to me with your knowledge and ideas about what works—and what could work better—as you strive to meet strategic mission outcomes.

Bottom line: We want this community to promote the good work of our learning leaders practicing in the public sector. Tweet, blog, email, and connect with us! It's easy. Visit our community webpages, email me, and follow us on Twitter (@ASTDGov).