Political Science professor brings nationally recognized policy advocates to campus on September 15 – News

The Department of Politics & Government is hosting a group of nationally recognized policy advocates on campus for a panel on September 15, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Circus Room of the Bone Student Center. The panel was brought together by the Politics & Government Professor Dr. Lori Riverstone, who will serve as the panel moderator.

 “There’s so much passion for social and political change among students and others, but also a lot of frustration,” Riverstone said. With the panel, she hopes participants will learn from the panelists’ experiences as advocates in a variety of policy areas and leave inspired with actionable goals.

“Traditional avenues of engagement—voting, running for office, activism—are great, but most people do not know what policy advocacy is, how important it is, or how to get started. This panel was organized to answer those questions and to encourage students to consider policy advocacy as a post-graduation path,” said Riverstone. The list of panelists includes Katie Belanger, Ramón Cruz, Jill Habig, Kavitha Sreeharsha, and Ben Winig.

Belanger led the development and ongoing support of statewide, cross-movement equity-centered coalitions working to counter the abuse of state preemption and strengthen local democracy; developing and refining strategic plans for national and state voting rights and LGBTQ equality organizations; securing groundbreaking legal protections for same-sex couples and transgender individuals in her home state of Wisconsin; and, successfully fundraising for multi-million dollar grassroots campaigns and political candidates. 

Cruz served as Deputy Director of the state environmental regulatory agency in Puerto Rico and held senior positions at the Environmental Defense Fund, the Partnership for New York City, and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. In 2020, he was elected the first Hispanic President of the Sierra Club. Currently, he is a visiting professor at Princeton University.

Habig is the Founder and President of Public Rights Project, a national nonprofit that works hand in hand with local, state, and tribal governments across the U.S. to equitably enforce laws that protect people’s civil and human rights. Habig is an attorney and political strategist with experience in political campaigns, policy advocacy, affirmative litigation, and public law. She has been named an Ashoka Fellow, Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government Fellow, and Draper Richards Kaplan Social Entrepreneur for her work building the Public Rights Project.

Sreeharsha is the founder and principal at Ginkgo Solutions, where she provides consulting, advisory, and professional coaching services in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, focusing on immigrant justice and immigration. She is the former Senior Director of the Immigrant Justice Philanthropy for the Emerson Collective and served in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Winig is the founder and principal of ThinkForward Strategies, an advocacy and leadership development organization. He served for many years as vice president of Law & Policy at ChangeLab Solutions, a national nonprofit dedicated to building healthy communities. He served on the organization’s executive team and oversaw legal and policy interventions across the country. Before that, Winig was a municipal lawyer at a private law firm where he represented cities and other public agencies in and around the Bay Area.

Attendance is free, and the panel is open to the public. The event is sponsored by the Department of Politics & Government, the Center for Civic Engagement, Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society, and WGLT.