Government Market News StaffProfiles in Power highlights public officials nationwide who are improving their communities through their dedication, enthusiasm, creativity, and experience.
This week’s profile is Bryan Snoddy, Director, Civil Rights Division, Texas Workforce Commission.
Public career highlights: I graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Chemistry and began my public service career in the United States Air Force. I later served as an Assistant Attorney General, representing the state of Texas in various courts. Today, I lead a team dedicated to enforcing fair housing and equal employment laws, ensuring justice and equality for all Texans.
What I like best about public service: There exists a profound nobility in those who dedicate themselves to the service of the greater good, uplifting their fellow men and women. It is an understanding that, no matter how gifted or brilliant we may be as individuals, our true greatness emerges when we extend our hands to others.
The best advice I’ve received: It can be summed up in a phrase that I repeat to my son each morning as I drop him off at school: “If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand.” Thoughts become things. Stay focused and achieve greatness.
People might be interested to know that: My father instilled in me the value of persistence, which still benefits me today. When I was raising broilers in 4-H, I built a small coop without an automated feed and water system, so I tended to them daily. On the rainy day of the livestock show, my bird looked malnourished compared to others. Feeling discouraged, I didn’t want to get out of the truck to carry my birds into the show through the mud, but my dad reminded me, “Champions never quit, and quitters never win.”
One thing I wish more people knew about the Civil Rights Division: The division serves as both an umpire and an educator in the vital pursuit of justice. We carry the solemn responsibility to ensure fairness in equal employment and housing, calling balls and strikes in matters that shape people’s lives.
