This year I have had the opportunity to explore my potential career paths. Its been quite a trip! I have traveled to Turkey, and Jerusalem, and lived in Amman, Jordan for four months. This summer, I really wanted to get experience in how to develop and fund a non-profit, as I believe that is most likely the area I will work in once I graduate from college. It’s a chance for me to ‘try-out' DC--a city I am considering moving to in the next few years. Most importantly, I wanted to work on an issue I feel very strongly about: electoral reform.

I believe electoral reform is the most important step towards a better democracy. With government shutdowns and partisan gridlock, it’s no wonder why public approval of congress is so low. Yet, I believe that there are fundamental steps we can take right now to improve representation and accountability of government and, in the process, provide not just an incentive but an imperative for politicians to cooperate and do their jobs.

Working at Fairvote, I’m especially excited about the broad experience I hope to obtain this summer. What appealed to me from my internship interview was the opportunity to work in all areas of a small organization. I may be working in the development department, but also have to coordinate with communications, legal, and research. Additionally, I will be doing my own research project on international electoral systems, which I will utilize in a paper I will write with a professor for course credit upon my return to McGill University.

There is an important election year coming up in 2016. I’m hoping that with hard work, not just from Fairvote, but from advocacy groups across the country, we will be able to push the topic of electoral reform to center stage at the primary and presidential debates. We need to use this as momentum for the coming four years.


Robert Buderi is a student at McGill University and a 2015 Development Intern at FairVote. Do you want to apply for a FairVote internship? Find more information here: http://www.fairvote.org/who-we-are/internships-and-employment/internships/