Oval Office Interns 2008

Aranzasu De La O
http://aranzadelao.blogspot.com/

Aranzasu will be working for the Maria Leon Vazquez for school board and Margaret Quinones for Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees campaigns in Santa Monica with School Board Member, Oscar de la Torre. Together, they will (1) Start an education coalition that will include Latina/o parents, parents who are organized around special education issues and progressives of all backgrounds. (2) Create a Latino Political Action Network composed of Latina/o teachers, administrators and education leaders who can get involved in the campaigns. Aranzasu and Oscar de la Torre will organize a weekend barbeque at Virginia Park on June 29th to launch these efforts and our working data base will later expand to include SMC staff, City staff etc. The hope is to organize a major progressive advocacy group to assist with quality of life issues, workers rights, education, etc. in Santa Monica, CA.

Adia Hoag
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/adia

Adia will work with the national presidential campaign for Senator Barack Obama.  She applied for the Obama Organizing Fellows program, which was just announced April 3, 2008.  As a result, she will not find out about her placement until June and will be placed wherever the campaign deems need.  In June, Adia will be assigned to a community where she will receive a minimum of six weeks of real world organizing experience that will have a concrete impact on this election.  The commitment is 30 hours or more per week and is an unpaid position. 
 
As a Fellow, Adia will be trained on the basics of organizing and campaign fundamentals: managing databases, fundraising money, getting out the vote, educating the public on the issues and campaigning door-to-door.  She will be placed in a community to carry out grassroots organizing activities such as training door-to-door campaign volunteers, holding informational meetings and phone banking on behalf of the campaign.  Adia will be able to get valuable experience participating in training on field organizing, messaging and other activities for the Obama campaign.  The Obama Organizing Fellowship is designed not just to help win this election, but to strengthen our democracy by training dedicated volunteers in communities across the country.  Fellows will participate in an intensive and rewarding training program focused on the basic organizing principles at the heart of Barack Obama’s campaign.
Moushumi Khan
Obama for President campaign

Katherine Randall

Katherine is using the opportunity of her Oval Office summer internship to develop her views on healthcare. As in the US, healthcare is an issue of critical importance to voters in the UK, albeit for different reasons. Katherine will be interviewing experts on healthcare - academics, politicians and policy-makers - in the US, Canada, France and the UK in order to gain a deeper understanding of this crucial policy issue. In the Fall, Katherine will take up a post working for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Strategy Unit on issues of healthcare.

 

 

 

Oval Office Intern 2007

Amelia Showalter, MPP '08
EMILY's List, Washington DC

Blog: http://smarttart.wordpress.com/

 

Oval Office Interns 2006

Mamie Marcuss
MPP '07
Final Report

 Political Assistant to the State Director of U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
Sarah Rasmussen
MPP '07
Final Report 		Research & Communications intern, America Votes/Minnesota
Katie Selenski
MPP '07
Final Report 		Intern, State Assemblymember Dave Jones, Sacramento, CA


Mamie Marcuss, MPP 2007

Political Assistant to the State Director of U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
Mamie worked directly with Senator Kerry's State Director to build and foster the Senator's political relationships within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Specifically, she planed and attended meetings and events with key political contacts in the state, primarily state and local legislators. Additionally, she managed an effort to enhance the Senator's communications with his Massachusetts constituents by harnessing emerging technologies, such as pod casts and blogs.

The internship helped Mamie further her goal of running for elected office. First, by enabling her to develop a better understanding of politics, complementing my past experience in the policy arena. Second, it offered her a chance to build a political network in the state, one which will prove invaluable in any future race. Finally, it gave her an on the ground appreciation for the day-to-day life of a U.S. legislator-an office she hopes to one day hold.


Sarah Rasmussen, MPP 2007

Sarah worked as a research/communications intern with the organization America Votes/Minnesota. America Votes is a new, historic coalition of dozens of progressive political organizations working to educate and engage voters on issues like the environment, the economy, and a woman's right to choose. American Votes also developed electoral strategies and shift resources to ensure that on-the-ground political efforts are smart, efficient and effective.

As an intern in the research and communications department, Sarah conducted issue-based research, write organizational press materials, and help develop issue-based messages.


Katie Selenski, MPP 2007

Katie returned to California to work for State Assemblymember Dave Jones, who represents her hometown of Sacramento. Working on legislative projects in Jones’ capital office was a tremendous opportunity for Katie, whose experience is in nonprofit and advocacy organizations, to learn about the inside of the legislative process, develop new political skills, and observe the daily life of an elected official.

Katie is committed to achieving real solutions to the problems facing Sacramento residents and she continually seeks to discover more about the city. She was eager to learn from Assemblymember Jones, who also had a record of distinguished service in the Sacramento City Council and as a legal aid attorney in the city, about how he has accomplished such success and about the challenges and opportunities of serving in public office. Katie hopes to use the lessons she learned to develop strategies for achieving progress for Sacramento.