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Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Fall 2007
Mikaela DeGroot, left, and Kavan Kucko, right, visited Andria Hayes-Birchler in Washington, D.C., during the summer. DeGroot interned with the U.S. Department of State in New York City. Kucko worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the department of policy and planning doing regional transportation economic research and economic impact analysis. Hayes-Birchler interned with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Europe and Eurasia Bureau.
Donation helps cover costs of student internships
Two international public affairs students spent their summers in Washington, D.C., and New York City writing memos, attending meetings and doing research courtesy of a generous donation from Lockheed Martin Corp. to the La Follette School.
The gift meant the La Follette School could provide stipends to two students working unpaid internships.
The funds helped to cover the extra expenses of living outside Madison for the summer.
For information
To assist with internships and career development for current La Follette students, contact Career Development Coordinator Mary Russell, (608) 263-2409, .
To learn more about supporting the La Follette School with a donation, contact Publications Director Karen Faster, (608) 263-7657, .
Sample of student internships
La Follette School students spent their summers interning with these agencies in Wisconsin and around the world:
- UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania
- U.S. Senate Office, Washington, D.C.
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, Washington, D.C.
- European Commission, Brussels
- Grassroots International
- Wisconsin Senate Office, Madison
- U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Violence Against Women Program, Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance
- FINCA International, Nicaragua and Guatemala
- Public Policy Forum, Milwaukee
- United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta
- Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education
- Collective Bargaining and Research Department, Wisconsin Education Association Council, Madison, Wisconsin
“The internship support program is an excellent opportunity for Lockheed Martin to help students gain valuable real-world experience,” says Robert Trice Jr., Lockheed Martin senior vice president for business development and a 1974 Ph.D. in political science from University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is a member of the La Follette School’s advisory Board of Visitors, a group shared with the Department of Political Science at UW–Madison.
Lockheed Martin has supported internships for La Follette students for four years. “This internship support is a good investment in the people who will guide this country’s public policy,” Trice says.
The two students, Mikaela DeGroot and Patti Reis, say the stipends made quite a difference to them.
“With an unpaid internship and the high cost of living in Manhattan, I would not have been able to survive this summer without financial assistance,” says DeGroot, who interned with the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York City.
Assigned to the Economic and Social Council, DeGroot attended U.N. meetings and wrote memos on what transpired. She also carried out research on upcoming meetings and events related to global climate change, Haiti, peacebuilding and the UN Development Programme.
At the Organization of American States, Reis helped the Summit of the Americas Secretariat prepare for its 2009 meeting. She researched the Summit Implementation Review Group to help staff develop mechanisms to supervise implementation and follow-up of summit mandates.
The Lockheed Martin gift to La Follette enabled Reis to gain this experience. “Without the financial support of Mr. Trice, my internship this summer would have not been possible,” she says. “With his help, I was able to gain experience in the policy world while living in a very expensive city.”