This is a list of 2009 fellowships offered by SIG.  These fellowships are subject to change for the 2010 application process.

San Francisco Local Government

• Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom – San Francisco, CA
• Office of Supervisor Bevan Dufty – San Francisco, CA

• Planning and Conservation League – Sacramento, CA

• California Energy Commission, Office of Commissioner Karen Douglas – Sacramento, CA
• Department of Climate Change and Energy, California Resources Agency – Sacramento, CA

• Office of the Assembly Majority Whip – Sacramento, CA
• Office of State Senator Joe Simitian – Sacramento, CA

Descriptions

Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom - San Francisco, CA

Faculty Mentor: Joe Nation
Faculty Mentor email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Office Description:

As San Franciscos youngest mayor in 100 years, Gavin Newsom has brought fresh ideas and renewed energy to the City and County. He has earned a reputation as an innovator on issues ranging from homelessness to the environment, healthcare to education.

Office Website: www.sfgov.org/mayor

Projects Fellows Have Worked on in the Past:

• 2009! Work for the Liaison to the Board of Supervisors and help her with her tasks, which included background research on legislation, attending Board of Supervisors meetings, writing weekly legislative updates for the Mayor and his senior staff.
• Neighborhood outreach and research synthesis with the Director of City Greening, Astrid Haryati.
• PowerPoint presentations relating to the Mayor's efforts with regard to Recreation and Park issues
• San Franciscos Sanctuary City status and the Mayor's monthly town hall policy forums

Desired Personal Qualities:

• Willingness to work on public outreach campaigns and public-private awareness initiatives
• Interest in local issues in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Passion for politics and policy
• Hard worker and team player

Desired Skills, Experience, and Coursework:

• Experience working in a professional workplace
• Ability to perform research thoroughly and efficiently
• Comfort speaking, presenting work publicly, making decisions
• Ability to multi-task
• Familiarity with legislation and proposal writing

Main Fellowship Disciplines:

• Public Policy
• Political Science
• Communication

Languages:

All work done in English

The Office of Supervisor Bevan Dufty - San Francisco, CA

Summer 2009 Fellow: Sekhar Paladugu
Summer 2009 Fellow email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faculty Mentor: Joe Nation
Faculty Mentor email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Office Description:

Supervisor Dufty represents District 8, which encompasses Noe Valley, The Castro, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, Duboce Triangle, Dolores Park & San Jose / Guerrero, and Buena Vista Heights neighborhoods. On a community level he has continued to work in close partnership with neighborhood and merchant groups throughout District 8. His years in Neighborhood Services taught him that any problem, large or small, can be addressed when you bring together concerned neighbors, merchants, community organizations and City Departments. He also encouraged Mayor Brown to launch the Open Door Program, a Saturday morning forum that provided an opportunity for individual San Franciscans to talk privately with the mayor about their individual problems. That program alone gave thousands of people personal access to their mayor in a way that never occurred before. And countless problems were solved. The fellow in this office will work very closely and directly with the Supervisor himself and his two legislative aides.

Office Website: http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_index.asp?id=12723

Projects Fellows Have Worked on in the Past:

• 2009! - Get involved with local city politics in a fast-paced environment. Will be exposed to negotiations and basic research.
• Constituent issues: directly working with constituents to help address both short term and long term small projects
• Working directly with the legislative aides to conduct research, contact community officials and members, and address daily issues that arose

Desired Personal Qualities:

• Willingness to work on public outreach campaigns
• Interest in and passion for policy and community outreach (especially pertaining to San Francisco)
• Hard worker and team player
• Organized, self motivated, and outgoing

Desired Skills, Experience, and Coursework:

• Experience working in a professional workplace
• Ability to perform research thoroughly and efficiently
• Comfort speaking and presenting work publicly
• Strong writing skills
• Familiarity with policy issues

Main Fellowship Disciplines:

• Public Policy
• Political Science
• Urban Studies
• Sociology

Languages:

All work done in English

Planning and Conservation League - Sacramento, CA

Faculty Mentor: Meg Caldwell, Senior Lecturer at Stanford Law School
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Office Description:

PCL is an organization dedicated to lobbying the California State Legislature on a range of environmental issues and by sponsoring environmental initiatives. PCL is Californias only statewide environmental coalition.

Office Website: www.pcl.org

Projects Fellows Have Worked On in the Past:

Past fellows have worked on projects such as the Target Global Warming Project, in which the fellow worked to organize a joint initiative between PCL and the National Wildlife Fund to encourage hunting groups to become more involved in and engaged with global warming issues. The fellows have also worked on planning the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) workshops, statewide workshops aiming to increase public understanding of the CEQA.

Desired Personal Qualities:

• Willingness to work on public outreach campaigns
• Interest in and passion for environmental issues
• Hard worker and team player

Desired Skills, Experience, and Coursework:

• Experience working in a professional environment
• Ability to perform research thoroughly and efficiently
• Comfort with speaking and presenting work publicly
• Strong writing skills
• Familiarity with Word, PowerPoint

Main Fellowship Disciplines:

• Public policy
• Political science
• Communication
• Environmental issues

Languages:

All work done in English

Department of Climate Change and Energy, California Resources Agency - Sacramento, CA

Summer 2009 Fellow: Tara Smithee

Summer 2009 Fellow E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faculty Mentor: Stephen H. Schneider

Office Description:

The California Resources Agency oversees policies, activities, and a budget of $6.4 billion and 16,000 employees in 25 departments, commissions, boards and conservancies. The issues run the natural resources gamut from conservation, water, fish and game, forestry, parks, energy, coastal, marine and landscape.

Office Website: www.resources.ca.gov

Projects Fellow Should Expect:

• 2009! - Collaborate with leaders in the field on environmental protection issues.
• Help coordinate climate change activities for California
• Coordinate effort to interpret carbon sequestration rules to public land managers
• Assist in coordinating state climate adaptation strategy focusing on water, land-use, biodiversity, and coastal resources.
• Write report for publication on adaptation efforts
• Communicate projects in front of high level officials

Desired Personal Qualities:

• Flexible
• Friendly
• Strong communication skills

Desired Skills, Experience, and Coursework:

• Fellow should have a clear understanding of climate science related to climate impacts and general understanding of UNFCCC , IPCC Working Group reports, and California's Global Warming Solutions Act
• Experience writing reports and coordinating smart people

Main Fellowship Disciplines:

• Public Policy
• Environmental Engineering
• Earth Systems
• Communication

Languages:

All work done in English

Office of the Assembly Majority Whip - Sacramento, CA

Summer 2009 Fellow: Esther Yu
Summer 2009 Fellow email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faculty Mentor: Michael Kirst
Faculty Mentor email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Office Description:

The fellow will work in the Capitol office of the Assembly Majority Whip, Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco). Assemblywoman Ma is responsible for securing the needed votes for priority legislation in the California State Assembly. In addition to helping pass important bills, Assemblywoman Ma assists constituents of the 12th Assembly District (SF/San Mateo) and serves on important committees including Appropriations, Health, Public Safety, and Revenue and Taxation.

Office Website: www.assembly.ca.gov/ma

Projects Fellow Should Expect:

The fellow will work on legislative and committee tasks, helping to secure passage and defeat of legislation. In addition, the fellow will have the opportunity to work on leadership tasks by contacting other offices, preparing fact sheets and organizing joint press events. The fellow will work directly with the Assemblywoman at events and committee hearings. Past projects have included:

• 2009! - Facilitating legislative bills going through the Appropriations Committee and the Floor.
• Research on doctors’ continuing medical education requirements to generate ideas for possible bills and bill amendments

Desired Personal Qualities:

• Professionalism
• Punctuality
• Ability to perform complicated tasks under pressure

Desired Skills, Experience, and Coursework:

• Any experience in a government or campaign setting would be helpful, but not necessary
• Basic understanding of computer applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Explorer would be helpful

Main Fellowship Disciplines:

• Public Policy
• Political Science
• MS&E
• Communication
• Students focused on civil society, the health sciences, government or criminal justice

Languages:

The 12th Assembly District is home to many people whose first language is Chinese (primarily Cantonese) and Spanish. Familiarity with these languages is a plus, but is not required.

The Office of State Senator Joe Simitian - Palo Alto

Summer 2009 Fellow: Siddhartha Oza

Summer 2009 Fellow Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Faculty Mentor: Stephen H. Schneider

Faculty Mentor email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Senator Simitian is chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, and sits on the Budget Committee, Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, Education Committee, Transportation and Housing Committee, and Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. He is chair of the Select Committee on a Master Plan for Education and the Select Committee on Coastal Protection and Watershed Conservation. He is a member of the Select Committees on Asian Trade; Emerging Technologies and Economic Competitiveness; Legal, Social and Ethical Consequences of Emerging Technology and Perchlorate Contamination-Fellows are assigned significant legislation, legislative analysis, hearings, and are mentored in a broad range of legislative skills. They have day-to-day, one-on-one contact with the Senator.

Fellows will have an opportunity to work on policies affecting education through the Senate Select Committee on the Master Plan for Education, chaired by Senator Simitian; the Senate Education Committee and the Budget Subcommittee on Education, of which Senator Simitian is a member; and through legislation.

Fellows will also have an opportunity to research and work on pioneering legislation in the area of privacy. As past Chair of the Select Committee on Privacy, Senator Simitian is exploring public policy in the areas of online privacy, identity theft prevention, and government records. Senator Simitian was awarded the Scientific American award for his work in the area of privacy. In the past session, our Senate fellow was assigned legislation on radio frequency identification chips, and is now nationally recognized for his work on the emerging technology.

Specific duties will include, but not be limited to:

• 2009! - Staffing the Member at meetings with constituents or representatives from the business community, trade associations, and/or other public interest organizations.
• Preparing analysis for bills under consideration by the Committees on which the Member sits.
• Drafting correspondence related to matters pending before the Legislature.
• Providing assistance to constituents, including working with state agencies on district issues.
• Brief the Senator on related topics.

For further information please visit their website at: http://www.senatorsimitian.com/