Q&A with UNC alumna Taylor Jo Isenberg

Taylor Jo Isenberg, who graduated from UNC in 2010, was named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Law and Policy.” She is also the vice president of networks for the Roosevelt Institute, one of the largest student policy organizations in the nation with over 100 chapters in 38 states. Prior to being vice president, she also served as national director and deputy director of the institute’s campus network.

She is one of nine women on the law and policy list and a fellow with the Emerging Leaders in Public Service program at New York University.

She spoke with Daily Tar Heel staff writer Sneha Kumar about the institute, being named to the Forbes list and leadership.

The Daily Tar Heel: Why did you join the Roosevelt Institute?

Taylor Isenberg: I have always been interested in economics and social issues. I went to an interest meeting for the UNC chapter of the institute in my freshman year in 2006. I immediately knew that these were the people I wanted to work with for my career, and that this is what I wanted to do with my life. After I graduated, I worked for the Foreign Policy Center for the campus chapter of the institute for a while, before I moved to D.C. to work in foreign policy. In 2011, I realized that I really loved working in the Roosevelt Institute, so I went back and have been working for the institute since.

DTH: What is the Roosevelt Institute?

TI: It is a medium-sized nonprofit organization of a few thousand people dedicated to getting more young people involved in influencing the social issues that affect them.

DTH: What are the social issues that the institute tries to influence?

TI: Energy issues, environmental problems, economic and social inequalities. A major issue with the government today is that the people who make policy changes seem to be an unreachable group of people who affect policy according to their own wishes. Many people don’t realize that policy makers are influenced by the people who are most directly impacted by the changes.

DTH: What do you do at the institute?

TI: I work for the campus network on student policy. I am in charge of a nine-person team. I work on fundraising, organization development, the impact we are trying to make and how to achieve it, and (I) cooperate with outside people and organizations to help reach our goals.

DTH: Why do you think you got named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Law and Policy?”

TI: I believe it is a nomination process, and I was nominated, as many other leaders at the Roosevelt Institute have been in the past. There are so many remarkable people at the Roosevelt Institute.

DTH: How did the institute help you in becoming a better leader?

TI: I have always been a big believer in the idea of groups of people coming together to work for change. Through my work at the institute, I have learned to support different groups of people and encourage them to really make a difference.

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