Hands-on learning on Capitol Hill: Riecker Fellows share their experiences | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
 
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Hands-on learning on Capitol Hill: Riecker Fellows share their experiences

September 25, 2024

Riecker Fellow Joe Mancina (MPP ’24) said he could not have imagined gleaning the same experience on Capitol Hill through a Zoom screen.

“It was great to be in person,” he said. “In this environment on the Hill, things are relatively fast paced.”

Mancina worked for U.S. Senator Gary Peters’ (D-MI), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs as one of two students selected for the 2024 Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellowship. Each winter, the fellowship sends two Master of Public Policy graduate students to the nation’s capital for a six-month assignment with a senator or representative from Michigan. Fellows learn about the legislative process by completing nonpartisan research, researching legislation, attending committee meetings and working on topic briefings.

This year, the two students were Gerardo Méndez Gutiérrez (MPP ’24), in the office of Representative Dan Kildee (MI-8th District) and Mancina, working with Sen. Peters.

Méndez Gutiérrez said it’s a great opportunity for students to apply what they learn at the Ford School.

“I am someone who I think learns more by doing things than in the classroom,” Méndez Gutiérrez said. “There are things you cannot learn in a classroom. You have to be here to learn them.”

In-person interactions with constituent groups about support or opposition for issues helped him better understand the policy process. Similarly, his conversations on the Hill helped him determine where those within Congress stood on an issue. "At the end of the day, a lot has to do with the people you know and your reputation," he said.

Méndez Gutiérrez said that he discovered a passion for labor policy while in D.C., realizing how many people are impacted by labor issues. “I definitely realized how central labor policy is to people’s lives and to the economy in general,” he said. He helped to draft a letter to appropriations committee members for the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, boosting the number of cosigners from 10 in 2023 to 14 so far this year.

Both fellows had access to a leadership coach to help them navigate a new work environment, make sense about what they were learning on the job, and be intentional about professional goals.

In addition, Mancina said it was helpful to learn from two staffers who had also attended the Ford School and are Riecker Fellow alums. “It was great to have other Fordies to lean on and talk to,” he said. “They offered a lot of guidance.”

Riecker Fellows Gerardo Mendez Gutierrez, Joseph Mancina, and former fellows James Hiebert and Chelsea Davis in Washington, DC
Former Riecker fellows James Hiebert and Chelsea Davis with current fellows Joseph Mancina and Gerardo Mendez Gutierrez in Washington, DC

Macina said he learned about the committee hearings process: how staff prepare, select and vet witnesses, for example. He also was able to translate what he learned in his courses—such as policy writing—toward being an effective colleague. “Being able to write very clearly and concisely and lay out the different policy options and decisions was critical,” he said.

The fellows also focused on key Michigan issues, advancing policy to support Michiganders.

This, Méndez Gutiérrez said, is where the soft skills he learned at the Ford School really mattered. For example, the courses that helped him be a truly active listener were instrumental in ensuring constituents felt the office staff was hearing them.

“Some of these topics might seem very abstract, but when you meet with constituents, you realize how much of a significant change it would be for these people and their lives,” Méndez Gutiérrez said.

About the Riecker Fellowship

The Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellowship, a permanently endowed fellowship at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, was established in 2015 through an estate gift from Margaret Ann “Ranny” Riecker, a longtime friend and generous benefactor of the Ford School. An additional gift from the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation has allowed the Ford School to extend the opportunity to additional fellows each year.

Written by Alison Bowen