The Victory Institute is proud to announce the 2012 spring class of the Victory Congressional Internship, a selective program that seeks to provide outstanding young LGBT leaders with a unique experience on Capitol Hill as well as leadership training programs offered by the Victory Institute.

These four students will spend fourteen weeks interning on Capitol Hill, engaging in community service projects and attending leadership and professional development trainings offered by the Institute.

Find out more about the program and apply to the Victory Congressional Internship – the deadline for Summer 2012 applications is Monday, February 6.

VCI Spring 2012 Interns

(Pictured from left to right)

King Chan
Rep. Tammy Baldwin

King is a rising sophomore at Santa Monica College pursuing a degree in public affairs and policy management. He has served with GSA Network to collaborate with the California School Boards Association and the California Department of Education to make schools more inclusive of transgender and gender non-conforming youth and their allies. He most recently worked for Long Beach 6th District Councilman Dee Andrews, and serves on youth advisory councils for the Trevor Project and the Asian American Justice Center.

Jarod Keith
Rep. Nancy Pelosi

Jarod is a senior at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee, where he studies journalism and sociology. He works for the Southern Accent, the school’s student newspaper, and has written for various campus publications.

Torsten Knabe
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

Torsten is a senior studying music at The University of Texas at Austin. He has lobbied Texas’ legislature for competitive insurance benefits for university faculty and staff and coordinated action to defeat a ban on gender and sexuality centers in Texas colleges and universities. He is an officer of the Queer Students Alliance and Texas StandOut where he is working towards gender neutral housing and competitive insurance benefits at UT Austin.

Heather Sharper
Rep. Ted Deutch

Heather is a senior at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania studying sociology and political science. She is a graduate of Campus Pride’s LGBT Leadership Camp and is an officer of Shippensburg’s student organization, Students Advocating LGBTA Equality. She has worked with various Pennsylvania universities to strengthen the network between student advocacy groups.

Photo:  Victory Institute/Denis Dison