Class of 2019 First-Year Fellow: Allie Norris

Allie Norris ’19 comes from Grafton, Ohio and graduated from Magnificat High School Phi Beta Kappa.

At Dartmouth, Allie is pursuing a major in Government with a minor in Public Policy. She is a student leader at the Aquinas House, a managing editor at the Dartmouth Law Journal, and a First-Year Peer Mentor.

As a First-Year Fellow, Allie interned at the National Disability Institute, under the mentorship of Director Michael Morris. She wrote policy briefs, attended meetings on Capitol Hill, and completed a white paper on state-level financial education policy for people with disabilities.

“I was given a lot of meaningful work at NDI and was actually tasked with more responsibility than I had expected,” says Allie. Her first assignment was to research Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan to combat poverty and write a brief on his plans as well as what outside policy groups thought. Poverty and disability measures are slated to be introduced this fall, and Allie’s report will most likely be published as a primer on the topic.

More than the behind the scenes work, the “most rewarding part of my fellowship,” says Allie, “was getting to be hands-on and meeting people impacted by our policy. I can’t wait to get back into policy work to continue making an impact.”

After graduation, Allie plans to attend law school and pursue a career in advocacy law or in the realm of public policy.