By the time Anthony Fratto graduated from the U in 2017, he had already completed four internships through the Hinckley Institute of Politics. Today, he has a master’s degree from MIT and has accepted a job as an energy consultant for a company in San Francisco that works with electric utilities, regulators and policymakers to decarbonize the electricity sector.

“I’d say about 90% of the answers I was able to give while interviewing for this job came from my work experience and lessons learned from various internships through Hinckley,” said Fratto. “All of my internship work allowed me to work on a wide range of topics and gave me an incredible amount of responsibility.”

Fratto received degrees in chemical engineering and political science at the U, and a master’s from MIT’s Technology and Policy Program in their College of Engineering. He believes his involvement with Hinckley gave him a competitive edge when it came to applying for graduate school.

“I never imagined I could get into MIT for an engineering master’s,” said Fratto. “I know what helped me stand out was that I wasn’t a normal engineering student. I was heavily involved on campus as a student leader and thanks to Hinckley, I had this great internship experience with places like the Utah Governor’s Office of Energy Development and the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. My graduate program was all about combining the quantitative with that of economics, law and policy, so my time at the U with the chemical engineering program and Hinckley set me up perfectly.”

Fratto completed two internships in Utah, one in Washington, D.C. and another in Dublin, Ireland. Beyond the invaluable work experience, Fratto said it was the experiences and people he met that truly made Hinckley internships unique.

“The best part was that I lived with amazing people who became really close friends of mine,” said Fratto. “We planned museum or congressional trips together, visited different cities on the weekend together and brunched every chance we got.”

In addition to internships, Fratto became the editor of the Hinckley Journal. His standout involvement with Hinckley got the attention of former director Kirk Jowers.

“Jowers asked to meet with me and we ended up walking around campus for about an hour,” said Fratto. “He asked what I was interested in and what my goals were. It was amazing to me that someone cared this much about their students and that they took time out of their incredibly busy day to listen and make me feel supported and encouraged. Those positive and supportive memories will always stick out to me.”

While Fratto was always interested in politics, he said the growth opportunities provided by the Hinckley Institute are certainly not only beneficial for political science majors.

“Hinckley helped me become a better student, worker and leader,” said Fratto. “The internships especially helped me figure out what I don’t like to do, which I think is a great lesson to learn during your collegiate career.”

The Hinckley Institute was founded in 1965 and its mission is to promote civic engagement at all levels and to provide transformative experiences that inspire students to be more thoughtful and involved in the world around them. Since then, they have placed more than 8,000 students in local, global, national and legislative internships.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that no matter what type of student you are, from a first-semester freshman to an experienced graduate student, we have a substantive internship to suit your skill set,” said Jason Perry, Hinckley Institute director.