Victory Institute has named Aliya Bean the 2018-19 David Bohnett Victory Congressional Fellow.
This competitive fellowship brings one outstanding young LGBTQ professional to Capitol Hill for an intensive fellowship that includes a yearlong placement in the office of a co-chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus. The fellow supports the Executive Director of the LGBT Equality Caucus as the only other staffer. As a fellow, Bean will also participate in a leadership development program that explores: the policy-making process, how to run a successful campaign and the pressing issues facing the LGBTQ community. Aliya Bean is only the second woman recipient of the Victory Congressional Fellowship.
Aliya Bean has dedicated her career to progressive advocacy and public policy. For the past two years, she has lived in Washington, DC, and worked on reproductive health and health care policy at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Prior to joining the National Partnership, Aliya worked on hate crimes and civil rights issues at the Anti-Defamation League, and LGBTQ policy at PFLAG National.
Before moving to DC, Aliya served as a member of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth where she co-authored policy recommendations for state agencies and Massachusetts legislators. She also volunteered for Greater Boston PFLAG as a Safe Schools facilitator and speaker, educating young people on LGBTQ identities in public schools across the state. For three years, Aliya worked as a research assistant at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, researching wrongful convictions for their innocence project as well as human trafficking for their gender justice project.
Aliya graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. As part of her honors degree, Aliya completed a thesis on the evolution of female friendship and the development of a lesbian identity from the Progressive Era to World War II. Brandeis University recognized her thesis for its originality and excellence with the Giller-Sagan Prize for best undergraduate paper in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Following the Victory Institute Fellowship, Aliya will be pursuing a Master of Public Policy in the hopes of engaging in academic work that gives voice to the most marginalized and unearths the forces that shape social policy.
Aliya is heading to the Hill determined to continue her advocacy for the LGBTQ community and eager to dive headfirst into Congressional policymaking.
