State of the Union August 2019
Political Updates
Lobbying and Advocacy Efforts
- Total # of Lobbying Meetings in July: 109
- Total # of Lobbying Meetings in 2019: 334
- Lobbying Meetings Goal for 2019: 775
Advocacy Emails
- Number of Advocacy Emails in July: 19,304
- Advocacy Emails Goal for 2019: 80,000
- % of Congress Emailed in July: 97%
Congressional Office Meetings
Political Affairs Team member Benjamin Brown met with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) staff member, Krystian Lahage.
PR Team member Travis Stroup met with staff member to Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA-9th), Katie Hetherington, to discuss foreign aid and policy.
Political Affairs Team member Harry Keller met with Trenton Weaver and Shahed Al-asadi from Rep. Joyce Beatty’s office (D-OH-3rd).
Political Affairs Team member Zack Barnett met with Dr. Scott Nelson, a Constituent Advocate. who specializes in economic development for Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6th).
Political Affairs Team member James Williams had a fantastic meeting with Victoria Pryor, policy advisor to Sen. David Perdue (R-GA). James had the opportunity to meet the senator on July 17th.
Political Affairs Team member Rachel Warren after a meeting at Sen. Marco Rubio’s office (R-FL).
Content Team member Furaha Njoroge had a lobbying meeting with Sen. David Perdue’s (R-GA) office.
Regional Director Anthony Swingruber met with Brendan Larkin, a Foreign Policy LA for Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY-20th).
Political Affairs Team member Madison Gonzalez met with Regional Director, Drew Lumpkin, from Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-VA) district office in Norfolk along with two of Sen. Warner’s interns.
Political Affairs Team members Jonathan Molina and Dante Smith teamed up to attend a meeting with Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) Field Representative, Mary Dover.
Team members, Jourdan Jones, Indiana Lau, Olivia Vera, and Mackenzie Dougan met with King County Outreach Director, Stasha Espinosa, of Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) office. They lobbied for the International Affairs Budget and the Keeping Girls in School Act, noting how the younger generation can effectively work to solve global poverty.
Political Affairs Team members Ryan Kerestesy and Sam Wilson pictured outside of Sen. Van Hollen’s (D-MD) office after their meeting.
Political Affairs Team member Chandra Thorson met with Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL-11th) to discuss global poverty. Rep. Foster is a cosponsor of the Keeping Girls in School Act!
Political Affairs Team member John Bracher had two meetings last month! John met with Ariel Vega, Staffer to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) (left) and Taylor St. Germaine, Staff Assistant to Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) (right).
Political Affairs Team member Manan Shah secured three successful lobbying meetings!
Manan met with Rep. Ben Cline’s (R-VA-6th) District Representative, Aaron Van Allen, at his Lynchburg office.
Manan also met with Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) staff assistant, Mitchell Alexander in Lynchburg, VA. They discussed the Keeping Girls in School Act and the International Affairs Budget.
For his third meeting, Manan met with Kelly Johnson, outreach representative of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in Roanoke, VA. The two discussed the Keeping Girls in School Act and the Global Fragility Act. Way to go, Manan!
Town Halls
Political Affairs Team member Nathaniel Bruan and another attendee, Kayla Holsinger, meeting Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) at his Constituent Coffee.
Political Affairs Team member Emma Smith bird-dogged Rep. Debbie Dingle (R-MI-12th) at her Town Hall. Smith: “I spoke to her after the event about the Keeping Girls in School Act. She was very supportive and had one of her aids take down The Borgen Project’s name and said that she had thought she already was co-sponsoring the act, so she would make it a priority to look into the act and co-sponsor it.” Great work, Emma!
Political Affairs Team member Hannah White bird-dogged Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15th) in Castro Valley. Rep. Swalwell said he supported increased funding for the International Affairs Budget.
Political Affairs Team member Sean Gannon spoke with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) at a fundraising event and urged her to support The Borgen Project and global development.
Warren’s Address
Listen to the latest from Warren about the goings-on in D.C.
Content Team Updates
Website traffic continues to grow, thanks to the great content created by our Content Team. We’ve already had more than 4 million visitors to borgenproject.org this year! We are projected to surpass last year’s record of 4.5 million visitors in the next 30 days.
Recognition
Congratulations to the following team members who have achieved Borgen Project Honors & Recognition.
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- Chief Closer Award (raised $1,000 or more): Lucy Rosenberg, HR Team. Political Affairs Team members: Caty Fortin, Matthew Powell, Ryan Hodge, Jake Mengarelli, Martina Rethman, Leah Lindstrom, Indiana Lau, Nicole Kerrigan and Grace Vaule. Content Team Members: Breana Stanski, Emma Uk, Haley Myers, Nupur Vachharajani, Julian Mok and Alex Schulman. PR Team Members: Ashley Delgado and Aparna Marathe.
- Capital Achievement Award (raised $2,000 or more): Rachel Warren, Political Affairs Team member.
- President’s Circle (held 3 congressional meetings): Political Affairs Team members YoungJu Moon and Manan Shah.
- Public Outreach Award (30 or more people mobilized): Political Affairs Team members Sophia Serafin, Sarah Clark and McKenna Holtz. Content Team members, Gillian Buckley and Breana Stanski.
- Article of the Month: What U.S. Assistance Does in Central America by Sydney Blakeney
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Visit the Our Team Members page and read about success stories with our organization.
Getting the Word Out
Mobilizing
Swarm time! Political Affairs Team member Ryan Lee gathered his friends to call Congress in support of the International Affairs Budget.
Political Affairs Team members Jenna Tracy and Will Wise held a tabling event at NYU and taught students and pre-college participants just how easy it is to contact Congress.
PR Team member Mathilde Aas Henriksen held a focus group in Norway!
PR Team member Kendall Altenburg partnered with her local stadium. The stadium played a Borgen Project PSA during the baseball game.
One-Mile Campaigns
Political Affairs Team member Zack Barnett had a successful One-Mile Campaign in downtown West Chester.
Content Team member Monique Santoso completed her One-Mile Campaign in Indonesia.
Political Affairs Team member Sydney Gang beginning her campaign!
Political Affairs Team member Mason Inumerable completed his One-Mile Campaign on the UCR campus.
PR Team member Omara Castillo during her One-Mile Campaign in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
PR Team member Taylor Swift is ready to begin her One-Mile Campaign.
Political Affairs Team member Kristin Allgaier had a fantastic One-Mile Campaign! Kristin and her friends got together for dinner on a rooftop in D.C. before dispersing papers and information on The Borgen Project in the streets.
Content Team member Kelli Susemihl is ready to begin her One-Mile Campaign!
Political Affairs Team member Abigail Mescher beginning her One-Mile Campaign.
Political Affairs Team member Samuel Wilson centered his campaign around the historic district of Ellicott City, MD. Samuel posted fliers along Main Street surrounding Rep. Elijah Cummings’ (D-MD-7th) office at the edge of the historic district.
Political Affairs Team member Gabrielle Regimbal completed her One-Mile Campaign near Rep. Tom Malinowski’s (D-NJ-7th) office. Gabrielle spoke with community members about global poverty and TBP.
HR Team member Raga Bolisetty completing her One-Mile Campaign with a little help.
Letters to the Editor
Political Affairs Team
- Felix De Simone, in the Harbor Country News: An act worth supporting
- Xavier Celestino, in the New Haven Register: A need to help the world
- Allison Dean, in the Houston Chronicle: Immigration and foreign aid
- Hope Diauto, in the Tucson: Re: the June 24. article “Letter: International Affairs Budget”
- Jeremy Sanville, in The Morning Call: Solve border crisis by attacking root causes
- Victoria Bond, in the Lexington Herald Leader: Fix root of border crisis
- Blue Kirkpatrick, in the Daily Hampshire Gazette: Make an impact in 30 seconds, contact Congress
- Minh Vo, in the Journal Review: Giving foreign aid benefits U.S.
- Sarah Clark, in the News and Record: Foreign aid can help to prevent extremism and It would benefit us all to end global poverty
- Madison Gonzalez, in The Virginian Pilot: Shift immigration focus to foreign aid
- Emily Young, in the Finger Lakes Times: ‘Keeping Girls in School Act’ essential to U.S.
- Jacob Bridges, in the Statesman: Cutting aid to nations would worsen crisis
- Megan Takeda, in the Castle Rock News-Press: Make sure you are heard
- Josie Peplinski, in the Charlotte Observer: Address root cause of immigration
PR/Marketing Team
- West Gardner, in The Highland County Press: Looking at immigration in the long run
- Jillian Turkmany, in The Beach Reporter: Poverty reduction
- April Burton, in The Columbus Dispatch: International Affairs funds boost national security
- Shelby Prizer, in the Courier Times: LTE: Casey, Toomey must fight to end family separations
- Hannah Williams, in The Cavalier Daily: How to extend our commitment to excellence across the world
- Omara Castillo, in the Sun Sentinel: Separating families wrong
- Seth Cunningham, in the Traverse City Record Eagle: Don’t cut IA budget
Content Team
- Emi Cormier, in the Cape Cod Times: Providing foreign aid benefits everyone
- Jacob Stubbs, in the Indy Star: Urge Indiana senators to help close digital gap
- Gwendolin Ann Schemm, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Support online access
In-Office Team
- MacKenzie Dougan, in the Kirkland Reporter: Spending on female empowerment
Advocates
- Annabel Gregg, in The Post Star: Consider why people come to the US
Outreach & Mobilizing Materials
PR Team member Taylor Swift wants YOU to contact Congress!
PR Team member Aparna Marathe – How to effectively contact Congress: Make your voice matter
PR Team member Hayes Dunlap created fliers to use for his One-Mile Campaign
PR Team member Sydney Blandford created a branding campaign for Instagram
Fundraising
Content Team member Breana Stanski held a fundraising and mobilizing party.
Content Team member Louise Macaraniag held a garage sale and fundraised over $200 to end global poverty.
Content Team member Katharine Hanifen also held a garage sale as a part of her fundraising campaign.
Content Team member Annie O’Connell created artwork for her fundraising campaign.
PR Team member Omara Castillo held a bake sale as a part of her fundraising campaign.
Another bake sale! Content Team member James Delegal sold cookies, brownies and other tasty treats as a part of his fundraising campaign.
Content Team member Diana Dopheide partnered with Barnes and Noble for a fundraising event.
PR Team member Rittika Pandey created a flier to promote her fundraising campaign.
A creative fundraising idea from Content Team member Maura Byrne
Media Outreach
Videos
PR Team member Omara Castillo shows us a glimpse of global poverty in her hometown of Honduras. Find out why she wants you to contact Congress.
