The Archer Center

Arturo Barrio Fall 2001

a_barrio@hotmail.com

Arturo Barrio was an Archer Fellow in the Fall of 2001. During his time in DC, Arturo interned with the World Bank Institute in the Governance, Finance and Regulations Department.  He graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2002 and earned a Masters Degree in Applied Public Policy in Madrid, Spain.  After graduation he went back to Mexico where he joined the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry and was appointed as Director for North American Border Affairs. Currently, he is the Director General for the Mesoamerican Integration and Development Project, an initiative geared towards fostering the economic and social development of the region. Arturo believes that his semester as a Bill Archer Fellow was a significant milestone for his personal and professional development.   

Jessica Cassidy Fall 2003

jessica.cassidy@gmail.com

Jessica Cassidy was an Archer Fellow in the Fall of 2003, where she worked for the Department of Health and Human Services on the Medicare Drug Bill. She graduated with Honors from UT-Austin in 2005 and was awarded full scholarships to attend the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. She graduated with both degrees in 2009 after being recognized as the state's first Law Student Pro Bono Award recipient. During her graduate studies, Jessica served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children, worked for the ACLU of Texas, Texas Advocacy Project, and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, participated in three clinics providing civil and criminal legal services, and spent over four years surviving the Texas heat while remaining car-free. Jessica received a prestiguous two year post-graduate fellowship with Equal Justice Works, sponsored by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, to provide consumer protection legal services to survivors of domestic violence with children. She and her fiance Jeff live in Austin with their two feline monsters, Bierje and Singha.

Andrew Chen Spring 2001

andrewlchen@gmail.com

Andrew joined the inaugural Archer class in Spring 2001, interning with the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. After graduating from UT-Austin in 2002 in history and Plan II Honors, he traveled to China to shoot a 35-minute documentary film about economic development and rural education reform as a J. William Fulbright Scholar, working with the Zigen Fund, an education development non-profit. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2007 and joined McKinsey & Company in New York, serving clients in financial services, social sector / non-profit, technology, defense, and consumer retail on issues related to strategy, organization and leadership, governance, and corporate finance. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and works at Huntsman Gay, a private equity buyout firm, but is increasingly thinking about how to return to Washington to re-engage in public service.

Anna Bell Farrar Spring 2001

annabellfarrar@post.harvard.edu

Anna Bell Farrar was part of the Spring 2001 "inaugural" Archer Fellows class. She is pleased to have been a guinea pig for this wonderful program that has continued to grow and thrive. Anna Bell is currently a director at a leading public affairs firm in Washington, D.C. and prior to this, was media and legislative coordinator at the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now Association for Justice.) She served in the Democratic Whip office of current House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD) from 2002 - 2005, and worked on campaigns as well as in the private sector in Austin, TX. Anna Bell received her masters in public policy in 2007 from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her area of concentration was advocacy and management. She likes to explore Washington during her free time, but still sorely misses good Mexican food and the sunny Texas weather.

Gina Garcia Spring 2001

ginamgarcia@hotmail.com

Garcia is an Associate Producer with The CBS Early Show in Washington DC. On a daily basis you can find her producing hard hitting news segments such as the latest news streaming from President Obama’s White House, the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Cash for Clunkers, and all things affecting the nation’s capitol as well as consumer, medical and feature stories. Previously, she was a booker, researcher and field producer with NBC’s Today Show where she garnered an Emmy nomination for producing exclusive segments during the Virginia Tech Massacre. While at the Today Show, she covered the Amish school shootings, Sago Mine tragedy, hurricanes affecting the gulf coast and she traveled to Cuba to report on the conditions of the people and government. Prior to joining the Today Show, she was a researcher, logistics coordinator and aide to NBC’s Meet the Press host and DC Bureau Chief Tim Russert. Prior to that, Garcia served as a futures desk planner for NBC News in Washington, DC working for programs such as Nightly News, MSNBC and with NBC’s local affiliate in Washington DC. Garcia is a sister of Kappa Delta Chi, a national community service sorority and volunteers with various programs including Mentors Inc, the Boys and Girls Club, as a writer and judge for the Hispanic Heritage Awards and co-producer of the annual Capital Awards. Garcia was most recently nominated for the prestigious Outstanding Young Texas Exes Awards and was named contributing Editor of Chula, a digital magazine that empowers young Latinas.

Garcia began her career as an intern with Dateline NBC when during her senior year she was chosen to participate in the Bill Archer Fellowship Program in Washington DC. Garcia graduated with honors and a dual degree from the School of Communications and the School of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a bachelor of journalism in broadcast news and a bachelor of arts in psychology. She currently lives in Washington DC.

Patrick Hendrix Fall 2001

pat.hdx@alumni.utexas.net

Patrick Hendrix, was a Fall 2001 Archer Fellow. A Government and Honors Economics major with minors in Computer Science and Spanish, he had the good fortune of interning at the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) which hired him upon graduation in 2002 as an interim Congressional Liaison while his old boss went on maternity leave. At UNIC he had the pleasure to oversee Fall 2002 Archer Fellow Christina Maas and hire Spring 2003 Archer Fellow Heather Brown. He stayed on at UNIC at various positions and managed to squeeze in an afternoon internship with Congressman Brad Carson of Oklahoma.  Patrick currently works for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Shanghai, China, dealing with international tax and trade issues. He plans to go to graduate school in the future.

Stephanie Montgomery Spring 2002

steph_ut_03@yahoo.com

Stephanie Montgomery joined the spring 2002 class of the Archer Fellows as a Public Relations junior, a casual follower of politics, and a huge fan of Broadway and all things Longhorn. She returned to D.C. following graduation as a staff member in the Office of Public Affairs at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History--the same office where she interned during her semester as an Archer Fellow. In this position she is responsible for publicizing museum exhibition, events, donations and experts, and she has worked on projects ranging from an exhibition on Brown v. Board to the donation of the egg from Aliens.

Christine Powers Fall 2001

christinepowers@alumni.utexas.net

Christine Powers is an associate at Hiersche, Hayward, Drakeley & Urbach, P.C. practicing commercial litigation after graduating cum laude from the SMU Dedman School of Law.  In law school, she was on the mock trial team, received a Trial Advocacy scholarship, and was voted Executive Board Member of the Year of the Board of Advocates.  Christine has been an active big sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters for several years in Dallas.  She is also active in the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and served as a volunteer voter protection attorney in the 2008 general election. Christine interned at the White House in Fall 2001 in the First Lady's Projects Office.  At the University of Texas at Austin, she was President of Beta Alpha Rho Pre-Law Fraternity and founded the Archer Alumni Association in 2002.

Mohan Rajagopalan Fall 2003

mohan20@gmail.com

After completing his Archer Fellowship in the Fall of 2003, Mohan Rajagopalan returned to Austin where he worked as in intern at a Public Relations and startup Software company. In between these jobs he was also a senior legislative aide at the Texas capital for a special session on school finance. After graduating in December 2004, Mohan began working for Accenture Consulting. As a management consultant within their Public Service practice, Mohan would help state and local governments improve the processes and systems that were used to provide benefits to citizens. He specialized in voter registration and welfare programs during his 4.5 years with Accenture. In addition, Mohan worked with High Tech clients to help them improve their sales operations. In the Fall of 2009, Mohan started the fulltime MBA program at Georgetown University where he is concentrating his studies on Business Development and Strategy. Mohan has remained active within the Archer community serving as the Alumni Scholarship Director for 3 years.

Brittany Ross Fall 2003

britteross@hotmail.com

Brittany Ross was a member of the Fall 2003 class of Archer Fellows as a dual degree student in Communication Studies and Government. While with the program Brittany worked at EMILY's List in their Major gifts and Development department. After graduating in May 2004, she worked as a political media consultant in Austin before embarking on a roller coaster of campaigns across the US. She has worked on campaigns in Texas, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Hawai'i, & North Carolina.  In 2007 she was the state Finance Director for both Congresswoman Hirono and Senator Barack Obama, before leaving to work as a Regional Finance Director for Kay Hagan.  Brittany has recently relocated again to the South working as Finance Director to elect the first female Governor in the State of Tennesee.