Hi y’all,
My name is Kiera Solomon; a rising junior at Tulane University working towards a double major in public health and political science! After being involved with politics in several prior capacities, I have realized that I need to focus my time in politics towards advocating for causes that I believe need to corrected. Work for social justice needs to be continuous in order to ensure that our society is moving forward progressively. With this in mind, I realized that my leadership skills and future career are going to be best spent behind the scenes in advocacy positions rather than being a political figure. Following this trajectory, this summer I took on a position as an organizing intern at the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
My summer internship with the Brady Campaign will be a major learning experience. In order to gain the most from this position, I have targeted five attainable objectives to focus on during my daily activities. First and foremost, I wish to gain a deeper understanding of gun violence to truly grasp the magnitude of the lives that it affects on a daily basis. Secondly, I wish to gain a better understanding of the structure of advocacy campaigns. This internship allows me to gain first-hand exposure to advocacy campaigns, which will show me the inner workings of grassroots organizations. Thirdly, I look forward to learning implementation tactics for voter outreach programs. This is a very tangible goal because we will be able to quantifiably recognize what strategies yield higher turnout rates and what works with specific constituents. Fourthly, I look forward to working on my analysis skills throughout my time at this campaign. I want to become more fluent and comfortable with breaking down large-scale projects into more efficient time chucks to ensure that all objectives of the assignment are met. Finally, I hope to improve my evaluation skills to see how implementation strategies work in this field.
NCI’s mission to empower undergraduate women and work for women-centered experiences is directly related to the Brady Campaign. On a personal note, NCI’s continued mentorship and support gave me the confidence needed to apply for such a unique internship with this prestigious organization. If I had not had this support, I may not have felt courageous enough to embark on this new trajectory. Secondly, I will be working on an issue that directly affects the lives of women around the United States. Gun violence is the cause of more than half of women murdered in the United States and is even more important since many of these murders are inflicted by intimate partner violence. Many state laws do not prohibit people with misdemeanors for domestic violence from buying or using guns, a fact that shocked me. My job at the Brady Campaign is supporting efforts that are dedicated to ensuring that guns stay out of the hands of dangerous individuals. I feel that it is crucial to create more laws that prohibit individuals with domestic abuse charges from purchasing guns and such provisions will directly affect the amount of gun related intimate parent violence. During my time at the Brady Campaign, I hope to take on projects that will allow me to research this policy implementation and propose ideas to the organizing director. This will allow me to give back to women who have supported me in the past by paying it forward to ensure that other women are supported and safe.
In order to prepare for this internship, I have been strictly following gun legislation that has been proposed to Congress as well as following the current events in DC. After interning in DC once before, I quickly learned that the town likes to talk about what is going on and it is crucial to be able to contribute to these conversations.
I am so excited for this summer! There are so many different aspects of this internship that really interest me. Mainly, I look forward to going to work everyday knowing that the work I am doing is making a difference in the lives of individuals around the country. I am excited to be able to work with both survivors and families of victims to show my support and show my passion to ensure that gun violence is demoted as much as possible.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Kiera Solomon