MPP Student: Lara Schüth
Location: Erfurt, Germany
Organisation: Landesfrauenrat Thüringen (State Women’s Council)
During August and September, I was participating in an internship at the Landesfrauenrat Thüringen (State Women’s Council) in Erfurt. The internship is taking place between my second and third semesters at the Brandt School during the months of August and September. The Landesfrauenrat is an umbrella organization that works with several women’s organizations in the state to put on events and do lobbying work at the state level. It is a small but mighty team of three women, as well as several board members. As this internship was in Erfurt, I was able to stay in my apartment and experience Erfurt in the summer.
As part of my internship, I attended many meetings with member organizations to plan upcoming events. I also learned to maintain the website and was able to make social media posts on behalf of the Landesfrauenrat. The annual member meeting took place at the beginning of September, and I was able to attend and help draft the press release after the event. I also assisted in drafting an opinion for a new law to implement the Istanbul-Convention in Thüringen that the state government is deliberating.
Throughout my internship, I received guidance and help with my writing from the managing director as well as advice on doing political work in Thüringen from the entire team. I also got to know members of the board and was able to accompany them to some meetings and events and learn about the work they do at various other organizations in Thüringen. To apply to this internship, I emailed the info email address at the Landesfrauenrat to ask if they had any openings. Then I met with the managing director to discuss what I might like to do and was offered the opportunity to complete an internship there. I had a lot of relevant work experience in the United States and was hoping to get some similar experience here in Germany. I would like to continue working in a similar field in the future. I enjoy working in local level politics and policy because immediate impacts of new laws are more evident.
Lara Schüth is a first year MPP student at the Willy Brandt School. She has a Bachelor's Degree in History and Sociology from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities and worked in the non-profit sector in the United States for several years. Her interests include youth civic participation, political education, and environmental justice.
~ The views represented in this blog post do not necessarily represent those of the Brandt School. ~