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Staff Snapshots | Mikayla Findlay

  • Hometown: Lincoln, Neb.
  • Role: Health and human services budget analyst in Nebraska’s Legislative Fiscal Office
  • Years of legislative service: Two

“When I got the opportunity to join the fiscal office, my only hesitation was leaving my co-workers and a great manager.”

Mikayla Findlay Nebraska
Findlay

Why did you choose to work at the Legislature?

I chose the Legislature to be closer to the action after working on the state agency side producing fiscal note responses. There I discovered I enjoyed watching legislative proceedings and met fiscal analysts who generally spent their whole careers in the job. When I got the opportunity to join the fiscal office, my only hesitation was leaving my co-workers and a great manager. I knew I would still have a great manager having already worked with fiscal office director Keisha Patent when she was an analyst, and I’m happy to report I’m still friends with my former team.

What skill or talent are you most proud of?

Professionally, I’m proud of the relationships I’ve built in my first two years working for the Legislature. I’m a fairly introverted person, but I’ve met so many great people statewide and nationally who I get to work with for the betterment of the people of Nebraska.

What’s the best advice you were ever given?

No matter how hard you try you can’t pour from an empty cup. Also don’t be afraid to course-correct and admit when you’re wrong. Everybody makes mistakes, and when they happen it’s best to own them.

Who or what inspires you?

My friend, the former HHS analyst in our office, Liz Hruska inspires me with her utmost dedication to service, which she is continuing now even in her retirement. Additionally, I’m inspired by front-line workers of all stripes who get the job done often thanklessly.

What’s one thing you love about your state or territory?

I love Nebraska’s unique unicameral Legislature and our beautiful art deco/neo-Gothic-style Capitol building!

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching?

I’m on a hot streak of choosing really good audiobooks lately, including “The Berry Pickers,” by Amanda Peters (fiction; alludes to the Indian Child Welfare Act and is a finalist for One Book One Lincoln community reading project), and “The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide,” by Steven Thrasher (nonfiction; bonus points for Nebraska references). I’m also binge-watching “House M.D.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Use the email icon above to suggest a legislative staffer for the “Staff Snapshots” series.

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