A tall man with a ready handshake and a big smile entered the conference room, joining the Communication Team of Mayor Frank G. Jackson’s Summer Youth Employment Program. Dr. Jason A. Wood, Chief of Public Affairs for the Department of Public Utilities, is responsible for communications, legislation, community outreach, and government affairs.  He also advises the director on internal and external policy and process matters.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Wood was a part of the Cleveland Water’s Turnaround Project as deputy project manager and played an instrumental role in implementing the Automated Meter Reading Project. Both projects have improved call center performance, producing 99% of timely bill delivery and increased meter reading accuracy.

Despite his busy schedule, he took the time in June at the Department of Water to field questions posed by the Communications Team, consisting of the journalism, graphics and videography squads.

YCT: What was your biggest inspiration for pursuing your career?      

Dr. Wood:  “Oddly enough I stumbled into this field; I did not start in communications. I actually have a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics and kind of came into to this field by accident. [I am] a little bit more of a data research guy, and half of that is in quantitative research methods and statistics. But it’s a great field, and it’s exciting to be a part of. I’ve gotten to work with some really good people who have shown me things, and, over time, who have given me some guidance, so that’s how I got here.” 

YCT:  What do you love most about your career?         

Dr. Wood:  “Probably the most enjoyable part of what I get to do every day is getting to go out to talk to people and kind of help educate them about what we do at the Department of Public Utilities. A lot of the time people don’t necessarily understand what we do. They know about our services, and they know the end product, [but] they may not understand everything it takes to deliver water to homes or electric, or make sure their sewers are functioning properly. So I really enjoy going out and doing public meetings, and public speaking and presentations and going out talking to people to help them learn a little about what we do.”        

YCT: Have you ever been discouraged while pursuing your career?     

Dr. Wood: “Yeah, I think everybody, at some point, [who is] pursuing a career has run into roadblocks.  There are times when you get a little bit frustrated, and you get discouraged and the only thing you can do in those situations is continue to work hard and continue to work on develop your skills. You know there will be jobs you want to apply for but couldn’t get and opportunities you missed out on and you have to use those as opportunities to learn and grow and continually to grow professionally.  Frustration is a normal part of any career; it’s how you react to it is what is really important.”