Willow Albano

For my Chuck Green Fellowship, I interned at the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN). The ACLU of MN is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to protecting civil rights and civil liberties through legal pathways and policy advocacy with branches in every state. Prior to being accepted, I encountered difficulty finding an organization to partner with, and I am forever grateful that my supervisor decided to take a chance on me.

While my supervisor, Julio Zelaya, was the Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy, my work spanned most departments including Legal, allowing me to make meaningful connections with others outside of the department. One of the first things Julio said to me was that most of my work would be driven by my own initiative. I truly felt like a Fellow in that moment, which kickstarted my focus on addressing anti-transgender initiatives in school districts. I learned from a staff attorney that a group of parents utilized a broad, old law to opt their children out of all LGBTQ+ books. This action, while discriminatory, was found legal under the statute’s language. In response, I wrote an amendment to the old policy, ensuring that no one could broadly opt-out of all instructional materials based on the representation of protected classes. Furthermore, I surveyed 20+ school districts, collecting their policies and discussions surrounding the issue to further inform our talking points.This would not have been possible without the collaboration and help from Catherine Ahlin-Halverson (legal dept staff attorney) and Munira Mohamed (Public Policy associate).  We located a representative who was interested in sponsoring the bill, and I met with others to garner further support. Finally, I authored a blog post and newsletter column for the ACLU raising awareness on the issue from a student perspective. I will be returning during legislative session to advocate for the adoption of this amendment into policy.

Another main task that I was not expecting but still enjoyed was campaign profiling district house races. I created a 36-page research document summarizing specific house districts that the ACLU should be paying attention to. I presented my findings in two, separate meetings with ACLU National. My work profiling district race campaigns honed my ability to quickly process information while maintaining a high level of diligence, and my discoveries were key for strategizing potential voter engagement. I also attended industry exclusive events such as the Twin Cities Diversity in Practice Conference, the Right-to-Work committee, ACLU Young Professionals Program, and numerous court hearings and litigations. 

As someone who considers themselves a jack-of-all-trades, I already knew that the broad spectrum of human rights issues is the legal field I would fit the most, but I did not know how well I would perform until I was in that environment. My experience taught me how to be flexible within my advocacy work. I am incredibly grateful for the connections I made through the Chuck Green Fellowship – both within the organization, and those in the cohort.