In 1968 she went to work for the government of the District of Columbia as Deputy Director of the Youth Program Unit for Mayor Walter Washington, coordinating youth programs citywide and then overseeing programs run by 22 agencies. She came to Mayor Washington's attention in 1964 when she was chairman of the Adams Morgan Community Council. By 1970, she was field services director for the Office of Community Services. In 1974, she ran for the Democratic Party nomination to the Ward 4 seat on the newly-created District Council. She resigned from her job in the District government to campaign, and campaigned on a policy of expanded housing. She came in 2nd place in the primary, losing to John A. Wilson by 298 votes in a crowded field. She moved on to the American Civil Liberties Union for the National Capital Area in 1975 and then joined NOAA in 1978 as the deputy assistant administrator for policy and planning. In 1979, she became the acting deputy assistant administrator for satellites and in that role managed the weather satellite service, worked on NASA and NOAA ground systems and communications, and spearheaded the commercialization of the Landsat satellite system. She left NOAA in 1982. She then spent time in the aerospace industry in a variety of positions with Martin Marietta Commercial Titan, Inc., Arianespace, Inc., Space America, Inc., and American Science and Technology Corporation and served as a member of the National Research Council's Space Applications Board and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Astronautical Society. By 1992, she was Martin Marietta Corporation's Director for Mission to Planet Earth Studies. On February 26, 1993 she was appointed by President Clinton to serve NOAA as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere. When she was appointed, NOAA Director John A. Knauss retired and Josephson became acting director for nearly three months, becoming the first woman to lead the agency. In the following years and during the modernization of the National Weather Service, she led development of a $2 billion annual budget and developed NOAA's first strategic plan. Her contributions led to major improvements in climate forecasting and earned her a NOAA Special Recognition Award for lifetime service. She also served on the President's Interagency Council on Women Representatives, chaired by Hillary Clinton. In 1997 she went to the U.S. Navy as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Installations and Environments. In that position she had status equivalent to a three-star admiral and was recognized as such aboard naval vessels. Among other things she was responsible for finding an environmentally friendly way to dispose of napalm left from the Vietnam War. From 2000 to 2004 she was Senior Vice President for Environmental Defense. She reorganized it to bring in new talent and to help create marketing campaigns that increased its endowment by almost 40%. At the time of her death, she was one of five associate directors of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. She died on March 6, 2006 from complications of cancer. Josephson was involved with her partner, Jim Alexander, for 30 years until he died in 2001. They were avid sailors.
