Internship Location: Madison WI
Organization Type: Nonprofit
Policy Areas: Child Support
This past semester, I interned at Institute for Research on Poverty, where I had the opportunity to contribute to, read, and organize legal documents, and collect data in order to help policy research. The experience gave me a much deeper understanding of how public policy is developed, communicated, and implemented in real-world settings. One of the most important skills I learned from Public Affairs 327 and used it in my internship was the ability to “zoom in and zoom out.” I learned how to shift between focusing on the technical details—like collecting data or organizing legal documents—and stepping back to understand the broader strategic or political context. This skill was especially valuable when working on multiple tasks, where I had to prioritize the work that is most helpful to the team. The analytical training I received in courses like Public Affairs 327 gave me the tools to do this work effectively. I was able to confidently apply both quantitative and qualitative methods, while also thinking critically about how to present the results in a way that would resonate with decision-makers.