Internship with State Rep. Maura Hirschauer
Session Number
2
Advisor(s)
Maura Hirschauer
Location
IN2 L earning Lab
Discipline
Business
Start Date
15-4-2026 11:10 AM
End Date
15-4-2026 11:55 AM
Abstract
Maura Hirschauer is the Representative of the 49th district which includes towns in the West Chicago and Bartlett area for the Illinois House of Representatives. The focus of this internship was to learn more about the process of how legislation is passed in Illinois, and how a congressional office runs. Over the course of 6 months, I learned from the office how to directly speak to constituents regarding their concerns with Illinois legislation, input constituent stances and cases in a database, and respond to constituent stories via email and phone. The office was able to benefit through having additional hands for administrative tasks such as responding to emails and organizing the office, as well as having extra team members to host events and on the ground mobilization such as door knocking. Most significantly, I learned how to research and develop my own legislation regarding a topic area that I was passionate about. I spoke to experts to legislators to understand current gaps in policy, consulted with field experts to know how to target specific policy gaps, and was guided by Rep. Hirschauer’s office drafting my own bill.
Internship with State Rep. Maura Hirschauer
IN2 L earning Lab
Maura Hirschauer is the Representative of the 49th district which includes towns in the West Chicago and Bartlett area for the Illinois House of Representatives. The focus of this internship was to learn more about the process of how legislation is passed in Illinois, and how a congressional office runs. Over the course of 6 months, I learned from the office how to directly speak to constituents regarding their concerns with Illinois legislation, input constituent stances and cases in a database, and respond to constituent stories via email and phone. The office was able to benefit through having additional hands for administrative tasks such as responding to emails and organizing the office, as well as having extra team members to host events and on the ground mobilization such as door knocking. Most significantly, I learned how to research and develop my own legislation regarding a topic area that I was passionate about. I spoke to experts to legislators to understand current gaps in policy, consulted with field experts to know how to target specific policy gaps, and was guided by Rep. Hirschauer’s office drafting my own bill.