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GC Policy Hack
The Federal Youth Network is running a GC Policy Hack – a developmental opportunity for students and new public servants!
GC Policy Hack offers participants the opportunity to develop a policy solution for a federal government priority while receiving coaching from a policy leader in the GC.
The policy hack has 3 goals:
- Mentorship – participants will receive coaching through workshops and coaching from their coach
- Horizontal collaboration – participants will network with public servants from different departments & exchange ideas which can help break down silos
- Innovation – participants will work together to develop innovative and practical solutions for policy priorities
Expected Outcomes
Through public servants’ participation in the GC Policy Hack:
- Solutions to policy priorities are developed and may be implemented by GC leaders
- Participants enhance their presentation skills, research skills and analytical skills
- Participants gain a better understanding of policy development in the GC, the policy cycle and the relevance of the legislative and regulatory processes in policy development
Who can participate?
Students & New Public Servants
Students currently employed in the GC and public servants in the first 5 years of their career in the GC and who have little to no policy experience can participate.
- Time Commitment: Between 2-5 hours per week in July and August
- Expectations:
- Students and new public servants are expected to participate in 3 workshops and work collaboratively with their team members to develop a solution to the chosen policy problem.
- If the participant misses 2 workshops and/or 2 meetings with their team without explanation, they are deemed to have discontinued their participation in the policy hack.
Experienced Policy Professionals
Public servants with as least 5 years of experience in policy development in the GC are invited to participate as coaches. The coach will guide their assigned team through the formulation of a policy solution and the development of a presentation of that solution.
- Time Commitment: Up to 2-5 hours per week from June 30th to August 14th 2026.
- Expectations: Coaches are expected to attend weekly team meetings and provide guidance to the team members.
Executives
Executives are invited to evaluate the policy presentations and provide feedback.
- Time Commitment: Attend an information session on August 5th at 1:30pm EST and August 6th at 1:30pm EST and attend presentations for assigned topics/presentations between August 17th to 31st.
- Expectations: Executives are expected to provide constructive feedback to participants.
How Will the Policy Hack Run?
Participants will be put into groups of up to 6 people and assigned a coach.
Participants will attend 3 workshops led by the team at the Federal Youth Network and meet with their team and coach at least once a week to work on developing a solution for their chosen policy topic.
Teams will develop a presentation and deliver the presentation of the policy solution to a panel of executives. After the presentation, the executives will provide feedback to each team and teams will be expected to revise their policy solution/presentation based on the feedback provided.
The policy presentations will be showcased on the FYN’s website.