As a girl growing up in Zeeland, Michigan, I had a lot of dreams about what my future might look like. There were the immediate dreams (making the basketball team, getting all A’s) and the future dreams (going to college, finding a great career, having a family). Some of those dreams were realized, and others … Read More
The House passed the omnibus, which defines the budget for the fiscal year 2017, on Wednesday in a 309-118 vote, with four members abstaining, and the Senate passed it today with a vote of 79-18. Advocacy can be hard sometimes. It can take years to get a “win” like the passage of a bill in … Read More
I vaguely remember the rise of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. I can recall hearing stories of disease and death, but not really understanding what that meant—the devastation this horrible disease was causing families and communities. I don’t think the disease became even a little bit real to me until I saw the television movie “The … Read More
This post was originally published on the Hill. Recently, when talking about development and humanitarian crises around the world, a colleague commented to me, “The world is on fire. Too many of us are watching it burn.” While this may seem like a pessimistic view, the truth is that the world is facing an unprecedented … Read More
Foreign assistance is a complex issue with a lot of misconceptions. Lisa Bos, one of World Vision’s policy advisers answers questions to give some clarity on foreign aid.
Earlier this month Lisa Bos, World Vision director of Government Relations, shared an update on U.S. foreign assistance programs. Today, in a piece originally published on The Hill, Lisa writes about how a meeting with a family in Kenya reinforced why these accounts are so important. I first met John and Grace Onywoo in March. … Read More
This September I celebrated my fourth anniversary at World Vision. Working on the Advocacy and Government Relations team for such a wonderful organization has been some of the most rewarding time of my D.C. career, which has now spanned almost 20 years! Sometimes people are surprised that World Vision has an office in Washington, D.C., … Read More
Lisa Bos, World Vision’s senior policy adviser for health, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), has been working on the other side of the Water for the World Act for the past three years– on Capitol Hill, in the halls of Congress. She knows everything that has gone into passing this bill and even … Read More
I just celebrated the start of my 17th year in Washington, D.C. Coming here in 1997 from a pretty small town in Michigan was a little scary, but I was a political junkie and where else do you go but D.C.? I have worked in the legislative/political world my entire career, spending years on Capitol … Read More