Policy Fellows: Study trip to Washington, D.C.

Center director Larry Jacobs, and program staff Ellen Tveit and Lea Chittenden, traveled to Washington in early February with the 2006 – 2007 Humphrey Institute Policy Fellows. The study trip to Washington has been an important part of the program since 1999, and as in past years Humphrey Institute senior fellows Tim Penny and Vin Weber arranged meetings with prominent speakers on a variety of topics. Highlights included a meeting with White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, watching Senator Amy Klobuchar – an alumna of the Mondale Fellows program – preside over a vote on the minimum wage bill, talking with attorneys Bob Bennett and Ken Gross about lobbying and Congressional ethics reform, and discussing foreign policy and the war in Iraq with a panel of experts from the National Endowment for Democracy and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Policy Fellow Jessie Ostlund, an account executive at the public relations firm Himle Horner, summed up the experience: "The trip provided unbelievable access to key leaders and decision-makers in Washington and allowed us to get an on-the-ground perspective of how Washington works and the forces that drive politics and policy. It also provided a forum for getting to know other Policy Fellows and forming lasting relationships that will be valuable both personally and professionally. I consider it truly an honor and a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have been part of it."

Policy Fellows Sondra Reis, Eric Ahlness, Charissa Bryant

Policy Fellows met with former Delaware governor Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE)

Policy Fellows met with White House press secretary Tony Snow (second from left)

Policy Fellows met with a panel from the National Endowment for Democracy and Council on Foreign Relations