Talking politics, social change, networking and job seeking: Political interns converge at Rowan for one-day summit

For Julia Carfagno, lunch was much more than a burger. It was a chance to connect with others and think more about her future in politics.

“I had lunch with Chris Russell,” Carfagno said during a break at the Mid-Atlantic Political Internship Summit (MAPIS), presented on Thursday, August 5, by the Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship.

The top adviser to New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, Russell was one of 20 top political leaders and advisers who joined more than 125 political interns for a day-long summit in Rowan’s Business Hall.

The summit brought together interns working in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware for insightful—and often frank—discussions with some of the nation’s most gifted and successful political minds.

Panel discussions ranged from the future of the Democratic and Republican parties to sessions on driving social change, landing political jobs in Washington, D.C., and learning to disagree amicably.

Guest speakers included U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, New Jersey Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick, journalist Sasha Issenberg, and New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way.

“It was phenomenal. All the speakers were fantastic,” said Carfagno, a rising senior journalism major at Boston’s Suffolk University who attended MAPIS virtually last year. With her eye on law school and a future as a legislative aide or lobbyist, Carfagno, who interned with Princeton Public Affairs Group, the largest state contract lobbying firm in New Jersey, got career advice from Russell.

The networking at MAPIS is one of its strengths, said Carfagno, who was as excited about meeting and greeting peers as she was to meet political leaders.

“Networking is so important,” she said. “It’s so nice to be around people who are like-minded.”

RIPPAC founding director Ben Dworkin encouraged the interns to make the most of their experiences with political leaders—and one another…a sentiment upheld by Bramnick in his colorful and funny presentation.

“This is a moment to really build your network,” Dworkin said, adding that, in a few years, many of the interns at the summit may be in elected office and/or working in government and public service.

“Remember: Every political leader at one time was your age sitting in a chair like yours. Understand that you can become those people.”

“The people you’re working with…they might become a big deal. Those are the people you want to be nice to. Those relationships are key,” Bramnick, author of Why People Don’t Like You, said in his talk, which focused on the importance of public service and bipartisanship.

In a virtual talk, Kim addressed similar topics in his presentation, which opened the summit.

“Service isn’t a job. It’s a way of life,” said Kim, who grew up in South Jersey and previously served at the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House National Security Council and in Afghanistan as an adviser to generals Petraeus and Allen.

“Learn the landscape. Learn different ways one can serve,” Kim told the interns. “Find your fire. Find what it is that drives you.”

Summit attendee Stephanie Bussinger, a rising senior international business major at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, was pleased to speak one-on-one with Sue Ramanathan, who has served as an adviser to principals in Congress and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for more than two decades.

“Before today, I didn’t understand the complexity of law school,” Bussinger said. “After I spoke with her, I learned it wasn’t completely necessary to have a law degree to work in politics. I was a little relieved.”

In his talk, Issenberg, a former national political reporter for The Boston Globe, discussed lessons in leadership from the fight for marriage equality and his recent book. Way closed out the summit with a capstone talk outlining the challenges in running American elections today.