Internship in Washington, D.C., makes network of connections for Michael Hartman ’20

During an internship in the summer of 2019, “I was able to create connections with a supportive group of people both through work and my personal life that I can lean on for help, advice and guidance,” says Michael Hartman ’20 of Grafton, Wisconsin. “I also got first-hand experience in both the nonprofit (and) private industry and the inner workings of Capitol Hill.”

Hartman is a double major in economics and in politics and government. He interned with The Lugar Center in Washington, D.C., and was supported by a $2,000 Internship Supplemental Grant from the Center for Politics and the People at Ripon College. The grant was instrumental in letting him accept the opportunity because it allowed Hartman to cover housing costs while living in Washington.

At Ripon College, he is vice president of Student Senate, vice president of the Pre-Law Society and treasurer of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and he is involved with the College Republicans.

The Lugar Center is a nonprofit founded by the late Sen. Richard G. Lugar from Indiana. Focuses include nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, global food security, foreign assistance effectiveness, global development, energy security and enhancing bipartisan governance.

Hartman worked on a variety of projects, including developing the center’s Committee Oversight Map and helping with the analysis of its Bipartisan Index. He says he got to “watch the center develop a media strategy for the release of the new Bipartisan Index numbers, assist in the creation of a distribution plan and execute it through the dissemination of the press releases.”

He worked with a variety of people, including Jamie Spitz, assistant policy director for bipartisan governance; and Griffin Edwards, a Fellow for global food security. Hartman said that “for a short, but very valuable, time, I was able to spend time with and learn from the late senator himself,” as well.

Hartman’s future plans are to work in politics for a member of Congress or for a nonprofit, “helping to advocate for a stronger and better future for our country.”

Jillian Heidenreich ’22
Monroe, Wisconsin