Autistic Person’s Guide to Hillternships is a guide about interning on Capitol Hill that is meant to help disabled people get government jobs.
LATEST FROM THE BLOG
Our blog has information about everything from applying for internships to finding a job on Capitol Hill. Be sure to check in regularly for new content!
What is a writing test?
A writing test is a short on-demand writing sample that applicants complete when they interview to work on Capitol Hill. Writing tests directly reflect tasks applicants will do as full-time staff members. Some things I’ve been asked to write for writing tests include letters to agencies, hearing proposals, social media posts, newsletter drafts, press releases,…
Legislative assistants: it takes a village to pass a bill
If you come to Capitol Hill for a policy meeting, you will most likely meet with a legislative assistant. Legislative assistants are what most people think of as typical congressional staffers. They write bills for legislators and push them through Congress. Their boss takes their opinions seriously and trusts them to make important policy decisions.…
Bouncing back: some executive functioning errors from my professional life
Executive functioning is not my strong suit, and as such, I have developed many strategies to compensate for this basic skill. However, the road to developing strategies that work for me was paved with mistakes. These mistakes are a part of life, and it is important not to take them too seriously. Below are some of…
FINAL SARTAC RESOURCES
These resources were made as part of a fellowship project for the Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center. They contain information about finding a job/internship in federal politics, accessibility on Capitol Hill, networking, and more!
APPLYING AND INTERVIEWING FOR A HILLTERNSHIP
HOW TO TURN YOUR HILLTERNSHIP INTO A JOB
NOTES ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY ON CAPITOL HILL
ABOUT THE WRITER
Grace Hart is an autistic advocate who grew up in East Moline, Illinois. Grace is a Federal Relations Specialist at the University of Illinois System where she works on a team of government relations staff to advocate for science and higher education programs at every single federal agency, especially at the National Science Foundation (NSF). She is proud to represent the number one NSF-funded university in the United States. Grace also works to advance affordability and access to higher education by advocating for federal programs such as Pell Grants and TRIO funding. Her current duties include helping her team craft long-term advocacy strategies and managing relationships with legislators and staff in the Illinois congressional delegation. She also assists university faculty, staff, and students during visits to Capitol Hill and plans and executes large-scale advocacy events.
Before stepping into her role, Grace worked as a legislative intern for Congresswoman Cheri Bustos and for disability champion, Senator Bob Casey, where she focused on education and healthcare issues. In 2019, she attended the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) Autism Campus Inclusion Conference in Washington, D.C. to learn about disability advocacy on college campuses. She continues to work with ASAN on disability rights projects to this day. In 2021, she completed the Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC) fellowship, where she worked to create informational resources for autistic people who want to intern on Capitol Hill. This resulted in the creation of this website, Autistic Person’s Guide to Hillternships. Grace has spoken about the inclusion of people with disabilities in federal policymaking at Vanderbilt University, University of California Berkeley, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and University of Missouri Kansas City.
Grace is earning her Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois Springfield, where she hopes to learn more about the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. In addition to her studies, she is also a research assistant at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt University. Grace graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in political science in May 2019. As a student, she worked as an undergraduate research ambassador and Liberal Arts and Sciences teaching assistant while also playing clarinet in the university’s Wind Symphony, Wind Orchestra, and Clarinet Choir.
Grace’s ultimate goal is to attend law school to become a disability rights lawyer focusing on higher education.
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