The Faceless Bureaucrat

Jason Poe grew up in the Southend of Columbus, Ohio, where the collapse of industry, the grit of working-class life, and the strength of union values shaped his earliest understanding of justice and survival. Living in the shadow of the Buckeye Steel Casting plant, he witnessed firsthand the unraveling of a once-proud industrial backbone and the toll it took on families like his own.

Now a veteran civil servant with over 15 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Jason remains driven by a deep belief in public service and the dignity of work. A proud member of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), he has also held leadership roles in a Fortune 500 company and a high-growth tech unicorn, but he has always returned to the calling of government work, where policy and people intersect.

In 2025, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiated sweeping changes to the federal workforce, Jason sent a defiant and deeply personal email to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. That message, shared widely on LinkedIn and featured by political commentator Allison Gill on her Substack, became the most liked and commented post on her platform in 2025, elevating Jason’s voice as one of moral clarity, solidarity, and resistance.

Jason’s work is rooted in lived experience: he survived childhood sexual abuse, homelessness, and the burden of raising his younger brothers, Josh, Jacob, and John II, while navigating the chronic strain of Type 1 diabetes. Through it all, he held tight to the belief that even in a system that overlooks the vulnerable, civil service can be a force for good.

With “The Southend: A Story of the Faceless Bureaucrat from a Forgotten Place”, Jason brings emotional depth, literary craftsmanship, and hard-won insight to the page. His writing captures humanity behind the bureaucracy, proving that the faceless bureaucrat has a story worth hearing.