A Day in the Life

Veronica Martinez 

Summer 2012, WOMEN VOTE! Intern 

During the spring of my junior year of college, I began thinking about what type of summer internship I wanted to complete. I love politics and campaigning, and I am especially passionate about increasing women’s representation in government. After spending some serious time scouring the internet and talking to friends and contacts, I realized that interning with WOMEN VOTE! department at EMILY’s List would allow me to contribute to a cause I care deeply about while also affording me with valuable insight into campaigning and increasing women’s involvement with government.

As a research intern, most of my work centered on finding information on candidates and their opponents and following races that EMILY’s List was involved with to track any new updates or trends. The other interns and I became personally invested in each race we researched because we knew so much about the candidates—in fact, on Election Day, we started a group text and celebrated each win as it came in because we were so proud of the candidates that WV! supported.  Beyond the knowledge I gained from the day-to-day office work, I also received tremendous support from the WV! staff. The team integrated the interns into their work and meetings, which allowed us to see how our efforts were actually making an impact. Rather than having us merely shadow them, our supervisors would routinely explain why they were taking an action or expand upon a mysterious acronym, encourage us to attend seminars at other organizations, and connect us with opportunities that matched our interests.

When my time at WV! ended, I headed home before school started again and helped a local woman running for Congress. Though she had worked on previous campaigns, she was a first-time candidate and faced some new challenges. Based on the knowledge I had acquired from my internship and the seminars that my supervisors had suggested that I attend, I was able to draft a pathway to winning for my candidate and help set up her campaign’s volunteering and fundraising efforts.

While I genuinely wanted to stay on the race back home, my senior year was beckoning from Massachusetts. Luckily enough, another great female candidate was running for office there, and I soon began organizing my campus for Elizabeth Warren. Senator Warren was one of the candidates I researched while at WV!, and that experience certainly helped when I needed to convince students on campus to vote for her.

 I can think of many other instances and anecdotes of when my time at EMILY’s List helped me, but I also appreciate the internship experience as a whole for developing me as an individual invested in progressive politics. I genuinely value my EMILY’s List internship for increasing my awareness of legislative gender inequity and the tough work that goes into correcting it, and hope to continue fighting for the cause after graduation.

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kasey hoar 

Fall 2012, Political intern 

As a political science major, I wanted to end my undergraduate career with an internship in Washington D.C. After growing up in Buffalo, NY, I attended SUNY Geneseo but wanted to gain more experience before entering the “real world.”  I knew I wanted a position that would allow me to be involved in the 2012 election, and the internship at EMILY’s List seemed like it would be a perfect fit.

As an intern in the political department, every day has been different. Part of my job prior to the election involved tracking the polling in races we were involved in, so I always knew how our candidates were doing and could see the progress our women were making against their opponents.

One of the many great things about EMILY’s List is that we do more than just raise money for our candidates; we also provide campaign services. I was able to do a variety of different tasks and feel like I made an actual contribution to our campaigns. The political department manages the EMILY’s List Job Bank, which I used to connect talented campaign staffers to our campaigns across the country.  We also helped with donor research and fundraising calls—important skills to have in the political world!

The most exciting part of this internship by far was actually going out to a campaign before Election Day. I was sent to Illinois for a House race for ten days, where I worked with the staff and helped them prepare their Get Out the Vote operation. We recruited and trained volunteers, and canvassed and phone banked to make sure we got all of our supporters out to the polls. After all of our hard work, election night was absolutely incredible! Not only did our candidate, Cheri Bustos, win, but EMILY’s List had a very successful night as we won many of our competitive races. After following these candidates and working for these campaigns, it was rewarding to feel like I was able to make a difference.

Interning for EMILY’s List has been an incredible experience that taught me valuable skills while I was working for a cause I believe in. I’m lucky to have an internship that both encourages me to stay updated with what is going on in politics and also allows me to feel like I am part of the organization.  

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sarah ledonne 

Fall 2011 and Fall 2012, Marketing intern 

Before my first internship at EMILY’s List, I was never passionate about politics. In fact, when I turned 18, I almost didn’t vote in the Presidential election (don’t worry – I did). In my mind, politicians were on a distant planet, making decisions that barely seemed to scratch the surface of my busy world.

Fast forward to the summer before my junior year, the fateful time when one’s advisors tell students to start to thinking about ‘the future.’ I got an email from my advisor saying that an organization called EMILY’s List was searching for interns. After some quick research, I applied. The next day, I set up an interview with the woman who would become my supervisor, and one of the most positive influences in my life.

Now, two internships and almost a year later, I feel there is no way that I can correctly emphasize the impact EMILY’s List and the amazing people that work here have had on my life. At EMILY’s List, you’re not just another intern or a nameless coffee fetcher. My ideas are always valued, my work is always appreciated. I am reminded daily that the work I do, however menial it seems, has lasting, positive effects on the organization. In the development department, there is no shortage of support, both professionally and personally. There is no greater feeling to wake up knowing that your work matters and you are helping to promote the cause of pro-choice, Democratic women everywhere.

Before I interned at EMILY’s List, I could not name one Congressional campaign from 2010. Now, I can name almost every campaign from 2012. I get emotional when talking about my Senator-elect, Elizabeth Warren, or about Secretary Clinton’s potential 2016 Presidential run. Without the guidance I received from my mentors at EMILY’s List, there is no way I would be this passionate about politics. Working here has been fun, challenging, and most importantly, life altering. I would not trade my experiences here for the world. 

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Rachel lienesch

Summer 2012, WOMEN VOTE! intern

My first day at EMILY’s List felt just like the first day in grade school. I tossed and turned the night before, overwhelmed by excitement and anxiety. I applied to intern at EMILY’s List on the advice of a friend; she had interned in the Communications department and loved it. I decided to apply to WOMEN VOTE!, the independent expenditure committee attached to EMILY’s List, because it combined research and strategy -- two areas of politics I find fascinating. I was thrilled when they offered me the internship, but the butterflies still set in the night before I started. I had no clue what to expect on my first day. Would I be writing memos? Following candidates on Twitter? Stapling stacks of paper?

It turned out I would be jumping in head first on that first day. My supervisors were in the middle of putting together a polling memo for Hawai’i’s 2^nd congressional district, a holy grail of personal and professional details about our candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, and her opponents. After giving me a few hours to settle in, my supervisor explained that they were in a time crunch and asked me to help with the memo by going through the candidates’ websites and bulleting relevant information. (For the layman, a research bullet is basically a chunk of relevant text from a news source or video transcript that you add a title to so people scanning through the memo can still understand what’s going on.)

I walked into the internship with the preconceived notion that political research primarily consisted of summarizing issue positions. I was completely wrong. As my supervisor kindly and patiently explained to me, this memo wasn’t about listing issue positions. It was about telling a story about each candidate – not just where they stood on an issue, but how they explained that position. It was about outlining how they presented themselves to voters and highlighting what personal qualities they discussed so we would know what to emphasize or how to compare candidates if we released ads in Hawai’i’s 2^nd congressional district. There was a steep learning curve and I definitely made mistakes (everything from overly wordy headlines to missing links to key articles on campaign websites), but my supervisor guided me and helped me improve every step of the way.

Once the madness was over and the polling memo was completed I wasn’t sure how helpful my research would be or whether we would even be running programs in the district. Ultimately the decision was made to release an ad (which is great if you haven’t seen it yet), and some of my research about our candidate’s emphasis on service and sacrifice actually helped shape the narrative of the ad.

Much of the work I’ve done since those fast-moving first weeks has been in a similar vein: researching candidates and trying to tell a story about who they are and what they believe. I’ve learned so much along the way about research but also about strategy and what ads work in different situations. I’ve had a blast here, in large part because the WOMEN VOTE! team is hilarious and dead-set on making sure interns have a great experience, and I’ve also become so much better prepared for any job I could hope to have in politics. Turns out those first day butterflies were pointless -- I had nothing to worry about.

August 2012

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Samantha lachman

Summer 2012, Communications Intern

I found out about EMILY’s List while doing what I do best -- researching people on the internet. But in all seriousness, I learned about this Political Action Committee (PAC) while reading about Governor Bev Perdue, who was elected in 2008 with the support of EMILY’s List as North Carolina’s first woman governor.

Thanks to Governor Perdue, my reproductive rights have been protected as compared to women in other states. She’s consistently vetoed the anti-choice, anti-woman legislation emanating out of the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly. Some highlights include their “Woman’s Right to Know” Act (blocked by a federal judge) and just this month, their state budget which disqualifies private family planning providers from being eligible for state funding. Governor Perdue vetoed the state budget which included this provision, but her veto was overridden.

State funding already isn’t allowed to go to abortion services, so this bill disproportionately affects lower-income women by targeting money that organizations like Planned Parenthood receive to provide contraception, breast cancer screenings and STI testing and treatment.

Governor Perdue has announced that she will not seek reelection in November. As the spotlight shines on North Carolina leading up to the Democratic National Convention Charlotte will host in early September, I hope voters in my state will realize how urgently we need to elect more women who will protect reproductive freedom and advance the causes of women and families.

Once I learned about the impact EMILY’s List has had on races across the country, I knew I wanted to intern for the organization. Not just because EMILY’s List has supported Governor Perdue and Senator Kay Hagan in North Carolina, but also because of the work they do turning out women voters in critical districts, training state-level candidates and holding Republicans accountable.

This summer, I have been interning in the communications department.  Interns are responsible for compiling news clips about our candidates, updating press lists, helping to write talking points and press materials, and keeping staff updated on news as it happens. There isn’t really a typical work day here, which I appreciate. I’ve learned so much about messaging, strategy and media relations from being able to sit in on meetings and from our intern brown bags with directors of various EMILY’s List departments.

I’ve found my internship incredibly rewarding and am so grateful that an organization like this exists!

July 2012

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erin ryan

Spring 2012 Marketing Intern

My name is Victoria Perrone, and I’m currently a senior politics major at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. As a Democrat studying at a more conservative university, I’ve used my internships to express myself by advocating for the issues I care about outside of the classroom. During this time of the “War on Women,” it has been an amazing opportunity and a great time to intern at EMILY’s List.

 

As the political targeting intern, my primary responsibility is conducting political research to help our candidates get elected. With congressional redistricting maps coming out this year, I focused a lot of my efforts this semester on tracking redistricting news and analyzing the newly drawn districts. This was something I had never done before on campaigns or my previous internships, and I know EMILY’s List was the only place where I could have learned this information in-depth. After my semester with EMILY’s List, I have a larger appreciation for the work the organization does every day to elect women to office.

 

In addition to conducting research, I’ve learned extremely valuable skills, including how I can incorporate my math skills into politics. I’ve become an expert in Microsoft Excel (a must for those working in data and targeting) which will be extremely useful in any job. Interns at EMILY’s List have a lot of responsibilities and do great work, rather than spending all of our time getting coffee or making copies. The internship program teaches vital skills to prepare interns to be successful in their future pursuits.

 

In addition to the skills I’ve learned, I’ve also met the amazing EMILY’s List staff who has given useful advice on how to apply for jobs, make a résumé stand out, and keys to successful networking. As a student who is about to graduate, applying for jobs can be nerve-racking, but the staff at EMILY’s List have been extremely helpful.

 

I’m really grateful to have been able to spend my last semester of college at EMILY’s List. My internship has taught me useful skills for future opportunities in politics in addition to giving me an outlet to work for an issue I care about.

 

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My name is Annie Kouba, and I am from Icard, North Carolina. I am interning with the Political Opportunity Program (POP) this spring, and am already having a great experience. I first heard of EMILY’s List through an advisor of an academic program I am participating in here in DC. When I heard what EMILY’s List stood for, and their relentless dedication to women it only affirmed my interest in women in politics, and I immediately applied for an internship.

 

My name is Katie Simon, and I am from Fox Point, Wisconsin. I am an intern in the POP department at EMILY’s List. I was somewhat familiar with EMILY’s List through my previous work on political campaigns and related work, and so was thrilled to be offered the internship position in D.C.!

 

Our daily tasks have included researching potential candidates, preparing for upcoming trainings nationwide, and generally assisting the POP director and coordinator. Every time that there is a training, it is a big event for POP; we provide research on potential candidates and material support for the trainings, which occur all across the country.

 

We both consider ourselves extremely fortunate for the opportunity to work with so many powerful and inspiring women at EMILY’s List. Across the board, our interactions with staff have been incredibly positive and encouraging. The staff is comprised of highly motivated, professional individuals who are deeply invested in the mission of EMILY’s List, in addition to showing regard for our professional development and that of the other interns. Opportunities for professional development are plentiful for interns, as well.

 

Right now we’re looking forward to working with other interns at an upcoming reception for an EMILY’s List candidate. We are both thrilled to have the opportunity to complete meaningful work, and look forward to learning even more as we continue with our time at EMILY’s List.

 

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One of my friends was interning at EMILY’s List during the 2011 fall semester, and right about the time that I was becoming more interested in women’s policy issues she recommended that I intern at EL in the spring. The Republican presidential candidates had been driving me nuts with their extreme rhetoric about women and I was looking for a way to get involved, so an internship at EMILY’s List seemed like a perfect fit. It’s been a fantastic experience for me!

 

Working in the New Media department at EMILY’s List is a fun, up-to-the-minute kind of job. We’re always following what’s happening in the online community, reading opinions from the blogs, and following the latest political updates. Working in the New Media department has given me the opportunity to work on a variety of different projects. On some days, I could be updating the website to show the newest candidates that EMILY’s List has endorsed, uploading a new blog post, or working with the EMILY’s List Facebook page. I do a fair amount of research, keeping track of the many of EMILY’s List candidates and learning about all the issues which they are campaigning on. I occasionally get to follow current policy issues as well. The recent contraception debate was fun...in an infuriating and frustrating way.

 

I also have a lot of opportunities to strike out and do some work on my own, including working with the New Media and Communications teams to write my own blog posts. Working with the New Media department has given me the opportunity to improve upon my skills, while at the same time I was encouraged to take the initiative to tackle issues that are important to me.

 

All in all, if you’re a person who is always checking feminist blogs, lives and breathes the new media world, and has strong opinions on current events, this is the internship for you! I’d like to keep interning with other women’s policy groups, such as NARAL or Planned Parenthood, and eventually (when I graduate) work with one of these organizations or on a campaign! EMILY’s List has been incredibly helpful by preparing me for a job in this field, giving me opportunities to network, and improving my skills. It has by far been one of my most valuable and enjoyable experiences.

 

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My name is Molly Kordas and I am from Tinley Park, IL. I am interning in the Communications Department this spring, and so far I have loved every second of my experience. I first heard of EMILY’s List a couple of years ago while I was researching anti-women legislation for a paper I was writing. I decided to apply for an internship with my university’s Washington, D.C. Learning Program.

 

On a daily basis, the communications interns compile important news clips about EMILY’s List, women voters, women’s issues, and EMILY’s List candidates. We also constantly keep an eye on the news and send out any important articles to the staff. One of the most fun and I think unique things about working in communications is that there really is no such thing as a typical day. Every day, we do the news clips and then find out what else needs to be done, whether that is writing a press release, statement, or blog post, or simply putting together lists of press contacts. There is no everyday routine because everything we do is dependent on what is going on in the the campaigns, in Congress, and the rest of the world that day.

 

Interning at EMILY’s List has also exposed me to many opportunities. I have been able to sit in on various meetings and listen to members of the Senior Leadership speak about EMILY’s List, and I have also been lucky enough to volunteer at a campaign event in D.C. for Elizabeth Esty (CT-05), candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. A group of interns went to the event and greeted the guests, took their coats, and helped sign guests in. By volunteering to help out for just a few hours that night, we were also able to listen to Elizabeth Esty and her supporters talk about her district, her campaign, why electing pro-choice Democratic women is so important, and why she is the best candidate for the job. Afterwards, we were able to take pictures with Elizabeth Esty and talk with her for a little bit about EMILY’s List. She is a truly inspiring woman and this experience confirmed my goals and dreams. I absolutely love interning at EMILY’s List because I am able to do meaningful work that really is making a difference in the world. I am really looking forward to continuing to learn and grow at EMILY’s List and moving on to the countless opportunities and doors EMILY’s List has opened for me.