Washington Week

Introduction

Public Allies invites Alumni to participate in three exciting days of lobbying and advocacy training, strategy development, and meetings with elected officials on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Washington Week 2009 will be announced soon!

 Washington Week 2008 represents the third consecutive year in which Public Allies National Office convened selected Public Allies alumni, our local site directors and our national board of directors. Our goal was to (a) help raise the visibility of Public Allies, (b) continue to cultivate relationships with elected officials from Public Allies’ local congressional districts, (c) boost the lobbying and advocacy skills of our staff and alumni, and (d) further develop Public Allies’ government relations strategies.

 This fully subsidized opportunity is open to 12 alumni participants- one representative from our Arizona, Chicago, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Delaware, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Silicon Valley sites.

Background

Public Allies strives to be an organization that supports the continued development of its alumni. Our value of continuous learning, coupled with our desire to provide ongoing leadership development experiences for our graduates, makes Washington Week an important initiative for us. We see Washington Week as an investment, that we hope will result in increased visibility of Public Allies, continued engagement with elected leaders, and an increase in alumni organizing activity.

Ideal Applicants

Ideal alumni participants possess the following traits and interests:

  • Are interested in supporting Public Allies’ government relations efforts, and can commit to working on developing long term strategies.
  • Can confidently articulate their Public Allies experience with legislative staffers and others, as it relates to their leadership development and their ability to bring about social change.
  • Are currently working in a field or on projects that will be strengthened by lobbying or advocacy efforts.
  • Have interest and ideas for organizing Public Allies’ local alumni bases.
  • Understand key local community issues, and can articulate the value of Public Allies’ leadership in building socially just communities.

To Apply

Interested alumni should electronically send cover letter and resume to:

            Merilou Gonzales, Director of Alumni Relations

            Public Allies National Office

            meriloug@publicallies.org

Cover letters should speak to (1) the applicant’s goals and aspirations for “Washington Week,” (2) the stated traits and interests of ideal applicants; (3) how the applicant sees this experience supporting Public Allies, as well as the applicant’s leadership development; and (4) how the applicant will use Washington Week to continue to engage alumni locally as a result of participating in Washington Week.