Calvin Macatantan (’26)

I worked at the National Education Association (NEA), Center for Communications as an Editorial Intern and the DC Office of Planning (OP) as a Data Analysis and Visualization intern. At the NEA, I worked with the senior writing team to write articles for the NEA website and magazine, writing articles based on their needs and articles guided by my interests. With over 3,000,000 members, the NEA is the largest labor union in the United States, and thus must balance the needs of its members and federal policy. As I wrote articles on Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity disrupting schooling and urban heat islands harming marginalized students, the NEA faced political battles within Congress on top of continuing their advocacy and representing their diverse member base. Witnessing the different forces pulling and pushing the NEA as an intern put into perspective the complexities of lobbying organizations. They need to make strategic decisions while managing the complex timing of current events, new legislation and federal leadership, and organization needs.

The DC OP gave me an opportunity to explore local government. Throughout my internship, I gathered insights from Census Bureau Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program. I specifically explored the LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) dataset, deriving insights about labor market trends, commuting patterns, and job distributions at the district and census tract level to present to the team. Looking at the LODES dataset and attending meetings at the OP allowed me to explore the planning process, combining data with conversations about ensuring justice when planning. In community development, data is one part of the picture. Having conversations with residents, listening to their experiences, and including them in the planning process leads to more equitable policies.

I am deeply grateful for these opportunities to explore different issues from the local to federal level. These internships have honed my ability to communicate, write, plan, reason, and analyze issues, policies, and data. This summer in DC has been invaluable to my professional journey.