Press Contacts: Trevor Smith
Comms@PayOurInterns.com
202-670-7783
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2019
Statement on the Ayanna Pressley Trailblazer Award
Washington, D.C. – Pay Our Interns (POI) the nonprofit advocating for intern pay in Congress and throughout the region will be celebrating three years of success. Since POI launched it has worked with Congress, the DNC, Presidential Candidates, and several other organizations to ensure that paid internship opportunities are created and accessible. As of this writing, Congress has allocated over $30 million in intern pay, creating a pipeline for thousands of young adults from across the country to take on an internship on Capitol Hill. POI’s three-year celebration will be hosted at Hogan Lovells LLP in Washington, D.C. on November 12th, 2019.
Earlier this week POI announced the first-ever Trailblazer Award that will be given to one (1) intern who is nominated by their employer for demonstrating exemplary work ethic. POI has the distinguished privilege of announcing that the award will be named in honor of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), who began her career as an unpaid intern for the Congressional district she now represents.
Guillermo Creamer, Co-Founder of Pay Our Interns shared the following “Since taking office, Congresswoman Pressley has been a vocal advocate for interns and continues to be a strong ally for intern rights and intern pay. Congresswoman Pressley was an intern for the office she now holds, this is the story we hope to amplify and give individuals the tools to recreate this success. POI is honored to name this award after an individual who has worked from the ground up and represents what a difficult journey interns across the country face.”
“Representation at all levels matters,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “When I was a congressional intern, I had to work 3 part-time jobs just to afford it, but without that internship, I wouldn’t be where I am today. POI is about opening the doors of our democracy by opening up the internship process, and I’m honored to be recognized by an organization that’s leading the fight to do just that.”
The nomination window for the Ayanna Pressley Trailblazer Award is now accepting nominations until October 25,.2019. You can nominate an intern for the Trailblazer Award here (Nomination Form). The award will be given on November 12, 2019.
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Pay Our Interns is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that advocates for more paid internships and expanding workforce development opportunities among youth. A student’s socioeconomic status should not be a barrier to getting real-world work experience. POI is headquartered in Washington, D.C. For more information visit www.payourinterns.org