Name: Lia WeintraubClass Year: 2014
Majors: International Relations and Spanish
Hometown: West Hartford, CT
Internship organization: Be the Change, Inc., Boston, MA
1. Describe your internship organization.
Be the Change, Inc. runs national issue based campaigns driven by broad cross-partisan coalitions of non-profits, social entrepreneurs, policymakers, academics, and citizens. The goals of the campaigns are to inspire culture change and accelerate public policy development. I am most involved with the Opportunity Nation campaign, which strives to decrease the opportunity gap and expand economic mobility in the United States. The campaign has focused on pathways to success for 16-24 year olds.
2. Describe your internship responsibilities in detail.
As an intern at Be the Change, I have the opportunity to contribute to various departments within the organization. Thus far in my internship, I have worked primarily on development and policy strategizing. For development, I have identified potential donors and learned the importance of maintaining accurate records and contact information. With policy, I have done research regarding introduced legislation that fits into Opportunity Nation’s plan to support 16-24 year olds as they enter school and the work force. I have researched congressmen to identify their level of interest in increasing access and affordability of higher education, supporting career and technical education, and supporting pathways to get disconnected youth back on track.
3. What has led you to pursue this specific internship?
I guess I would call myself a big ideas person. I spend a lot of my time thinking about how to create concrete solutions to pressing issues in our country and around the world. At Be the Change, I am surrounded by idealists like myself who believe that, through grassroots organizing, coalition management, and policy development, we can solve the opportunity gap in the United States. My participation in the Tisch Scholars program has made me passionate about public service and taught me the importance of being active in my home community.
4. Describe one highlight of your internship experience thus far?
One of the best days at my internship was when we had an all-staff meeting. Employees from the Washington D.C. and New York offices came to Boston so the entire team could be together. We played ice breakers, analyzed how each of us deals with conflict, and discussed a plan for the organization moving forward. I appreciated this opportunity to meet the other interns and staff people. We got into great conversations about the structural causes that prevent people from being able to rise up in society and what needs to change to reinstate the American Dream.
