When I was considering where to intern during the summer after my first year of the University of Virginia’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy’s Master of Public Policy program, I knew I wanted to work at the intersection of policy and law. I planned to attend law school after graduating from Batten, so I was looking for an opportunity that would let me explore what policy and legal work could look like.
Before coming to Batten, I was teaching first grade with Teach For America (TFA) in Appalachia. Our regional TFA office was in Hazard, Kentucky—home to my favorite bookstore, Read Spotted Newt. They feature many incredible Appalachian authors, and during my time teaching I picked up Soul Full of Coal Dust: A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia, a book about black lung disease litigation, community advocacy, and the fight for miners’ rights. The Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center (ACLC) played a central role in that story, and their work stayed with me long after I finished the book. The ACLC is a nonprofit law firm providing free legal representation to coal miners, former miners, and their families on issues such as black lung benefits, mine safety, and environmental justice. They also engage in policy, research, and advocacy to improve quality of life across Appalachia.
So in January, when it came time to consider where I wanted to intern for the summer in between my first and second years of the MPP program, I cold emailed the ACLC, introduced myself, and asked whether they might be looking for a policy intern for the summer. They said yes, and after a great interview, it was a clear fit. I am also very grateful to have received the Batten School’s Tadler Summer Fellowship, which provided essential financial support for an unpaid summer internship and made it possible for me to fully commit to a mission-driven, public service experience.
In my work for the ACLC, I focused primarily on water policy research, with an emphasis on analyzing the financial and regulatory pressures shaping rural water systems in Kentucky. The internship was fully remote, and I worked closely with ACLC staff as part of a small, collaborative team through regular virtual meetings and check-ins. My work centered on conducting case studies of water districts across Eastern Kentucky, relying on publicly available financial records, regulatory filings, and policy reports to complete tariff reviews and detailed expense tracking in order to understand rising water costs and operational challenges.
I also produced literature reviews examining structural drivers of increasing drinking water costs for low-income families across the state and contributed to regulatory research on Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, drafting memos to support regional planning and advocacy efforts. Throughout the summer, I worked under the guidance of ACLC staff, receiving regular feedback and mentorship that helped refine both my research methods and written analyses. Beyond the policy work, I had the opportunity to sit in on meetings with ACLC’s legal team, which provided a valuable window into how policy and law interact within a nonprofit advocacy organization.
In terms of my future connection to ACLC, I am confident our paths will cross again. I will be attending Notre Dame Law School starting in the fall of 2026, and my Batten summer internship experience reaffirmed my commitment to working at the intersection of policy and law on challenges facing Appalachian communities. ACLC is doing incredible work, and I look forward to continuing to learn from their research and hopefully collaborating with them in the years ahead. My biggest takeaway, and my advice for Batten students thinking about their own summer internships, is to think big and be creative! Batten can take you many places, and you really can lead from anywhere. I never would have guessed that a book I picked up while teaching would end up shaping my Batten internship and my future nearly two years later.
