Jeff Papa (IBJ Interview Issue)

This clip is from the Indianapolis Business Journal: The Interview Issue.

Jeff Papa estimates he’s been to 45 countries in the last 25 years—for either teaching, volunteerism or vacations. He helped create an orphanage in Nepal. And last year, he went to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be an observer for prisoner hearings.

But international work isn’t his full-time job—even though he might like it to be.

Instead, the 46-year-old works as chief of staff for the Indiana Senate, a position he’s held since 2007. And this past June, he became Zionsville’s first mayor.

IBJ: What got you into working with government initially?

Jeff Papa: I accidentally did an internship with the [Indiana] Senate.

IBJ: How did you accidentally do an internship with the Senate?

Jeff Papa: I was a Rose-Hulman [Institute of Technology] student, and I was going out of town for the weekend with my friend who went to [Indiana State University]. I said, “I’ll pick you up at ISU when your class ends,” and I parked outside the building and he never came out. Well, what was I going to do? There are no cell phones.

I kept walking around and there was a flier for a Senate internship. By the third time I passed it, I thought, “Well, the application deadline’s today, but there’s an 800 number so I’ll call it.”

The guy who answered said, “You need to stop by and see me.” I said, “Uh, I didn’t shave today, and I’m wearing my AC/DC T-shirt and jeans with holes in them.” He said, “Oh, it will just be me and you. Don’t worry about it.”

So I stop by and, of course, he took me around and introduced me to everybody and I thought “Yup, I’m never going back there again.”

I didn’t hear from him and then in December he called and said, “Hey, do you still want that internship?” And I said, “Sure.” I eventually figured out that somebody must have backed out and I was a last-minute alternative. OK, whatever. It worked out.

I did the internship and left and thought I would never work in government again. When I was finishing up my master’s at Ball State University and came back to visit, they hired me.

Read the rest of the interview at IBJ.com.