The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville’s Helene Lecar Civic Engagement Program is back with new interns! On Sunday, August 18th, an orientation was held for the seven interns who will be joining the League. Many of them are current highschoolers at either Berkeley or Albany High and include: Zoey Yan, Voter Service Intern; Isabelle Oppelt, Communications Intern; Sophie Pomfret, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Intern; Si-Jae Teh, Criminal Justice Intern; Eva Levenson, Action Intern; Sabrina Landes, Voter Service Intern, and Rhetta Lavinder-Hill, Criminal Justice Intern. This meeting was also attended by League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville (LWVBAE) president Kandea Mosley Gandhi and board members Jinky Gardner and Linda Carothers.

Following some basic introductions, Cynthia Kamau, a former League intern, led an icebreaker during which participants were instructed to raise their hands when a prompt she read applied to them. While many of the questions garnered differing responses, when asked to raise your hand if “I am fired up for the November election” applies to you, every arm shot up to agree. The show of enthusiasm was a very promising sign for another successful year.

After icebreakers, Jinky gave an introduction to the League and the basics of how it operates at both the state and national levels. She gave a brief history of how LWVBAE originated in the 1920s and followed that up by explaining how the League provides information about future elections while also remaining nonpartisan.

Next, Kandea spent some time explaining the responsibilities each intern could look forward to if they were interested. As she spoke, she reminded everyone of the importance of having a diversity, equity, and inclusion mindset so different voices are included in our community service.  She followed this up by touching on the Vote 16 initiative, a campaign for 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. She encouraged interns to take an active role in this initiative if they chose by working together to introduce and/or implement Vote 16 for students in their respective schools.

In the end, everyone was asked a final question, “What will stick with you most from this orientation?” Many of the Fall interns agreed that the importance of this year, it being an election year, was something that they would consider and carry with them throughout their time with the League. All of the interns also expressed their enthusiasm for becoming involved with the Vote 16 initiative during their time with the League. “I feel very excited to be getting involved in local politics,” Si-Jae said, with many of the interns nodding in agreement.

During the next several weeks, interns will settle into their roles at the League. But if one thing is clear after orientation, it’s that this group of interns is extremely motivated and dedicated to making a positive change with the League.

–Isabelle Oppelt