Max Stier: How to Ensure a Smooth Presidential Transition

The peaceful transition of power has been a hallmark of our democracy, but new presidents consistently fail to get their new administrations up and running quickly and effectively. Max Stier has been leading a comprehensive initiative to reform the system and advise both the outgoing administration and the incoming transition teams. He will give a candid, insider’s perspective on the most complex takeover in the world and a case study on changing how Washington works. Under Max Stier’s leadership, the Partnership for Public Service has been widely praised as a first-class nonprofit organization and thought leader on federal government management issues. In 2015, the Partnership launched the Center for Presidential Transition, a first-of-its-kind effort to ensure the smoothest transition of power yet by working with campaign teams, federal agencies and the outgoing administration.

Mr. Stier has worked previously in all three branches of the federal government, having served on the personal staff of U.S. Representative Jim Leach, clerked for Chief Judge James Oakes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and clerked for Justice David Souter of the United States Supreme Court. Most recently, he was deputy general counsel in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Stier is a graduate of Yale College and Stanford Law School.