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January 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics' founding. Over the past decade we have welcomed thousands of speakers, hosted hundreds of fellows seminars, funded thousands of internships across the globe, run voter registration drives, mentored tomorrow's public service leaders, and hosted thousands of hours of civic engagement programming. All of this has been possible because of you – our supporters and community.

To commemorate the IOP’s anniversary, outgoing director David Axelrod will sit down with former IOP Pritzker Fellow and current U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to offer perspective on the Biden Administration’s approach to foreign policy.

A former deputy national security advisor for President Barack Obama, Blinken – who became the United States’ 71st secretary of state in January 2021 – has been at the center of foreign policy issues facing the Biden administration. From human rights and the war in Ukraine to competing with China and building coalitions to address ongoing crises with food insecurity and climate change, Blinken has prioritized diplomacy as a tool for taking on the many challenges facing the world today.

Additionally, new IOP director, Heidi Heitkamp, will sit down with five alumni from the past 10 years to discuss the many pathways to making a difference.

• Abdul Dosunmu, AB ‘13, Founder & Chief Strategist of the Young Black Lawyers’ Organizing Coalition (YBLOC)
• Erin Simpson, AB ‘15, Program Officer for Tech & Society at the Ford Foundation
• Maira Khwaja, AB ‘16, Director of Public Strategy at the Invisible Institute
• Dylan Wells, AB ‘19, Campaign Reporter at The Washington Post
• Devshi Mehrotra, AB ‘19, Co-founder & CEO of JusticeText

At 5:00 p.m. alumni, former fellows & staff, board of advisor members, university partners, and other friends of the IOP are welcome to join us for a mixer.

On Saturday, UChicago alumni, current students, faculty & staff, join the IOP for a day of service to celebrate the IOP’s 10 year anniversary! We are partnering with the below organizations:

• Greater Chicago Food Depository: Repack, sort and organize donated food items and join their mission to end hunger
• Chicago Youth Programs: Serve the Chicago youth community by cleaning, organizing and preparing their programming space
• United Way: Help individuals meet their immediate basic needs and work alongside neighborhood partners to make kits to support children and families

Upon return to campus, fourth-year students and graduating seniors are invited to join us for a luncheon with IOP director Heidi Heitkamp to provide recommendations and input on the IOP’s alumni group. If you are graduating this year and want to join, please mark as such on the registration form.

This event celebrates the Institute of Politics’ 10-year anniversary. Since opening in January 2013, the non-partisan IOP has welcomed over 2,000 guest speakers, hosted 178 Pritzker Fellows as part of its resident and visiting fellows program, supported over 2,500 student internships around the world and helped nearly 1,500 students participate in student-led civic engagement projects.

A REQUEST FOR OUR ALUMNI & STUDENTS

The IOP is successful because of our amazing students, speakers, fellows, staff, and supporters. But without David, none of the accomplishments from the past 10 years would have been possible. We are curating a book to present to David and would love to include your personal reflections. If you are interested in participating, please use this template and submit your document here. Save the file as “last name.first name.”