Political consulting is a field that has existed for many years, yet there’s never been a campus organization dedicated to the field, until now. This semester, a group of political science students is forming the University’s first political consulting RSO, Illinois Political Consulting.

While IPC hasn’t held its first general meeting yet, it is excited to provide students with hands-on consulting experience with real firms. IPC plans to work with different political agents, such as nonprofits, think tanks, political candidates and more. 

Agnes Akenou, IPC president and senior in LAS, first gained consulting experience through participating in Illinois Business Consulting. She felt the experience was a valuable learning opportunity and wanted to bring it to the political science field. 

That’s when Akenou brought the idea to Sydney Tate, IPC president and junior in LAS. Both agreed that this organization would bring necessary opportunities to a field lacking real-world consulting experience. 

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is really great, and I wish there was something like this for students in political science,’” Akenou said. “I was aware that political consulting was a field, so with me being a senior, I was like, let me pass down this idea so (Tate) can start it and build it up.’”

Tate and Akenou used their prior consulting skills to help their vision come to life, but they couldn’t do it alone. So, they reached out to other political science majors who would be interested. 

That’s when Rhian Dixon-Yearby, IPC head of internal communications and junior in LAS, got involved. Dixon-Yearby had done similar work through her college, which taught her valuable life skills. 

“I loved being able to have a tangible impact on the ongoings of an organization, and also just help out,” Dixon-Yearby said. 

All of the current board members believed that consulting work was very beneficial for their careers and would assist others in reaching their goals. So, they wanted to provide ample opportunities to other students through multiple levels of involvement.

According to Akenou, there are three levels of involvement in IPC: consultants, project managers and senior managers. Consultants do the groundwork for the projects, including research and organizing the presentation before delivering it to clients. 

Overseeing the consultants are project managers, who, according to Akenou, are the brains of the operation. They communicate with the client to learn about their problem, then bring it back to the team to break down the issue and create a solution.  

Finally, senior managers oversee two projects at once. The senior managers ensure everything is running smoothly with the projects and report back to the board. Senior managers allow the board to handle other responsibilities while also understanding the members’ work. 

With the different levels of consulting work, the board hopes members will find a position that maximizes what they take away from the experience. 

“The main thing I would want to see them gain is, specifically for the ones who want to work in political consulting organizations postgrad, to get that experience exactly how they’re gonna operate, essentially, within their political consulting firms,” Tate said. “Also, develop strategy skills, organizational skills, professional skills and things like that to take with them.”

IPC isn’t only for students interested in working in political consulting; it’s open to anyone. Many of the skills taught through the experience can be applied to any job, not just consulting-based or political-based ones. 

Ulrich Lazatin, IPC treasurer and sophomore in LAS, is currently pre-law, but he got involved with the organization because he saw significant benefits for members of any major. 

“I think IPC is a great way to develop self-advocacy,” Lazatin said. “You’re trying to get the best path for your client, you’re trying to communicate effectively, to streamline, to give deliverables, and that’s something very important for pre-law students and for any job.”

On paper, the experience is great for members’ resumes, helping them show their campus involvements. But the board hopes that the organization not only boosts members’ involvements but also their knowledge of professional and organizational skills. 

“I feel like, for a lot of majors within the college, you might leave college and think, ‘Huh, I learned a lot about reading, a lot about writing, but I don’t know how to transfer these to the real world, I don’t know how to get a job with these skills,’” Dixon-Yearby said. “So, hopefully, this will help them do it.”

The board has spent a lot of time behind the scenes preparing for the start of its organization. From finding companies to collaborate with to recruiting consultants and managers, they’ve already put a lot of effort into IPC.

Now, the board is excited to kick things off and eager to meet the new members at the first general meeting. 

“I’m looking forward to the first general body meeting,” Dixon-Yearby said. “Meeting all the consultants, seeing all the different personalities, I think it will be fun.”

With no other political consulting groups setting a precedent at the University, IPC is uniquely situated to change the political consulting landscape on campus. Hoping to leave a legacy, Akenou is optimistic about the organization’s future growth. 

“I don’t know how things are going to turn out,” Akenou said. “But I see a lot of potential in this organization, I foresee it being really big.”

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