West End Strategy Team

WEST partner Samantha Kupferman, senior advisor rabiah ahmed and strategist Romelo Wilson culminated the final workshop of strategic communications training in Baltimore for PhD students in Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Health Policy Research Scholars program.

We are hiring fall interns in our Washington, DC, headquarters! WEST communications interns have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working closely with organizations focused on expanding social justice, racial and gender equity, and human rights.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff leads with moral clarity. He helped initiate the historic U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and has visited college campuses across the country to hear from students directly. I deeply admire the example he sets as a proud Jewish American leader in public life. Grateful to have had the chance to meet Mr. Emhoff at the Jewish Democratic Council of America’s Annual Summit a few weeks back. He’s a mensch!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of working with ZERO TO THREE for the second year in a row on their annual Strolling Thunder rally. For eight years now, ZTT has united families, early childhood activists, and lawmakers from around the country to lobby for issues that impact millions of families with young children every day. With the ongoing child care crisis, early childhood educator shortage, rising maternal and infant mortality rates, and unstable economic security of families, ZTT's work in amplifying the voices of those impacted comes at a crucial time. I look forward to continuing to support their efforts to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life.

Amazing to join early childhood care and education providers, teachers, parents (and kids!) for the #MorningWithoutChildCare organized by the Child Care for Connecticut's Future coalition. This annual statewide effort to drive attention to the essential need for increased public investment in early childhood education is a model for states across the country. #FixChildCare

As described by The New York Times, PEN America finds in its newest report that book bans in public schools have surged this school year. From July to December 2023, PEN found that 4,300+ books were removed from schools across 23 states — a figure that surpassed the number of bans from the entire previous academic year.

WEST is excited to be working together!

Last week, I got to be in a place that has truly become a happy place, FRIENDS CENTER FOR CHILDREN INC, as Senator Blumenthal paid this incredible early childhood education provider a visit to understand the realities of the childcare crisis. Connecticut Public was there too. It's a united effort to make it known that the early childhood education sector is underfunded. Teachers are paid too little. Tuition is too high. And families suffer. It's time that we recognize that early education needs to be treated just like primary and secondary education.

Congratulations to Romelo Wilson, Audrey Carroll and Hannah Gavin for their recent promotions to strategist and Blake Goodman to senior strategist. We welcome Logan Bayroff as vice president, and we welcome back Sarah Garfinkel as vice president!