Class of 2021 First-Year Fellow Maggie Flaherty

As a First-Year Fellow, Maggie Flaherty ’21 interned at the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) under the mentorship of Tiernan Sittenfield ’96. The following is an excerpt from her final report.

This summer, I interned at the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). LCV is an environmental advocacy group that works to elect pro-environment candidates to office and hold all elected officials accountable for their votes and actions. They advocate for sound environmental laws and policies and strive to protect our bedrock federal environmental laws (such as the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act) by working with and/or lobbying members of Congress. LCV recognizes that environmental issues disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color; they therefore work to ensure that their environmental advocacy stems from an understanding of racial, social, and environmental justice. Their mission is to ensure that environmental values are reflected within laws and policies at all levels of government.

At LCV, my day to day responsibilities included taking notes on conference calls and at meetings. I was expected to help draft Hill letters, make calls to congressional offices and send emails to staff on the Hill when needed. When I attended rallies that LCV either organized or supported I often wrote blog posts on my experience at the rally. I also researched specific environmental topics when members of the Government Affairs department wanted specific information on an issue. Often, I would listen to Congressional hearings or speeches by members of Congress in order to pull out quotes that highlighted environmental issues. Throughout my entire time at LCV I researched and wrote my Capstone project which included an extended memo on an environmental topic of my choice as well as an oral presentation on the topic given to the office. The subject of my memo was Native water rights and the ways in which Native people living on reservations struggle to have access to clean water. The objective of the Capstone memo and presentation was to provide information that could inform the work of LCV.

My experience at LCV solidified my desire to study and work in environmental policy. I am excited to dive into the courses for my Environmental Studies major with a deeper understanding of how environmental policies are created in our country. Because my experience this summer gave me exposure the many different roles that organization take within the environmental community, I now have a lot of insight into what role I could see myself taking in the future.

I would like to thank the Rockefeller Center for making my experience at LCV possible through the First-Year Fellows program.