Serving as a political appointee has notable differences from a traditional civil service career. There are both benefits and disadvantages to appointed roles; however, this discussion will posit that the advantages far outweigh their shortcomings for ambitious policy thinkers. Drawing on previous experience working as a political appointee in the Obama Administration for the United States Secretary of Labor, I will delve into our inclusive/pro-worker policy agenda, including our work with the White House to promote reforms to laws governing non-compete agreements for low-wage workers in employment contracts. To illustrate the contrast between a large federal bureaucracy and smaller state agency, I will touch on my time serving in Governor Murphy’s Administration at the NJ DOL, where we made NJ’s workforce stronger and fairer by creating several workforce development grant programs to mitigate racial, gender, ethic, and socioeconomic inequalities within the State’s labor force.  The final portion of this discussion will cover the importance of a strong social safety net and how none of this would have been possible without the support of good policy.