State of the Union February 2026

Hit Documentary
For those of you who follow movies, the hit documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, American Doctor, has a lot of ties to The Borgen Project. The three American doctors featured in the documentary, participated in Congressional meetings with The Borgen Project on Capitol Hill after working in Gaza. Two of the doctors now serve on The Borgen Project’s Board of Advisors. The film’s Director, Poh Si Teng was nominated for an Oscar for a previous film. She and her team were with The Borgen Project last year in D.C., documenting the doctors meeting with Congressional offices. Read more about the film.

 

Political Updates

Lobbying and Advocacy Efforts

  • Total # of Lobbying Meetings in January: 14
  • Total # of Lobbying Meetings in 2026: 14
  • Lobbying Meetings Goal for 2026: 400

Advocacy Emails

    • Total # of Advocacy Emails in January: 2,455
    • Total # of Advocacy Emails in 2026: 2,455
    • Advocacy Emails Goal for 2026: 45,000
    • % of Congress Emailed Year to Date: 27%

Congressional Office Meetings and Bird Dogging

Political Affairs Team member, Caid Campbell, along with Clint Borgen and Dr. Mimi Syed, met with Representative Emily Randall’s (D-WA-6) Foreign Policy Legislative Assistant, Josiah Adams

Political Affairs Team member, Ricardo Araque met with his local MP, Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip, UK)

 

Updates from DC

Listen in to hear all of the latest updates from DC.

 

Recognition

Congratulations to the following team members who have achieved Borgen Project Honors & Recognition

Visit the Our Team Members page and read about success stories with our organization.

Getting the Word Out

Political Team

Ricardo Araque’s swarm

Finn Tierney’s information event poster

 

Ricardo Araque hosted an Information event

Oliver Lefferts gave a presentation

Alexander Flandrin’s information event

Content Team

Shafika Fathima discussed The Borgen Project with her gym friends

Nonprofit Leadership Team

Quinlan Bohannon made a poster to distribute around campus

Quinlan also distributed Borgen Project bookmarks in PSU library, campus buildings, Portland Central Library, and bookstores

1-Mile Campaigns & Mobilizing

Political Team

Zanobiya Ahmad’s mobilization posters

Alexandra Flendrin’s 1-mile campaign

 

Caid Campbell implemented his one-mile campaign in Tacoma, Washington

Nonprofit Leadership Team

Quinlan Bohannon and friends distributing fliers around Senator Jeff Merkley’s office in downtown Portland

Letters to the Editor

Political Affairs Team

Zoe Niebauer

 

Fundraising

Political Affairs Team

Sophia Moeckel planned a pay-to-pie event for her fundraiser

Kayra Nur Kaya’s bake sale poster for her fundraiser

Zoe Niebauer arranged a fundraiser night at a local paint studio

 

Content Team

Aila Alsaka’s poster for her fundraiser

 

Nonprofit Leadership Team

Kale Overton created unique “letters” for his fundraiser

Quinlan Bohannon did dog walking for her fundraiser

 

Quinlan also held a Spelling bee fundraiser with friends

Videos

Political Affairs Team

Alistair Mclean