Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy announced its third cohort of Tech & Public Policy (TPP) fellows, who aim to engage students on the intersection of technology and politics, Jan. 14.
The fellows include Gabriel Nicholas, a senior policy advisor at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which advises the president on telecommunications policy; Casey Pick, director of law and policy at The Trevor Project, a nonprofit supporting mental health and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth; and Aya Ibrahim, former senior advisor for the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff under the administration of former President Joe Biden. The fellows will host discussion groups and lectures, share their insider knowledge and lead site visits in Washington, D.C.
Michelle De Mooy, the director of the TPP program, said the initiative aims to connect students with real-world models and insights.
“The idea was to have policy practitioners come and be in front of students directly, really showing them what’s actually going on,” De Mooy told The Hoya. “We try to find people who are influential and established but at the same time still up-and-coming so that they can share their experience with students but also so the students can be a part of their work.”
Pick said she wants to teach students to be flexible when engaging with public policy, noting how she has had to adapt her focus based on the particular issues the LGBTQ+ community faces.
“When you go into the field of public policy, that will mean being nimble, light on your feet, able to quickly assess and understand new issues and carve out a place where you have a unique voice to contribute,” Pick told The Hoya. “So I am hopeful to encourage that kind of creativity, that kind of optimism and that kind of adaptability, which I think is essential, not just in technology, but really in public policy today.”
Nicholas, who was a software engineer before entering public policy, said he hopes students early in their careers understand that not every path to policy is straightforward.
“I was really interested in joining this program to help students find their own path into the public policy sphere, no matter how winding that path is, no matter how untraditional it is,” Nicholas told The Hoya.
Nicholas added that he hopes students will be able to learn how to use various means of communication to put forward ideas.
“I’ve taken the approach of just trying to share my ideas in as many forums as possible,” Nicholas said. “So maybe it’s hard to get lawmakers to pick up on something, but you can get attention for it in the media — or maybe you have a hard time getting it picked up by media, but you can talk about it with academics.”
Pick said her focus on technology came from how it has united the LGBTQ+ community while fomenting hate, especially considering the rise of social media restrictions that cite transgender or LGBTQ+ content as a threat to young people.
“The Trevor Project sits right at the intersection of this question of care and concern for mental health and a very real awareness of the harm that online harassment, bullying and misinformation could do, disproportionately affecting LGBTQ youth,” Pick said.
De Mooy said the fellowship allows students and fellows to collaborate with each other and share their passion over public policy issues.
“The fellows come in and they share everything they’re doing, and the students are so eager and interested and engaging with the issues, and then it starts to come alive again for both the fellow and the student,” De Mooy said. “The energy that exists there just creates new avenues for ways of thinking about policy, new research avenues, that they can follow together.”
Pick said she hopes to work with students to advance LGBTQ+ perspectives in technology policy.
“I am hopeful that by engaging the students, faculty and community at Georgetown, we will be able to elevate these voices, bring in important perspectives and ensure that when we do pass regulations in this important sector we do so in a way that is beneficial to the mental health and wellbeing of all young people,” Pick said.
Nicholas said he applied to the TPP fellowship to work with students who were already interested in politics.
“I was interested in being surrounded by fellow try-hard wonks,” Nicholas said. “It just seemed fun to be around students who really care and who understand the power policy can have.”
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