Student-run think tank The Roosevelt Institution recently announced an innovative summer leadership program, the Roosevelt Academy, which will bring top students to DC for a summer of on-ground policy work and training. Nate Loewentheil, Executive Director of the group, is enthusiastic about the new opportunity for students. “This is exciting because it helps us achieve our mission of connecting students directly to the progressive movement, and supporting the important policy work happening in Washington. The program will place students into 10-week internships at top policy organizations around Washington, combining the internships with a training program in policy, communications, organizing and other important political skills,” Loewentheil said. Nate designed the program with the understanding that unpaid internships are often non-starters for some college students; as such, “students will also earn $3500 stipends, allowing individuals from all socio-economic backgrounds to participate.”
Roosevelt chapters funnel the energy and intellectual talents of college students into work on local and national policy. Loewentheil stepped into the leadership of Roosevelt after graduating from Yale; Caitlin Howarth, a recent University of Virginia grad, currently acts as Director of Operations. New chapters are springing up around the country, reflecting a growing interest among students in all aspects of the political process. The group is currently accepting submissions for several annual publications and essay contests. Contact Nate or Caitlin directly to get involved.
Jon Henshaw, Internet strategist and Partner with Nashville-based Sitening, today launches Raven, a web-based set of tools to manage search engine optimization for Webmasters, SEO Specialists, and Search Marketers. “There are lots of individual SEO Tools available, but none of them work seamlessly together like Raven does. Raven brings together the four essential components of the search engine optimization process – research and analysis, link building, performance tracking and robust reports. Instead of having to bookmark and visit several different tool sites, manage link campaigns with a confusing mess of Excel spreadsheets and then spending hours tracking performance and putting together reports, you can do all of that quickly and efficiently with Raven,” shared Jon, who has been working on the product since mid 2007
“We originally started developing Raven in July of 2007. It’s been slow going, because we only worked on it in our spare time,” he said, while also sharing that he has been managing an ongoing stream of client work throughout the development phase. Towards the end of the year, however, Jon helped raise an angel investment to increase capacity. “That investment enabled us to not give away too much ownership in the company, while giving us enough capital to ramp up on developer resources and time. For example, the Angel investment enabled us to build a Firefox toolbar – something that we think adds a great deal of value to the service.” Though the product officially launches today, Jon and his team will be continuing to roll out new features every couple weeks through 2008. Chief among them will be the ability to track search engine performance outside of the US and agency-focused features like an API and white-label version of Raven.
25 y/o designer Mary Rambin recently kicked off her third year as the President of Moe Bags, a NYC-based design house best known for producing The CLICK Bag, a leading evening accessory for stylish women. “For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a television producer, so of course I went to the best school for TV and Film and interned the three years I was in school. However, when I graduated, I realized my heart was no longer in it. I took a year off traveling and working in retail when I had the idea to start my own company by reinventing an old design that no one had really ever seen. So I started Moe.” As is the case with many young entrepreneurs on the site, Mary occasionally runs into bumps: “As I am the sole owner in my company, finances are always a concern, especially with the retail market in decline; however, the support of one celeb or one department store can always get you back on track.” And what is definitely a testament to her hard work more than luck, select products from her line were recently picked up by Bloomingdale’s and have been seen hanging from the arms of leading celebs for the past year.
For the Spring 2008 line, Mary will be moving production to China and introducing a few new twists. “Spring will have something for everyone: metallics that are always a favorite, linen to go with floral dresses, and the returning classic colors that have proven to be timeless.” You can also follow along with Mary’s style tips at her blog, StyleByMaryRambin.com.
2007 Truman Scholar and Harding University student Brett Keller recently helped launch the inaugural issue of Frank, a new politics and public affairs magazine tied to the Clinton School of Public Service. Each issue of Frank focuses on a different topic and aims to elevate the discourse on public service, which Editor Patrick Kennedy shares “is expanding beyond government into the non-profit community, business, and even pop-culture.” Kennedy was able to attract an impressive list of contributors — Karl Rove, Jesse Jackson, Simon Cowell, etc. — as contributors to the first issue, which focused on race relations in America by posing the question, “Has the Dream Arrived?” Keller got involved early in 2007: “I had been to the Clinton School several times for the extraordinary speakers. The school has really become the intellectual heart of Arkansas, so I started an internship so I could be involved, and most of my work has been with Patrick on Frank. The first issue was already coming along when I got involved, so I helped edit some pieces and put the Public Service in Review section together,” shared Keller.
Frank has already received some great press, namely this review in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Kennedy says we can look forward to exciting work in the future, as well. “The goal with everything we do is always to get better. It’s important that we continue to attract bright volunteer staffers, like Brett, in order to continue making quality material.” For a copy of the inaugural issue, contact Kennedy at frank AT clintonschool.uasys.edu
DC-based Hanover Research Council is currently seeking researchers and content analysts. HRC is the world’s largest SMO-focused research firm and was founded by Peter Dodge. The Research Assistant position is an entry-level placement centered around a wide range of research tasks; the Content Analyst position is a mid-level research placement and focuses on issues facing senior executives across every industry vertical. For more information on the positions or HRC in general, contact Wes Givens, President, at wgivens At hanoverresearch.com
Serial entrepreneur and CEO of Cyan Pictures, Joshua Newman, recently launched a new project called First Cut Film Series, marking an innovative new approach in advancing the talents of young filmmakers. Newman is seeking out the top five film students in the country, and in exchange for their ideas and talent, his company will provide $1mm in production financing, and experienced key crew, and a top indie producer. First round applications are due mid February, 2008.
Social entrepreneur and on-again, off-again USC student Trent Bigelow recently launched brandnewreligion.com as the public-facing news and discussion board for an interdisciplinary major he created called Brand Evangelism. “I am regularly posting observations, examples, articles, links, and ideas of the who, how, when, where, and why marketing and religion intersects and becomes truly disruptive.” Trent hopes that this site will be an ideal testing ground for content that could turn in to a larger project following his time at USC.
Digital Divide Data is an innovative nonprofit in SE Asia which aims to break the cycle of poverty by empowering the region’s poorest citizens to deliver world-class IT services to global clients. They have four positions available that start January 2008 in Cambodia and Loas. The positions are General Management, Project Management, Sales Team Mentor, and Technology Trainer. Applications are due mid November, so contact Sophy Yem directly at sophy @ digitaldividedata.org for more information if you are interested. Portman Wills and Gordon Peters of bigsight have both spent time working with DDD>
Peace Corps veteran, chef, and Zen monk Josh Swiller recently published The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa, which documents his time in Zambia, where he struggled to reconcile his deafness amid harsh conditions in a remote African village. “I was never planning to write a memoir. I scribbled a lot of notes but that was mainly because there was tons of time and the stuff that was happening was so strange. After I came back to the states, I actually didn’t write for 3-4 years.” Josh eventually joined a local writers circle and began to put his stories on paper. “Work on your book for awhile. Once it’s started to gain altitude, write a kick-ass cover letter and send it to some agents. One of them replied to me, and asked to see what I had. She then spent a year working with me on the manuscript before we submitted it to publishers.” Josh also wanted to share that for would-be writers, it’s less important to find a big name agent; instead, “you’re probably best finding someone who will work closely with you, functioning as an editor/cheerleader.” You can find out more about Josh at JoshSwiller.com or read the prologue to his book here.
Vanderbilt Senior, Alex Feinberg has brought a new trend to Vandy’s campus and athletic teams across the country. This second baseman for the nationally ranked Commodores recently introduced the “Saturday Soldier” battle band as a means to help the families of wounded and deceased soldiers in Iraq. This 21 year old economics major has successfully branded his idea and the bands can be found on players from about 25 major conference football teams. Feinberg states that, “When I started it, I wanted to create a product that college athletes would be really excited to wear. From what I’ve seen it is working out very well because college athletes want to wear everything with the Saturday Soldier brand name on it.” The proceeds from the bands go to two charities, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Fisher House Foundation (www.fisherhouse.org). For more information, or to order a Saturday Soldier battle band, visit saturdaysoldier.com
