POPVOX Foundation hosts webinar on the Year Ahead in Casework
Experienced caseworkers know that the best resources for casework teams are other caseworkers. In this session, veteran caseworker Katherine Long, who spent fifteen years as a caseworker in the office of former Senator Patrick Leahy, shared insights from her casework career and answered questions about all things casework, from staff retention to agency relationships and more.
Announcing the Casework Navigator program
POPVOX Foundation’s Casework Navigator program offers resources for Congressional offices that support constituent-first, efficient, effective casework.
POPVOX Foundation welcomes Katherine Long
POPVOX Foundation welcomes Katherine Long as Casework Programs Senior Fellow
POPVOX Foundation, First Branch Intern Project, host first “INTERNAPALOOZA” of the 118th Congress
POPVOX Foundation and the organizations of the First Branch Intern Project hosted the fifth “Internapalooza” orientation and welcome event for the spring class of Congressional interns, January 19th. More than 300 current House and Senate interns attended sessions focused on networking, career planning, and standing out in a Congressional internship.
Future Casework Virtual Summit
While Congress and the federal agencies in its oversight jurisdiction have changed drastically in the last fifty years, Congressional casework has remained stuck in place. The POPVOX Foundation convened caseworkers, researchers, and Congressional advocates to a forum to discuss how casework may change in the next decade.
Ensuring Continuity in Constituent Service
Members of Congress leaving the institution or preparing to represent a district with new boundaries have a few key decisions to make about their stewardship of the information constituents have entrusted them with.
POPVOX Foundation welcomes Juan Garcia
POPVOX Foundation welcomes Juan Garcia!
Juan is a communications professional with over fourteen years of experience spanning non-profit organizations, government agencies, and the private sector.
20 ModCom recommendations to strengthen casework
One group that received unaccustomed attention from the Select Committee is Congressional caseworkers — those professional staff, mostly in district offices, who do some of the most direct, accountable work in Congress to solve constituent problems with the federal bureaucracy.
Internapalooza Fall ‘22 Fact Sheet
POPVOX Foundation and the organizations of the First Branch Intern Project hosted the fourth “Internapalooza” orientation and welcome event for the Fall 2022 class of Congressional interns, in collaboration with the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
POPVOX Foundation welcomes new fellows
POPVOX Foundation welcomes new fellows
POPVOX Foundation is honored to welcome two new fellows — Beatriz Rey and Lauren Kirk — who bring international and local perspectives on government innovation and civic engagement.
Recommendations for a more constituent-friendly Congress
Earlier this month, I had the top-of-the-bucket-list chance to testify at a House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress on constituent services, and building a more customer-friendly Congress (video and transcript available here). As a former caseworker, it meant so much to be asked to come to DC to talk about casework, and share a starting-point vision for how Congress can capture the potential inherent in casework, and the expertise and talents of caseworkers across the country. The hearing covered so much ground, and it still only managed to scratch the surface of what’s possible and needed to push casework into the 21st century.
Wrapping Up your Congressional Internship
As many summer internships enter their final weeks, now is a good time to start preparing for the transition, and to get the most out of your experience!
POPVOX FOUNDATION, FIRST BRANCH INTERN PROJECT HOST FIRST IN-PERSON “INTERNAPALOOZA”
The POPVOX Foundation and the organizations of the First Branch Intern Project hosted the first in-person “Internapalooza,” orientation and welcome event for the Summer class of Congressional interns, in collaboration with the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress (aka “ModCom”), June 16-17, 2022.
Supporting the Capitol Hill community
In January 2021, we joined organizations across the partisan spectrum in the #CapitolStrong effort to recognize and support those who work in Congress in the aftermath of the January 6th attack on the Capitol. We hold those members of the Capitol Hill community in our thoughts today.
Fresh Eyes on Congressional Modernization
POPVOX Foundation research intern, Ian Chenoweth, is helping to launch a new “LegisTech”* series on legislative technology, with reviews and updates on new tools in use in the U.S. House of Representatives.
One of my first projects as a POPVOX Foundation summer intern was to research some of the new technology Congress has developed and deployed since the beginning of the pandemic. These include: the eHopper in the House of Representatives, Quill in both the House and Senate, and several others.
POPVOX Foundation welcomes Senior Fellow, Nicole Tisdale
POPVOX Foundation is pleased to welcome Nicole Tisdale as a senior fellow.
Nicole is the founder of Advocacy Blueprints, a training and consulting firm that empowers communities to create change. She recently served in the Biden Administration as a senior advisor for the National Security Council, leading the NSC’s legislative and oversight portfolios on cybersecurity, intelligence, disinformation, counterterrorism, election security, and foreign policy for the western hemisphere. She also served on the 2020 Biden Presidential Transition Team and has over a decade of experience working in Congress.
What to Expect in Your Congressional Internship
Getting ready to land in DC, but missed our pre-arrival webinar? No worries! We’ve rounded up some of the top tips and takeaways from the First Branch Intern Project’s May 21 “Know Before You Go” webinar to put your mind at ease.
Reporting on Earmarks: Resources for Journalists
The return of “earmarks” or Member-Directed Spending requests in 2021 was a significant change for the annual appropriations cycle. In this guide, we cover the basics of the reformed ‘earmark’ programs, including some common misconceptions, and examples of earmarks coverage from around the country.
House vs. Senate Earmark Accounts FY23
Last year, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations announced the return of Member-Directed Spending, also known as “earmarks.” In the FY22 appropriations cycle, differences between the House and Senate processes, including mismatched eligible spending accounts, were some of the biggest unanswered questions of the reinstated process. This year, while there are still some discrepancies, the lists of eligible accounts in the House and Senate are very similar. We have provided a list below.
Earmarks word for FY23: “executability”
On March 31, POPVOX Foundation joined Bipartisan Policy Center and the Black Women’s Congressional Alliance to host a staff information-sharing session in collaboration with the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.