Honors undergraduate Jill Turner is one of seven young women recently selected for the national Running Start/Wal-Mart Star Fellowship Program.
The program is a new initiative of Running Start, a nonprofit organization that aims to educate and inspire young women to pursue leadership roles in public service careers. Turner will intern in the office of a female legislator in Washington, D.C., next spring.
Turner, who is from Tyrone, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international affairs at UGA. Through a joint venture between UGA’s Honors Program and School of Public and International Affairs, Turner also is taking graduate courses in public administration and plans to complete the master’s degree program in public administration by the time she finishes her undergraduate coursework in spring 2011.
Turner will work four days a week during her internship and then participate in a Friday seminar with the other recipients. Campaign strategists, consultants and other individuals involved in the political arena will facilitate discussions on the inner workings of politics and the importance of running for elected office.
Turner is currently an intern in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and has been involved with Model U.N. and UGA’s chapter of the Roosevelt Institution, a national student-run think tank.
“I am honored to be chosen for such a fantastic program,” said Turner. “My public administration classes have strengthened my analytical and conceptual competency, but I still lack a certain level of experience that is necessary to fully understand the field of public administration. This program will help me gain experience.”
