Author: hmagee

Working at NARAL, a tiny organization with a four-member staff, made me realize that the job descriptions offered by non-profits encompass only a fraction of the tasks employees actually undertake. I began my summer with the impression that my sole task would be to oversee the Political Interns and help build membership, never guessing that my role would eventually expand to encompass strategizing grassroots campaigns, drafting NARAL literature, and coordinating regional activist teams to accomplish initiatives remotely.

Certain tasks I was assigned this summer allowed me to accomplish the learning goals I laid out in May. Each Wednesday I supervised an intern weekly meeting, which gave me a platform to develop my leadership style. When interns gave feedback about the prior week, I learned how to be a sympathetic ear, an attentive listener, and a problem solver if the situation demanded it. Five minutes later, I had to delegate tasks assertively, offer background information about NARAL’s work that week, and occasionally offer constructive criticism of the interns’ work the week before. I learned through these weekly meetings that being a leader is not a one-dimensional role; it requires great personal flexibility in the way you handle different situations, and the interns ultimately appreciate a leader that can be both firm and personable.

This summer, I had over 25 one-on-one meetings with activists and organizational leaders in the hopes of getting more individuals and organizations involved in NARAL’s work. After hours spent chatting about abortion access over coffee, I learned that the best way to engage new activists is to frame NARAL’s work through the lens of the activist’s interests. Even those who may not initially be receptive to NARAL’s mission may become more interested when you frame NARAL’s work in a less polarized way. For example, I recruited an organization that focuses on poverty among low-income women by explaining to their Political Director that crisis pregnancy centers – false health centers that seek to deter women from receiving abortion care – typically target low-income women of color. The Political Director did not identify as “staunchly pro-choice,” but this direct appeal to her organization’s focal point made her more receptive to NARAL’s work.

Now that the summer is over, I feel like my cumulative intern experience – both this summer and in the semesters prior – has finally paid off. Two weeks ago, NARAL applied for a grant that allow for the hiring of a full time, paid staff member that would oversee our electoral work and campus program. We received the grant a week later, and NARAL has opted to hire me for the position. On September 2, I will sign my contract and continue my journey as a pro-choice advocate, this time as NARAL’s Political Organizer. Though I will be adopting a new title, I will oversee multiple teams of activists, draft NARAL-specific literature, coordinate field campaigns, a devise strategic grassroots mobilization efforts – all tasks I accomplished this summer, and will continue to build upon in my new role.

This internship gave me an in-depth look at the mechanics of grassroots organizing: mobilizing folks at the individual level to create broad political change. Grassroots organizing is deeply satisfying – in that you as an organizer develop personal relationships with volunteers and activists – but it is also exhausting, because it requires a heavy investment of time and energy with no guarantee that it will yield results. Now, I want to learn grasstops organizing: building coalitions, developing organizational partnerships, and working with elected officials to pass priority legislation. Political Directors are required to negotiate complicated political dynamics and protocols when they interact with other organizations and elected officials. As grasstops organizers, Political Directors must learn an entirely new code of conduct, and must juggle the organization’s needs with the needs of the elected officials with which they interact. It’s a complicated balancing act, one I have little knowledge of and one I’d like to become more familiar with.

As someone who appreciates structure, organization, and clear-cut duties, I would tell prospective NARAL interns that working at NARAL is a lesson in learning workplace flexibility. I learned this summer that small political non-profit organizations are often reactionary, responding to elections, Supreme Court decisions, and executive orders at the drop of a hat. Professionals in the political non-profit industry quickly learn that they must be flexible and readily adaptable, or else their organization will not be able to respond to political happenings appropriately.

This summer was my first experiencing approaching “social justice” as a staff member at an advocacy organization. It was my first experience encountering the thrills of broad-spectrum political change – and the unfortunate bureaucracy and gridlock that follow. I learned that political organizations often compromise or sacrifice their ideals for incremental success – a far cry from the romanticized “social justice” movements of the 60s and 70s that tended to be more radical and unapologetic in nature. In our current political climate, the organizations that minimally challenge the status quo and seek incremental, “baby-step” success towards their ultimate goals are the best respected. Pragmatism trumps idealism. The same can be said for our elected officials; we elect and endorse candidates not for their ideals or their liberalism, but for their viability and the projected success of their initiatives. Though I understand the paradigm of being radical, and challenging society from the roots up, working at NARAL has made me realize that I can be the most effective change agent by working slowly but determinedly to advance the pro-choice cause.

I hop in the car and pull out of my house on Shakespeare Road, driving past Brandeis and onto the interstate as I make my way into Boston. The early summer sun shines hot through the windshield. I look out the window at the highway, shimmering upwards in convoluted waves, and I feel a surge of appreciation for my interns who will be spending three hours outside today canvassing for our endorsed candidates.

Six weeks after my first blog post, my job at NARAL has swelled to encompass a new set of managerial responsibilities. In addition to doing substantive work – helping my supervisor brainstorm creative field operations, draft LTEs, and strategize political campaigns – I now manage a team of nine interns, and am responsible for distributing them to our four-plus priority campaigns. This task is surprisingly complicated; I have to take into account more variables than I initially thought when I began drafting my interns’ schedules. On a daily basis, I have to consider whether or not the interns have a car, how far away the campaigns are and whether or not they are accessible by public transportation, how many hours we should be devoting to each campaign based on its priority level, etc. I spend the better part of my office days with my eyes glued to Google Calendar, attempting to utilize our interns as best we can.

Last week, I finally managed the interns’ schedules such that they are traveling to work on each of our priority campaigns at least once a week. This is no small feat; NARAL’s Political Director reported that our Political Committee was thrilled that we are able to assist our endorsed candidates in such a way. Today is the first day that our interns are traveling throughout the state in groups of two or three. Two are in Bedford, knocking on doors for Representative Kenneth Gordon; two will be in Cambridge making calls for Representative Marjorie Decker; and two will spend four hours this evening traveling to Methuen to phone bank for Representative DeCologero. I am acting as a chauffer for the Bedford folks, and will bunker down in a coffee shop to work remotely while they are in the field.

Of course, this is just a typical Monday. Tuesdays are similar, with interns in the field; Wednesdays begin with a weekly intern meeting, facilitated by me, that features a brown bag lunch and guest speaker plucked from the ripe Boston political scene. On Wednesday evenings, our intern team helps conduct research for NARAL’s (c)(3) committee; on Thursdays, our interns are in the field, collecting signatures for our campaign to have Massachusetts Congressmen Lynch and Neal sign on to the Women’s Health Protection Act. On Fridays, interns are working for campaigns yet again. Sometimes, we break our typical schedule to participate in special events, like tabling at Boston Pride or having organizing and canvassing trainings with Planned Parenthood.

It is an utter whirlwind, and I am consistently amazed by the amount of organization and attention to detail my job requires.  Serving at NARAL in this capacity has increased my managerial abilities tenfold. I have grown to feel comfortable delegating tasks to my intern team, although some are older and more experienced than me. The staff has been exceptional in their eagerness to accommodate my needs and treat me as one of their own. I sit in on staff meetings, assist in building strategy and blueprinting campaigns, and am privy to exclusive conversations among the Political, Communications, and Field teams.

More than anything, this internship has given me an in-depth look at the machinations of the political non-profit sector. Though I previously worked at NARAL for a year, I have never understood the extent to which fundraising and membership building are critical to the maintenance of a non-profit. Sometimes I become disenchanted by the reality that a significant proportion – if not a majority – of NARAL’s work is dedicated to maintaining the structures that already exist instead of directly propelling forth a pro-choice agenda. In this field, progress comes more slowly than I expected, and victories are few and far between. (It becomes even more discouraging when the Supreme Court strikes down laws and provisions that were originally NARAL victories, like the Buffer Zone Law and the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that private employers coverage of birth control.) Though the fight for reproductive justice was and is my foremost passion, I often find myself wondering if the political non-profit venue is the most effective means of pursuing electoral and legislative success.

Doubts aside, my internship is precisely what I had hoped for. Though the headaches that comes as a result of managing nine interns are quite real, the successes of doing so – the gratification of knowing that we are helping four pro-choice champions get re-elected throughout the state – make it all worth it. I make an effort to check-in with my interns consistently to ensure that the internship is meeting their expectations. Although they tell me that spending hours canvassing isn’t always the most enjoyable task, they understand its significance and understand that without their boots on the ground, NARAL wouldn’t have the clout it does among elected officials and special interests alike. I hope to make this experience as challenging as rewarding for them as it is for me.

Six weeks after my first blog post, my job at NARAL has swelled to encompass a new set of managerial responsibilities. In addition to doing substantive work – helping my supervisor brainstorm creative field operations, draft LTEs, and strategize political campaigns – I now manage a team of nine interns, and am responsible for distributing them to our four-plus priority campaigns. This task is surprisingly complicated; I have to take into account more variables than I initially thought when I began drafting my interns’ schedules. On a daily basis, I have to consider whether or not the interns have a car, whether or not the campaigns are accessible by public transportation, etc. Last week, I finally managed the interns’ schedules such that they are traveling to work on each of our priority campaigns at least once a week.

I embarked upon my journey this summer hoping to learn how to effectively negotiate varying relationships in the workplace. Many of my interns are graduate students, and I was initially worried that I would not be respected in my supervisor role, given the age differential. However, through conversations with my supervisor and other members of the staff, I have learned how to act and how to speak so as to seem an older, more confident supervisor. In my first few weeks here, I would apologize to my interns for making strict demands. Now, three months in, I have gained my footing and have realized that, although my interns may be older than I am, my three years of experience in this field has given me the qualifications I need to be an effective worker and supervisor. I have learned to unapologetically set high expectations. During one-on-one conversations and midpoint check-ins with my interns, I make sure that I am offering strong, constructive feedback. In the office, during meetings, I am firm and assertive. During lunch breaks, walks to the T, and coffee runs, I allow my more informal, personable side to show through; I inquire about the interns’ weekends, offer tricks of the trade, and share a bit about myself. By balancing the “friendly” and “professional” moments in and out of the office, I am able to command the respect I need while also showing my team that I am approachable and understanding.

Throughout the summer, my work has included holding one-on-one meetings with community leaders and lobby meetings with elected officials. I have met with a variety of elected officials on the Public Health Committee in support of our Healthy Youth Bill (which would implement comprehensive sex education in public schools). Armed with research and statistics, I quickly learned in my lobby meetings that elected officials will only fully support a bill if the bill will directly improve the lives of those in their district.

Similarly, my one-on-one recruitment meetings with community leaders have shown me that, while organizations are willing to coalesce, they will only do so if the impact on their clients is tangible. I recently had a one on one with a staff member from an organization that raises low-income women of color out of poverty by providing jobs training, peer mentorship, and professional development services. Only when I explained the impact of Crisis Pregnancy Centers on communities of color specifically was I able to garner her support for our initiatives.

Through these meetings, I have grown to understand that true coalition and relationship building must be founded on reciprocity. Organizations like NARAL are too pressed for time to engage heavily in an initiative that does not cater directly to their membership. In future lobbying and meeting efforts, I will be sure to come armed with facts, data, and anecdotes that directly address the constituencies of those I meet with, be they geographic districts or a certain demographic of people.

I am consistently amazed by the amount of organization and attention to detail my job requires.  Serving at NARAL in this capacity has increased my managerial abilities tenfold. I have grown to feel comfortable delegating tasks to my intern team, although some are older and more experienced than me. The staff has been exceptional in their eagerness to accommodate my needs and treat me as one of their own. I sit in on staff meetings, assist in building strategy and blueprinting campaigns, and am privy to exclusive conversations among the Political, Communications, and Field teams.

More than anything, this internship has given me an in-depth look at the machinations of the political non-profit sector. Though I previously worked at NARAL for a year, I have never understood the extent to which fundraising and membership building are critical to the maintenance of a non-profit. Sometimes I become disenchanted by the reality that a significant proportion – if not a majority – of NARAL’s work is dedicated to maintaining the structures that already exist instead of directly propelling forth a pro-choice agenda. In this field, progress comes more slowly than I expected, and victories are few and far between. I often find myself wondering if the political non-profit venue is the most effective means of pursuing electoral and legislative success.

This doubt is bolstered by the hyper-partisan nature of the choice debate. Upon accepting my summer internship, I stated, “I hope to use my duties at NARAL…. to learn how the organization makes the pro-choice debate less partisan using creative messaging and framing.” Interestingly, my experience at NARAL has taught me quite the opposite. NARAL is a non-partisan organization, but our political inclinations are clear in the work we do. As the choice debate has become more polarized in light of the Supreme Court rulings in the Hobby Lobby and Buffer Zone cases, Republicans that we had once considered allies have begun to vote against our bills in the state house. We cannot endorse legislators with an anti-choice record, so although the staff does not want to endorse electeds along party lines, we find ourselves doing just that. Nonetheless, I am still searching for ways to make the debate less partisan in my conversations with others. I hope that continuing to work here, and having one-on-one conversations with community leaders and stakeholders more often, will teach me how.