or teacher Colleen Jones, she puts the emphasis on participatory in her Participatory Government classes. Reading isn’t enough. She wants to expose her students to opportunities and careers in the arenas of law, government, and politics.
How do you empower students to see other females thriving in areas where they are typically underrepresented? For Jones, it’s simple. She’s created an interactive speaker series over Zoom featuring Academy of the Holy Names alumnae who are experts in these fields. First up, Andrea Riccio ’05.
Riccio is a Principal at Michael Best Strategies LLC. Andrea has spent her 15+ year career in political strategy, government relations, and public affairs.
“Holy Names is more service minded than I think I ever realized when I was there and I didn’t know how much that would impact my life. I believe it led to my calling for public service.”
Riccio says Holy Names gave her confidence. She was never afraid to raise her hand and speak up “This translated into confidence in co-ed classes in college and into my career in a male-dominated field,” Riccio says “I never think twice about speaking up because I was prepared to do so at Holy Names.”
What advice did she have for AHN seniors? “Step up, have a strong work ethic, and advocate for yourself. Make sure to intern, network, and ask people to get together and for their advice – they want to help and like being asked!”