When Ashley Chen ‘25 scored an internship this summer at Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, she was the latest in a long line of Randolph-Macon students to work with the national lobbying firm. Better yet, her summer role is one that has launched successful careers on Capitol Hill for several RMC alumni.

The connection between RMC and Miller/Wenhold began through Amanda Kadilak ’03, who worked as a full-time employee at the firm when it was smaller and looking for interns in the 2010s. The relationship has continued to flourish, with RMC political science professor Elliott Fullmer serving as a faculty advisor for RMC students interning with Miller/Wenhold nearly every summer, and occasionally during January Term too.

“It’s attractive as a destination for students because they allow their interns to do real work,” Fullmer said. “They go to committee hearings, they take notes that are put into memos that are sent along to clients. From the beginning, I could tell this wasn’t your standard kind of photocopy-and-answer-the-phone internship.”

The commitment to hands-on experiences for students holds a close similarity with Randolph-Macon’s small-college ethos and has made Miller/Wenhold a great fit for students looking to gain the skills needed to break into the realm of policy and politics.

One alumnus who transformed the internship into a career is Ty Mills ’22, who interned during J-Term, then briefly worked at the firm as a full-time employee after graduation. From there, he secured a coveted role as a Cloakroom Floor Assistant for House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be in the position I am now,” Mills said.

A unique position, Mills uses a baseball metaphor to describe his role. If the Speaker is the closer, tasked with getting legislation passed on the House floor, then Mills is the bullpen catcher, working in the cloakroom just off the House floor to make sure the congressman has what he needs, and the operations run smoothly.

On the hill, he runs into Nicky Hazelbaker ’23, who interned with Miller/Wenhold during the summer of 2022. Working with Minnesota Representative Pete Stauber, Hazelbaker was recently promoted to Legislative Aide. He similarly credits the firm for helping him break into the industry.

“The first day I got there, they wanted to know what I was interested in and what I wanted to get out of it,” Hazelbaker explained. “Because of that, I got to meet a lot of really good people and got a really good idea of how things work up here.”

“They all have been great,” Miller/Wenhold CEO and founding partner Paul Miller said of the RMC interns. “They put in the time and the work, and really learned. Some of them have been very, very impressive.”

Miller/Wenhold has a broad range of clients, generally with interests that are non-partisan, including transportation, manufacturing, geospatial mapping, and more. In a polarized political climate, students delve into important issues without picking sides on hot-button topics.

“It’s the public policy-oriented students that succeed best here,” Fullmer said. “You’re looking at the nuts and bolts of pending legislation, you’re helping clients understand what’s happening on Capitol Hill with lawmakers.”

The culminating experience of the internship is a 10-minute pitch on a bill of the intern’s choice, delivered to the Miller/Wenhold staff, who play the role of a congressperson or senator. Chen, a political science major with a minor in economics, gave her pitch on restrictions for independent contractors. Wiley Eubank ‘26—also a political science major, but with a minor in journalism and plans for law school—delivered a presentation on a small business regulatory improvements act at the end of his internship this past J-Term.

“Washington is a pretty complicated place,” Eubank said. “There’s so many nuances to how you make an ask of a staffer or congressman…I learned a lot about how these people communicate with each other to get stuff done.”

Beyond the real work and contributions students bring to the organization, Paul Miller values the opportunity to help young people break into the industry.

“I started out my career being given an opportunity when I didn’t have any experience,” Miller said. “For me, it was important to do the same for the next generation.”