Uncovering Writing

Today’s the two year anniversary of the beginning of my internship . I began my internship on 22 March 2004.

Wow, what a long crazy journey it’s been. And, come October 1st, I’ll have been in my Deputy Director position for a year. Post elections, I’ll have had quite a ride since my days as a computer scientist. I work with a great group of individuals who coalesce as one of the best teams I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. Who knows what the future holds but I can always look back with pride at what I’ve accomplished here.

As of today, I’m transition into being a full-time member of the Government Relations Team. I’m now the Deputy Director, Government Relations. In this position, I coordinate all election-related activities including our PAC, manage candidates we’ve endorsed or supported, work on linking global issues to local concerns, and devote a portion of my time to working on global health issues. So, I have now formalized the work I’ve been doing since I was an intern  back in early 2004.

Last week was just a long, long week. Work was going crazy with a new phone system, a new internet provider, Hyde’s UN Reform bill being introduced and voted out of HIRC, helping to plan our November conference, ramping up our PAC , and working on our membership database. Additionally, I continued work around our Congressional Report Card and the Bolton nomination. I worked with our members across the country, especially our Partners, to mobilize against this sledgehammer bill. I wrote the software that displays our Report Card information, but also wrote some beta software to allow our members to find the foreign policy staffer for their Senators and Representatives (this link might not last forever).

On top of all that, we had two of our staff leave this week. On Tuesday, Joy left for a fantastic job in DC to work in her areas of interest and expertise: international economic issues and Italy. My dear friend Pin also left. She’s got a fantastic job where she’ll be the special assistant to the Prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Very cool job for her! Sadly, I’ll miss her both professional and personally. We helped send her off on Friday down at Sonomo, a new trendy wine bar right near the Capitol. Nice place, but horrible service. I’m hoping this will get better as they get up to speed in their new spaces.

Wow, today marks one year in my position as Grassroots Program Manager. I can’t believe it’s really been that long. It seems like only yesterday I was talking with Don on the street corner after a PEP meeting. Now, I’m sitting in my office, organizing our members, coordinating our PAC, and writing copy for our website and action alerts. It’s been a long, crazy ride! I’ve worked with some fantastic people and seen great folks come and go. Shout outs to Angela, Becca, Brian, and Stuart! And soon to Pin.

As part of a strategic planning exercise this morning, we did a great activity. With no preparation, the facilitator, Pin, handed out 3x5 index cards. We had about 2-3 minutes to write down, by ourselves, the 2 main program areas we’d like to work on as an organization. When done, you folded it up and tossed it onto the floor in the center of the circle we were sitting in. After a few minutes, each person in the circle got up and picked a random piece of paper, reading aloud what they picked up. We wrote down all the items noted on a board.

There were two cool things about this exercise. On a group dynamic level, it was great to allow those who might not want to express their opinions to be able to do it in semi-privacy. Also, the lack of preparation and short time frame allowed folks to write from their gut, not their pre-arranged work framework. Items that came up were also not always framed in the current program areas we had. Some saw “Law and Justice” as the same thing as “International Law & Justice”. What was cool, though, was pointing out that this is what they thought of the areas. Was it international justice like the International Criminal Court (ICC) or building strong democratic justice mechanisms within states. Exploring these differences of understanding was important to me and we had a good conversation about that over the course of the exercise.

On a personal level, this exercise was useful to me. The two items I wrote down were Global Health and US Global Engagement. This was my 15-second gut reaction to what I thought the organization should work on. But, since this is the place where I work, it is what I felt I should be working on. It was very revealing, and was much more useful to me than when someone asks me (or I ask myself) what I want to do. My interest in global health has been confirmed by several friends and colleagues as well. So, this could be a new avenue to explore.

It’s been ages since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve been running non-stop since the first of the year. Work has been quite busy, with me doing a little writing, a little organizing, a little planning, and some political stuff. We ran a talk on 8 January that covered the crisis in Sudan and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was well-attended and we had Brian Thompson, our resident JD and International Law and Justice Manager and Leila Sadat, a professor of international law talk on the Commission of Inquiry investigating the potential genocide in Sudan and potential judicial approaches after the report is released. We’re going to follow up that talk with another one on 8 March on Sudan. It’s a hot topic in both the US and the world.

Staff changes have been the norm lately. Sadly, Brian left the organization in January. Also, Becca, our program assistant left too. She’s going to work for a year, perhaps more, in Tanzania. She’s going to be a program director for Jifunze . As a tribute to the amount of work that Becca did for our organization, she’s been replaced by two people, and that doesn’t even cover all the work she did! Unfortunately, while others can pick up the projects she worked on, no one can replace her great personality and happiness. We’ve also hired a ton of new folks, primarily new Fellows. Each of the main components now has at least one fellow: Programs, Government Relations, and Communications. We’re running out of office space quickly, but the cube farms are coming.

On the personal front, I still am struggling with what I want to do with my life. Staying here, starting my own nonprofit, working for a member of Congress, working at another NGO, moving to Ireland to open a pub, and other thoughts have crossed my mind in recent months. Damn INFJ personality type! I’ve been here for almost a year now, starting as Research Associate in March 2004 and becoming their Grassroots Program Manager in May.

Diane is doing great and finished her first year at Constellation Energy. 2004 was a year of major changes in our lives and 2005 looks to be a little calmer, if not totally planned out yet. Vacations are also on the horizon: Ireland, Greece, Jamaica, New Orleans, Chicago, and Rehoboth Beach are all in the mix.

I finished my first week as the Grassroots Program Manager. Wow, what a week. I learned so much from Justi, who I will be taking over from next week. She’ll be around for next week too, as I stop watching and start driving. My brain has exploded several times this past week as I’ve learned all the tasks that she takes care of. It’s going to be a lot of fun working this position. Lots to maintain and I already have a handful of new ideas to implement…

But, those will have to wait a bit. We’re planning our annual conference for June 9th through 11th. Lots to do on that end with speakers, receptions, voting for our Grassroots Leaders Council, and our annual lobby day. But, things are on track for this event and I’m sure it’ll work out.

The Law of the Sea campaign continues. We’ve opened up a new front, trying to pressure the White House to use its power to work with the Senate leadership to allow a vote on ratification. I’ve been calling the various organizations that have worked with us in the past and trying to get them to write letters to the White House on their own letterhead, urging cooperation. Time is running out, but I still have some optimism that we can get this treaty passed!

I’ll try to write more next weekend to document my 2nd week in this new position. Yay!

All the hard work, networking, resumes, and internship have paid off! I got a job! I’m going to be the Grassroots Program Manager at, starting on Monday, May 17th! I’m so excited! I’ll be managing and growing our activists spread throughout the country! I’ll be working closely with our e-advocacy manager, Val. She’s an awesome lady with an uncanny talent for mobilizing people online. I’ll be working on getting new activists involved as well as making sure those who act online continue to act after they log off the internet! There’s lots to learn, lots to do, and so much potential!

I need to thank all my friends and family for all their support and love during this life change I started back in 2001! My friends and professors at AU also were crucial to this great moment. But, most importantly, I have to thank my best friend, wife, lover, and companion, Diane. Without her constantly standing behind me and whispering (sometimes yelling) in my ear that I could achieve my dream, I never would have made it!

I finished my fourth week at work. Another busy week, with a major push for ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty this week. Also, lots of sundry tasks

We held a Law of the Sea (LOS) strategy meeting on Tuesday. We brought together business, environmental, and international issues groups together to brainstorm ideas for pushing Senate Majority Leader Frist to allow a floor vote on ratification. We are trying to put together an organizational sign-on letter to Frist that we will send directly to him as well as place as an ad in Roll Call. I wrote up notes and actions from this meeting, plus acted as the coordinator for gathering signatures. By Friday evening, we had five signers, with several more potentials, and a few in the works. Next week, we’ll try to plan an action alert on LOS, tied in with our actions on Earth Day (22 April). We’ll also try to get Senate staffers and the media interested by showing how oil & gas, environmental, business, and citizen issues groups have all come together to support ratification.

As if I didn’t have enough work to do, I suggested that I draft an op-ed or some form of article to discuss the differences, if any, between genocide and ethnic cleansing. With Sudan in the news now and remembrances of Rwanda happening during this month, I thought it was appropriate to point out the problems of using the term ethnic cleansing. If you don’t invoke the term genocide, then there is no legally binding, international obligation to be involved. You can just say “Oh, sorry about the killings, but we can’t do anything. We’ll have a memorial afterwards.” Having writing my thesis about the genocides in Rwanda (called a genocide) and Guatemala (not officially called a genocide), I have a deep interest and commitment to this issue.

I distributed several contributions from our members through our PAC this week. Always interesting to be involved in this type of work. I also sent out a copy of an organizational sign-on letter (that I fax blasted last week to all Senators) to all the signers of the letter. Plus, I investigated a potential opportunity for when I’m done my internship.

I also attended a great meeting at Physicians for Social Responsibility on Thursday. The meeting was about generating grassroots support for House Concurrent Resolution 392 , which pushes for a more multilateral approach to US security policy. That was great to meet an extremely diverse group of organizations working the issue.

Next week should be very busy. I’m attending an event at the Woodrow Wilson Center where Rwandan President Paul Kagame will reflect on the genocide ten years on. I’ll also coordinate more on the LOS convention. Plus, I’ve got some content to write, and perhaps do some work with our grassroots coordinator.

What?!? A mid-week update of the blog? It’s been so crazy at work that I thought I’d need to write some info down soon before I forget it all. Or, before it gets too much so that I leave things out. This week has been busy but I got to do a lot of cool things.

I wrote two Action alert letters. One deals with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the other deals with commemorations of Rwanda and the ICC . My initial drafts were judged to be too verbose and used too much big-brow language. When communicating with non-academic audiences, I’m all for writing in more accessible language. While I’d like to raise the level of debate and discussion in this country, due to time constraints and short attention spans, I need to … what was I saying, oh, yeah … keep it short, to the point, and avoid certain turns of the phrase. But, I’ll have my next drafts done tomorrow morning and with approval, they’ll be out there soon!

I also participated in one of our infamous hill drops today. That’s when the interns hike up to the Senate and House office buildings and hand deliver items from work. Today, we distributed our excellent Congressional Ratings guide , which tracks the voting records of all members of Congress with respect to our issues. Steve, Becky, Emma, Elise, and I all worked the drop today. Mike is going to work some of the House offices tomorrow. I dropped items off in the Russell and Hart Senate buildings. It was kind of cool checking out senators' offices. Sen. Kennedy had the best office that I saw today. Lots of photos of events throughout his history. What impressed me most, especially with my newly chosen field and the place where I’m working, was the photo you see when you walk into the office. It’s just to the left of the staffer who greets you. It’s a picture of Kennedy shaking hands with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. It looks like it was taken outside the UN. Most excellent.

In between the hill drop, I attended a meeting of the Security for a New Century 108th Congress working group. Michael Krepon and Gen. Pete Worden (ret.) each spoke about the weaponization of space. Very interesting talk. Krepon, from the Stimson Center, was very interested in international law and treaty-based solutions to problems. He was also a realist and recognized the need to back up treaties with vigilance and military readiness. Gen. Worden had a different point of view.

Well, besides some emailing and updating of records afterwards, that was my day today. Whew!

I just finished my first week! It was a great week, although I had a hiccup on Wednesday when I called in sick with a fever. You just have to love it when you’re sick during your first week of work! But, my fever dropped and I was back at work on Thursday and Friday, albeit with a few sniffles and coughs. But, not contagious.

I had a lot of fun and did some neat work this past week. I wrote contribution letters to 6 re-election campaigns and forwarded contributions from one of our members to these campaigns. I also attended the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee hearing on Tuesday that discussed the Law of the Sea (LOS) international treaty. That was interesting, seeing senators and people giving testimony. Mostly positive comments, except from two of the presenters. On Thursday and Friday, I spent time working with Elise, another intern, putting together a section of our website for presidential election foreign policy statements. We hope to have that up and on the site by Monday. I’m also going to be heading up putting out an action alert for the LOS treaty on Monday or Tuesday.

The months of job search have finally paid off! I received an internship on March 11th and I start on the 22nd. Networking with people in the field that I have chosen proved invaluable for me to get this rare and valuable opportunity! I can’t wait to start. I’ll be working primarily on the political side. I’ll be doing lobbying, tracking/supporting the 2004 national elections, supporting legislation (e.g., H.R. 1414 on supporting the establishment of a permanent UN civilian police force), and doing some research and writing. Keep checking this blog for updates on how my internship is progressing.

Thanks to all my friends and family that supported me in this long quest to finally figure out that I now know what I want to do now that I’m grown up.

I’ve heard this phrase used so often, but I never experienced it first hand. The computer industry of the 1980s and 1990s was booming and had a huge demand for software developers and computer scientists. Even if someone had gaps in their experience or knowledge, they often got hired. But in my current search, I’m finding that organizations demand experience but are often unwilling to provide entry-level positions to provide such experience. In order to get a job, I need domain experience. But, I can’t get such experience without a job. Yossarian lives!

It’s really hard to start a new career when you’re in your 30s! Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun. But, I feel like I’m just getting out of college again and trying to fit my experience in a different domain into the nooks and crannies of each job posting that I’ve found online. But, I keep reminding myself that I did this (going back to school) for a reason … to make myself happy. I’ve been doing work since college that was easy to do (software design and development) but never really fulfilled me. Now, I have a chance to work in a field where I can make a difference, where I can help other people. My ongoing complaint while developing software was: “I build tools that other people use to do cool things”. My new mantra is “I’m going to do those cool things!”