Anna Fucillo ’19

Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, Boston, MA

This past summer I worked as an intern with the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus. The MWPC, a political non-profit located in Boston, is a non-partisan organization with the mission of helping more women get elected to public office and public policy leadership positions. The organization seeks to civically engage women of all ages in our nation’s political processes through various events, seminars, and workshops. These programs are focused on both increasing participant’s interest in politics as well as providing the resources needed to get involved.

Team Rollins out front of the campaign headquarters in Jamaica Plain, MA. Rachael Rollins is running for Suffolk County District Attorney in Massachusetts.
Team Rollins out front of the campaign headquarters in Jamaica Plain, MA. Rachael Rollins is running for Suffolk County District Attorney in Massachusetts.

One of the most important components of the MWPC is its Political Action Committee. This group interviews political candidates running for office and ultimately selects which candidates to endorse. The MWPC then focuses on supporting these women through press releases, social media campaigns and intern support in an effort to help them succeed.

As an intern, I sat in on these interviews, taking extensive notes for the PAC members to use during the selection procedures. While I found the process remarkable, I noticed that the PAC members did not use a uniform system for comparing two or more candidates running for the same position, which resulted in unnecessarily long and unstructured debates on which candidate to choose. Sometimes discussions would span hours, ending late into the evening, leaving members tired and frustrated.

I spent the majority of my internship 
working on a project aimed at improving the PAC endorsement interview process by designing a quantitative ranking and evaluation system that would allow interviewees to me placed more objectively in comparison to one another. This system was research and data-driven with the goal of limiting interview biases, ensuring that the organization remains truly non-partisan, and helping increase the legitimacy of an MWPC endorsement. At the end of my internship, I had the honor of presenting this project to the PAC and MWPC Executive Board and they will be implementing it next election cycle. I could not be more thrilled to have made a meaningful contribution to enhance the efficiency of such an indispensable organization.

Other duties and projects that I worked on in the office included communicating with various state senators and representatives through phone, email and in-person meetings; assisting in fundraising efforts by reaching out to prospective donors; curating content and managing social media accounts; drafting press releases for endorsed candidates; preparing for and working community forums and events; researching legislative initiatives, political candidates, and political races; and consolidating these findings into memos for the Associate and Executive directors.

The second component of my internship at the MWPC involved working directly on the campaign of a recently endorsed candidate, Rachael Rollins, contender for Suffolk County District Attorney. At her campaign headquarters in Jamaica Plain, Mass., I engaged in phone banking, canvassing, and volunteer training in an effort to spread her platform and reach over 750,000 potential voters. This was a particularly valuable experience, as I was able to take much of what I was learning about campaigns and local political races in the MWPC office and utilize that knowledge out in the field.

While the MWPC only has two full-time employees, the MWPC Executive Board is an extensive list of women who are actively engaged with the organization on a daily basis. It was remarkable to work with these women, all of whom are successful lawyers, businesswomen, or non-profit leaders from around the state. This diverse group of women leaders were incredibly passionate about pro-women’s issues, and their energy and drive to foster change and contribute to the mission of the MWPC was inspiring. Furthermore, I was working with a group of interns from various schools around the country. Each of these young women brought a unique perspective to the organization, and the conversations we had about political issues were consistently dynamic and opened my eyes to a number of different philosophies.

This internship significantly enhanced my understanding of our country’s electoral process, the intricacies of running a campaign for political office, the complexities of navigating the political arena, the power of political movements, and the importance of creating lasting political change. My time at the MWPC made it infinitely clear that the work this organization is doing on a daily basis is critically important for our country. In order for our government to be a true reflection of our society, we must have equal representation in politics—this means women’s voices must be heard. A sure way to achieve this at the national level is by pushing the movement at the local and state levels first.

Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus interns on a Charles River Cruise event in Boston.
Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus interns on a Charles River Cruise event in Boston.

As a political science major, this exposure to the inner-workings of our electoral system and the intricacies of running for office was invaluable. Remarkably, I was able to witness in action many of the concepts and topics that I have discussed in a classroom setting while at Williams. Furthermore, I was able to learn more in-depth about a number of policy issues that interest me and are constantly debated at both the state and national levels. Many of these were women-focused issues, like proper access to reproductive health care, and how best to tackle these challenges by promoting legislative reform. In hearing candidate’s platforms, I was able to compare and contrast ideas and parse through proposed solutions, increasing my awareness of the inherent challenges in fostering policy change while only reinforcing the importance of such change.

In addition, I witnessed first-hand what it takes to run and manage a non-profit organization with a fixed budget and a limited number full-time employees. Because of such circumstances, it was essential that interns prioritized and allocated resources properly. Inefficiencies were constantly scrutinized and managed in an effort to ensure that the organization was able to provide the most support to endorsed candidates despite the restrictions in time and funding. I also learned how important it is to establish meaningful relationships with members of the community in an effort to build a far-reaching network of both volunteers and donors—both of which were essential to the success of the organization.

Lastly, my time as an intern with the MWPC allowed me to further develop essential professional skills that I will use in the future and are applicable to any career field. In constantly interacting with high-ranking political officials, as well as in canvassing and phone-banking with the Rachael Rollins campaign, I became well-versed in effective communication and delivering messages in a succinct and clear manner.

I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to pursue meaningful work in the non-profit and political sector—something I would not have been able to do without the generosity and support of George J. Mead, his family, and the ’68 Center for Career Exploration. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to participate in this meaningful summer experience, taking what I have learned at Williams and applying it in an experiential setting. I will return to campus this fall with a wealth of new perspective and insight that I will be able to share with our community.