Overview of the Fellowship
The first of its kind, the Eben Tisdale Fellowship brings eligible students to Washington, D.C. for internships that explore current public policy issues of critical importance to the high technology sector of the economy. The Fellowship has two main elements:
1) Internships: One principal feature of the Fellowship is an eight-week internship in the government relations office of a leading high technology company or association. In the recent past, fellows have interned at such companies as Agilent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Philips Electronics, Monster, and e-Luminate Group, Inc. While sponsoring companies will vary from year to year, the Advisory Committee makes every effort to retain high quality internship opportunities. Fellows have an opportunity to observe first hand the development and advocacy of public policy issues in Congress, the Administration and industry associations and to participate in projects of their own, focusing on current critical issues.
2) Issues Seminar: The other main element of the fellowship is a weekly issues seminar organized with the assistance of the sponsoring companies and associations. Expert speakers lead discussions of current public policy issues in Washington, and the methods the high technology industry uses for effective advocacy. In the past, topics have included global electronic commerce, protection of privacy, export controls, digital intellectual property protection, biotechnology issues and educational technology policy. In addition, TFAS has added a new lecture on diversity and ethics to the Tisdale Fellows’ speaker series. The seminars give Fellows an opportunity to reflect on the appropriate role industry policy advocacy can have on public policy making at the Federal level. Conducted over lunch, the seminars also provide a weekly venue for fellows to meet and compare notes on their experiences. Fellows also are encouraged, through a variety of events and discussions, to reflect on how growing high technology affects society, culture and the global economy.
The goal of the Fellowship is to create a supportive and collegial environment in which a new class of public policy professionals will be mentored to help ensure that the high-tech industry continues to have highly capable and well-trained individuals in both policy advocacy and senior management positions.