Loporchio Summer Legislative Interns Selected: David Hackett (MAIR) and Lilian Sibanda (MAGGHS) to Work “On the Hill”
McCormack alumnus Vincent Loporchio and his wife Robin are again offering a generous scholarship to fully fund internships for two current graduate students at the John W. McCormack School of Policy and Global Studies.
The students will work at the State House with current Massachusetts State Legislature this summer as part of the Robin and Vincent G. Loporchio Summer Legislative Internship on Beacon Hill, which was established in the summer of 2021 in collaboration with the McCormack School and will continue to fund two graduate students each summer through 2025. Lilian Sibanda, a student in the Master’s in Global Governance and Human Security program (MAGGHS), will work with Senator Brendan Crighton, while David Hackett, a student in the Accelerated Master’s in International Relations program (MAIR), will work with Representative Daniel Hunt.
Through their internships, Sibanda and Hackett will gain real-world experience in the study of public policy, government management, and communications. Each will receive a $5,000 stipend for a 10–12-week internship from June through the middle of August. Lilian Sibanda, an alumna of the Bachelor’s in Global Affairs program at UMass Boston, is currently studying global governance and human security with a focus on the interconnectedness of our world and a vested interest in how policies made at local levels can have global impacts. Sibanda will bring to the internship her expertise in the areas of rural development and being a voice for underrepresented communities in larger policy decision-making.
Her internship with Sen. Crighton involves assisting various members of the Senator’s office in their legislative duties, including writing memos and briefs, community outreach, and constituent services. As Sibanda explained, her favorite opportunity in the internship thus far is the Intern Seminars, a series of talks given by officials in different areas of the Massachusetts State house to discuss their work and hold a question-and-answer session for internships in the State House. Sibanda Said, “I have attended each and every one of the Intern Seminars because they are important to me in terms of learning about the inner workings of state government. They are a great opportunity to learn about the challenges faced by different departments and what politics go behind resource allocation in Massachusetts.”
David Hackett’s studies focus on sustainable governance, international political economy, linguistic policy, and comparative foreign policy. His research investigates politics on multiple levels and pays particular attention to voter behavior and political participation, which he will investigate further through his work at the State House.
In his internship with Rep. Hunt, Hackett will work to analyze how emergency and stimulus funds are dispersed across the state. Specifically, Hackett will assist the office in making that information accessible and digestible for representatives and voters across the Commonwealth. As Hackett commented, “As someone whose research experience lies primarily in academically-focused qualitative work, the opportunity to contribute to a publicly-oriented project comprised of a hybrid of both qualitative and quantitative research—and do so with experienced researchers and staff to supervise and guide my work—is an incredibly valuable learning experience and a very welcome challenge.”
As an alumnus who recently retired from his position as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Fidelity, providing a generous opportunity for students at the McCormack School to earn professional experience working in the Massachusetts State House gives Vin Loporchio an opportunity to recreate his own experience as an intern for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis’s administration for a new generation of McCormack graduate students. He and his wife Robin, who also began her career working in government, know firsthand the value of establishing connections at an internship like the Loporchio Summer Legislative Internship on Beacon Hill, and to do so with a fully funded stipend stands out among current internship opportunities for students, so many of which go unpaid.
Hackett is appreciative of the generosity of the Loporchio family and does not take lightly the sense of reward and opportunity it will provide his studies and future career. “It’s an honor to have been one of two students selected to represent McCormack up at the State House,” he said. “Being given the opportunity to gain immensely valuable research experience in a collaborative environment and make connections in the hallways of the Commonwealth’s seat of government is an exceptionally generous gift and a voucher of confidence that does not go unnoticed or unappreciated from my end.” Sibanda concurs, commenting, “As an international student who is interested in the representation of communities in governments and international organizations, I am here in the United States to learn from the University and also from society. What better way is there to learn from society than learning from the state government?”