Two Otters preparing for Panetta Institute internship

By Mark Muckenfuss

For Breann Dolan, the second time was the charm. 

The humanities and communications senior from Garden Grove applied to the Panetta Institute internship program as a freshman and just missed. 

“I was first-runner up,” Dolan said. “I really want to go into public policy, so I applied again, and this year I got it. I was still pretty surprised.”

Dolan and Mackenzie Irvin, a senior from Seaside studying collaborative health and human services, will be representing Cal State Monterey Bay as congressional interns this fall.
The Panetta Institute was founded by Leon Panetta – a former member of Congress, White House chief of staff, CIA director and U.S. secretary of defense – and his wife, Sylvia Panetta. In addition to the internship program, the institute hosts an annual lecture series on timely political topics, which features nationally recognized experts. It also sponsors a number of public policy education programs. 

This is the 29th year for the internship program, which was created specifically for the California State University system. The institute chooses one student from each of the 23 CSU campuses. Because of an additional funding source, two students are typically chosen from CSUMB. 

The interns attend a two-week series of courses on history, government and civics before leaving for Washington, D.C., and being paired with a congressperson. They work on everything from answering phones to attending and reporting on committee meetings. 

Dolan expects it will be good experience for the career she’s planning. 

“I would like to work at the federal or state level,” she said. “I’ve always thought about running for office. I’ve worked in a couple of legislative district offices, and that's something I've really enjoyed.” 

Irvin wants to work on influencing policy in the healthcare field.

“As an intern with the Monterey County Health Department, I’ve been able to understand the influence of higher-level health policy decisions on local health departments,” Irvin said. “I’m interested in how public health funding and prevention strategies are evaluated and advocated for in government settings.”

Working for the World Health Organization, she said, “would be an ultimate future goal of mine.”

She said she appreciates the fact that the Panetta Institute covers the travel and living costs for interns during the program. 

“I am somebody who supports myself through college so I have had to be selective at times when deciding which opportunities I can participate in,” she said. “If the Institute were not as generous as they are with their coverage of associated costs, I would not have been able to apply.” 

Irvin said she is looking forward to seeing the capital for the second time. She first visited as a middle schooler, as did Dolan. 

“I think it will be an exciting time in D.C.,” Irvin said. “It’s a really interesting political time as midterm elections come up. I do think it will be a challenging environment to enter, but I think we are both very prepared and that we will both be able to learn so much from the experience.”

The internship comes with great responsibility, Dolan said. 

“I know a couple of people who have graduated from the Panetta Institute program, and they are all very good people to know,” Dolan said. “Seeing myself in that group, I realize I have big shoes to fill.

“I think there is no better time to be involved in something like this,” she added. “There’s never been a situation like this in our government, and I think it's going to be very fascinating.” 

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