four students including evy lanai under the commit sign
A few Commit fellows and Evy (third from left) under the Commit sign

Evy Lanai, MPP Class of 2025, shares about her summer internship experience with the Commit Partnership, an education nonprofit in Dallas, Texas.

I spent my summer in Dallas, Texas working for an education nonprofit called the Commit Partnership. I was placed there through the Education Pioneers (EP) Summer Fellow program—an opportunity I found through HarrisLink, the Harris-specific job board. This opportunity was a great fit for me given my previous experience and interest in education policy.

evy lanai presenting
Evy presenting Texas Campaign Finance Trends 2018-22

At the beginning of the summer, the entire EP cohort gathered in Washington, DC for leadership training and professional development programs, which was a great opportunity to get to know the other fellows and forge connections in my field. Additionally, throughout the summer, we had several regional learning experiences where EP fellows met for professional development and networking opportunities based on their placement region (there were about fifteen other fellows in my Texas region).

At the Commit Partnership, I worked with the Policy and State Coalition, where their work focuses primarily on advocacy at the state level. I prepared policy memos and research briefs on national best practices in education that related to their legislative priorities for the upcoming 2025 Texas legislative session. Some of the topics I investigated included PreK–12 and higher education policy alignment, school finance models, career/college/military readiness programs, and school choice programs. I also analyzed public campaign finance records to help inform contribution strategies for the Commit Partnership’s 501(c)(4), so I got to exercise a broad range of skills!

The full Commit cohort
The full Commit cohort

My summer experience with EP and Commit Partnership was incredibly valuable and further enriched by the eight other EP fellows placed at Commit Partnership with me. They brought their own unique backgrounds and experiences to the table, and throughout the summer I learned so much about state policy and advocacy, national practices in education, and the nitty gritty of what goes into creating sustainable and effective policy. 

Fortunately, I have continued working at Commit Partnership after my summer internship ended, and I will be supporting the Policy and State Coalition through June of 2025. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of all the learning opportunities this experience provides.

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