Meet the 2017 CLDE Interns

We are thrilled to introduce you to our three student interns for the 2017 Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Meeting (#CLDE17). Amber, Christina, and Tyler introduce themselves below and together represent a vested interest in civic engagement among students in our network to engage meaningfully on our campuses, in our classrooms, and in our broader communities and our democracy. In the coming weeks they will work with the meeting planning committee on the program, arranging a student symposium and specifically on creating networking, learning, and organizing opportunities for the students that attend the conference in Baltimore from June 7-10^th. Please join us in welcoming Amber, Christina, and Tyler!

Jen, Stephanie, & Verdis

My name is Amber Austin, and I am a sophomore marketing major at Tarrant County College (Texas) where I am pursuing a career in event planning. I am a current member of The Democracy Commitment, Phi Theta Kappa, DECA, the psychology club, and the president and founder of the club Imagine. The club Imagine was created to help students on our campus build networking and leadership skills.

My name is Christina Melecio, and I am a sophomore attending Winona State University (Minn.). I am triple majoring in political science, public administration, and Spanish. I am exploring more options to better help my community and continue to grow into a better person. I am currently a student senator at Winona State University, the treasurer of College Democrats, and the president of our Political Science Association club.  

My name is Tyler Ferrari, and I am a sophomore political science major and economics minor studying at Chapman University (Calif.). I am pursuing a career in public policy where I hope to specialize in debt reduction and foreign affairs. I am also a Civic Engagement Assistant, which is a position dedicated to getting the student body involved in the local and global community through political engagement and community service. I am currently the president and founding member of the Chapman University Young Americans for Liberty, a group aimed at promoting economic and personal liberty and training activists to fight for these causes.

We are all incredibly excited, and humbled, to represent students on the 2017 CLDE Planning Committee. We hope to use our positions to help students stay engaged in the political process in the post 2016 election environment, so that effective and positive change can be made in our local college communities and across the nation. With the 2016 election ending, students begin to feel apathetic, as they no longer see tangible ways to be involved in politics. We hope to engage students, and show them ways that they can continue to be active and involved with their community, as well as engage them in their civic duties. After this event, we hope to use the skills we learned planning and executing this event and use them back on our campuses and communities to build civic relationships with schools not in this network.