Through Tisch College’s Active Citizenship Summer (ACS) program, Caroline Sherrard, A14, has spent her summer in Washington, DC working for the National Partnership for Women and Families.
“Active citizenship is about making a difference in your community, whether it is through direct service or large-scale advocacy,” said Sherrard, a political science major. “I know that I am making a difference at the National Partnership because our work at the large-scale policy level makes it so that service providers are able to continue to exist on the ground.”
The National Partnership for Women and Families works to promote fairness in the workplace, access to healthcare, reproductive health rights, and policies that help both men and women meet the dual demands of work and family.
Sherrard, one of 21 fellows participating in the eighth year of the ACS: Washington, DC program, said the experience of interning there has been invaluable.
“I’ve always been passionate about the issues that National Partnership works on and I was fairly certain I wanted to do policy work in my future career,” said Sherrard. “The ability to intern at a large non-profit has given me insight into how the policy world in Washington works and how an organization functions. This has given me greater clarity on what I hope my future career looks like and I will be better prepared to one day enter fulltime employment in the advocacy field.”
Working in the Reproductive Health Division, Sherrard was responsible for writing content for facts sheets, proofreading the Daily Women’s Health Report, representing the Partnership at Hill briefings, and calling congressional offices to promote issues related to reproductive health.
“I’ve been so lucky to work on a team with amazing individuals who have dedicated their careers to policy work,” Sherrard said. “It has been great to talk to them about their previous experiences either working as a legislative staffer in Congress or at other advocacy organizations. They have a great wealth of knowledge about what certain positions are like and how to go about finding a job in a certain area.”
“My supervisor is also a Tufts alumna, which makes the office experience much more enjoyable,” she added.
Sherrard said that the experience of being able to connect with a community of Jumbos through the CASE (Connecting Alumni and Student Experience) Network, has been one the more important aspects of her experience. CASE is supported through a collaboration between Tisch College and the Office of Alumni Relations.
“Tufts alumni, especially in Washington, have such a wealth of knowledge and experience that has been so valuable to tap into,” she said. “It is so great to create an intergenerational relationship and having the shared connection of having gone to Tufts makes it so much easier to create that relationship.”