I am thrilled to welcome a number of interns to my team for the fall semester!
Working in both the State House and the district offices, interns will work on a variety of different issues like public health, revenue, and higher ed. Interns do so much central to our office’s work and will assist in researching legislation, communicating with constituents, note-taking during meetings, and more. We couldn’t do the work we do without them. I am so grateful to have them on my team and delighted they will get the opportunity to learn about the legislative process and experience the work our office does in the State House and the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district.
Please meet our fall public health fellows and interns.
Public Health Fellows
Sameen Ansari
Sameen Ansari is a medical student at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Michigan. She is currently taking time off from medical school to pursue a MPH in Health Policy at Harvard. Sameen has been learning how to advocate for disadvantaged groups and is excited to continue to do so at Senator Comerford’s office.
Grace Jimenez
Grace Jimenez is a graduate student at Boston University School of Public Health focusing on Health Law and Policy. Her academic and professional interests lie at the intersection of health equity, systemic injustice, and environmental health outcomes. She plans to attend law school next year to further her study of health law. Grace grew up in the Midwest and attended the University of Iowa where she studied English. As a student she grew her passion for politics and community activism, which led to her professional work surrounding violence prevention, women’s health, and social justice activism, for the last 3 years. In her spare time, Grace enjoys skiing, teaching yoga, backpacking and listening to podcasts.
John Nordberg
In 2019, John walked away from a 22-year career in pharmaceutical and biotechnology quality assurance to pursue public health. He is currently a graduate student at Boston University School of Public Health concentrating in Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Health Policy & Law. John, a New Jersey native, moved to Boston in 2018. The move to Massachusetts was an easy decision as he enjoys spending time in New England, especially coastal Maine and Cape Cod. His interests include science, politics, and baked goods.
Mike Scinto
Mike is a second-year law student at Northeastern University School of Law with a focus on health law and policy. Born and raised in Connecticut, Mike most recently served as a teacher in New Haven, where he helped facilitate a free after-school tutoring program for low-income high schoolers. Before that, he worked as a policy intern at Pennsylvania’s largest advocacy association for people with intellectual disabilities, helping the government relations team analyze critical regulatory proposals affecting the state’s Medicaid program. He has long been keenly interested in the intersection of healthcare and social services, with his undergraduate research focusing primarily on Medicaid, Medicare, and the American social safety net.
Olivia Sonderman
Olivia Sonderman is a master’s student in the Health Policy program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As a medical student from Nebraska, she is excited to apply her interests in health equity and rural health to beautiful Western Massachusetts.
District & State House Interns
Adia Bennett
Adia Bennett is a senior at Northampton High School. She is passionate about environmentalism and hopes to major in environmental studies in college. Adia is a co-leader of her high school’s environmental club and is involved in the Northampton Sunrise Movement. She is also president of the class of 2020 and captain of her cross country team.
Mia Forrest
Mia Forrest is a junior at UMass Amherst studying Political Science and Spanish. She is originally from Attleboro, MA, but for the past year she has lived in East Greenwich, RI, a town about thirty minutes from the Mass border. This past summer, Mia interned for Congressman Langevin in Rhode Island, which increased her interest in working in federal or state-level politics when she graduates. Next semester Mia is studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain where she hopes to increase her Spanish-speaking skills. In her free time she enjoys drinking cold brew coffee, staying active, and trying new restaurants with her friends!
Natalie Henriquez
Natalie Henriquez is a second-year student at Suffolk University, pursuing a double major in History and Law. As a student on the pre-law track, she is specifically interested in patent law, immigration law, and criminal law. In her free time, she enjoys running, baking, yoga, and reading.
Brittni Larcom
Brittni Larcom is a senior at UMass Amherst studying political science who is very excited to be back learning more about state politics after spending a summer interning in Washington DC for the Department of Health and Human Services. She’s excited to intern in this office to learn about the Senate side of Massachusetts politics, and she is interested to see how district offices compare to the work in Boston. Previously, Brittni has worked for a nonprofit where she focused on higher education accessibility, food insecurity, and youth voter empowerment. She hopes to take all her experiences into a professional role in state politics after she graduates this fall.
Danyella Mulunda
Danyella Mulunda is a third year Political Science and Legal Studies double major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Originally from the D.R. Congo, she moved to the U.S. with the aspiration of studying International Law. She hopes to one day represent her home country in a global governance institution, specifically regarding matters of trade and human rights. In addition to interning for Senator Comerford’s office, Danyella is a member of UMass’ Mock Trial Team as well as the Fundraising Chair of the school’s NAACP Branch.
Kendall Sirica
Kendall is a current undergraduate student at Boston University, studying Political Science and Deaf Studies. Throughout high school and continuing into college, she has worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and has seen first-hand how difficult it is for families to have their children’s medical and educational needs met, due to cost and inaccessibility. Seeing these struggles made the choice of what to study in school easy – with a career in politics Kendall will be able to represent families like those she has worked with on a larger scale to make sure every child’s needs are met.
Khue Tran
Khue is currently a sophomore at Boston College double majoring in Philosophy and Political Science. She was born in Vietnam, but moved to Southern California at the age of eight with her parents and older brother. She’s an eventer, and likes to play polo, watch movies with her friends, and travel in her free time.
