When Kate Yeager, KLN ‘18, graduated from Klein College of Media and Communication in December of 2018, she took a leap of faith. After completing an impressive string of internships during her time in college, she moved to Washington, D.C., with only her determination, love for politics and PR skills to guide her path. Now, her résumé boasts an internship in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, a job with the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign and her latest position as a communications and development associate at the American Economic Liberties Project.
As a student, Yeager completed over half a dozen internships, jobs and professional experiences with student organizations. She solidified her love of politics as a press and digital intern with Mayor Kenney, a research and communications intern for Governor Tom Wolf’s reelection campaign and as a communications and events intern with Delaware County Chamber of Commerce.
“Kate was always interested in politics,” says Public Relations Department Chair Gregg Feistman, who worked closely with Yeager in PRowl Public Relations and Temple’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). “She worked on political campaigns on the state level before going national with the Bernie Sanders campaign. She very much wants to be an agent of change, which is more important than ever right now.”
After moving to D.C. following graduation, Yeager faced difficulties finding success in the job market. She was interested in working on Capitol Hill, even knowing that any internship she found there would be unpaid. When she landed a press internship for the Office of the Speaker of the House, she accepted enthusiastically, anticipating the experience being well worth the lack of funding.
When the internship ended, Yeager was offered a job on Capitol Hill for a far lower salary than she had hoped. That’s when she and her brother, a college student at the time, stumbled across an application to intern for the Sanders 2020 campaign. As both were Sanders supporters, their mother encouraged them to apply. Though her brother was not accepted, Yeager felt that advancing to this position on the front lines of a campaign that she already loved was exactly what she was looking for.
In this new position, Yeager was accepted into the first cohort of communication interns the campaign had hired. Since she already had a few years of experience, trial and error under her belt, she was a valuable asset in developing a media monitoring program and exchanging feedback directly with the campaign manager and national director of communications.
So when the campaign manager called her into his office about a month into the position, she was elated to hear that he was offering her a job as his assistant.
“I always say it’s so crazy, because the whole ‘job’ thing just didn’t happen right away,” Yeager says. “When I was in my last semester, I applied to at least 300 jobs. And then I got this job, and I didn’t even apply for it.”
As the campaign came to an end, Yeager was forced to move on from the fast-paced campaign trail, but quickly picked up her current job at the American Economic Liberties Project, a five-month-old startup. As the communications and development associate, she enjoys being able to create relatable, engaging content for a growing brand. She is also aligned with their progressive mission of influencing legislation to regulate monopolies and large corporations.
Though she didn’t become completely invested in politics until 2016, Yeager says that political communication is where she’s meant to be. Depending on which candidates run in 2024, she may even consider campaigning again.
“To be a part of a movement that is bigger than yourself is really something special,” she says.