A production of the Brian Ballard–founded Ballard Partners, 13th & Park has built an audience of more than 2.9 million subscribers through compelling interviews with some of the country’s most influential leaders. In fact, over the last few months, host Adam Goodman has welcomed three members of the Trump administration cabinet to discuss their visions for their agencies and how they are working to benefit the American people. Let’s learn more about each of these three presidentially appointed secretaries.
Doug Collins
As secretary of veterans affairs, Doug Collins is continuing a lifelong commitment to service that was instilled in him as a youth. His father, a Georgia state trooper, and his mother, a caregiver for local senior citizens, both gave back to their communities. Collins followed in their footsteps by answering a call to serve through the church. He earned his master’s degree in divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and pastored for 11 years at Chicopee Baptist Church.
Collins served as a chaplain, first with the Navy, then with the Air Force Reserve. He was deployed to Iraq, where he served one tour while stationed at Balad Air Base. Still with the Air Force Reserve today, he has ascended to the rank of colonel.
In 2007, Collins began serving in another way, this time as an elected official. After representing the 27th district in the Georgia State House for six years, he was elected to the US House of Representatives, where he spent four terms fighting for the interests of his Georgia constituents. Now the secretary of veterans affairs, Collins has shifted his focus to fighting on behalf of America’s veterans. He discussed this work, which includes using technology to enhance veterans services, on a November 2025 episode of 13th & Park.
Doug Burgum
Doug Burgum’s career has taken him from farmer and chimney sweeper to software executive and the highest levels of government. The former governor of North Dakota, Burgum joined Adam Goodman in November 2025 to explain how he is bringing a spirit of innovation to the Department of the Interior.
Burgum spent two terms as governor of North Dakota. During his tenure, he grew North Dakota’s real GDP faster than any other state’s while driving unemployment to the lowest rate in the country. In recognition of his achievements, Forbes named him America’s Best Entrepreneurial Governor.
Burgum was elected to the governorship after serving as an executive at several software firms. He began his business career when, after earning an MBA from Stanford University, he invested money from his family farm into a software startup that he later sold to Microsoft. Before attending Stanford, he graduated from North Dakota State University, where he paid for his studies in part by working as a chimney sweeper.
Chris Wright
Chris Wright is bringing a passion for all things energy to his post as energy secretary. An industry innovator, he is the founder and former CEO of Pinnacle Technologies, a company that under his leadership played a pivotal role in launching the commercial shale gas industry by developing the technology to create hydraulic fracture maps. During his August 2025 episode of 13th & Park, Wright shared with Goodman how he became the architect of America’s shale industry and how embracing diverse forms of energy will bring down costs and make America more secure.
Along with leading Pinnacle, Wright previously served as chairman of Stroud Energy, an early shale producer that he sold to Range Resources in 2006. More recently, he was the chairman and CEO of Liberty Energy, where he played a pivotal role in removing the limitations on the shale industry by expanding the company into shale oil production.
Wright holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and studied electrical engineering as a graduate student at MIT and the University of California, Berkeley. Serving as energy secretary since February 2025, he also outlined for Goodman his vision of how innovations in the energy industry will lead the United States to energy dominance.