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Internships | 2004 Intern Profile

Brief Bio:

Christy Castillo was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. Her love for her community drives her love of public service. Over the summers of 1999 and 2000, she had the opportunity to be among the second class of Community Scholars. Community Scholars is a paid internship seeking to build young professionals by exposing them to public policy issues through research. It was at Community Scholars where Christy discovered public policy and a new appreciation for her hometown of El Paso, Texas. While working for Community Scholars, she researched the El Paso – Las Cruces Sustainable Water Project, state highway funding, and the possible collaboration of the University of Texas at El Paso, New Mexico State University, and Universidad Autonoma de Cuidad Juarez coming together to build an institution of higher education.

During her internship at Community Scholars Christy felt like she finally discovered a field worth pursuing and made it a lifelong goal to come back to El Paso and make a positive contribution to her community. She decided to stay close to home and her beloved city during college and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in political science. During college, she worked as a student clerk at the Environmental Management Division of the International Boundary and Water Commission, a bi-national agency committed to maintaining the border between the United States and Mexico.

After her junior year of college, she became a PPIA fellow and attended the Junior Summer Institute at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. Christy’s experience at the Woodrow Wilson School helped solidify her interest in public service while introducing her to the importance of quantitative skills in her field.

Christy is now at the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management, where she is concentrating on economic development in hopes of someday returning to El Paso to help develop the community she loves.

Summary of Internship Experience:

The summer after graduating from college Christy worked for Texas State Senator Eliot Shapleigh. During her internship, she put together a fact book on the city of El Paso for non-profits and other agencies in the area to access information on the city. She also did research that contributes to future policy decisions. Christy had the opportunity to work with individual constituents on their concerns for the community. She helped organize events of activism in the community. Furthermore, she sat in on numerous meetings, where she provided input and participated in state policy making. The internship was extremely valuable, because it gave her a real look at the role a local legislator can play in a community’s success.