From the president
Abigail Ferrone is a senior at Simmons University with a passion for disability rights. She is the President of the Student Organization for Disability Awareness at Simmons. In addition, she has lobbied for the Tourette's Association of America and done informational "know your rights" events with the Disability Law Center of Boston. She also completed two Congressional Internships. As a Newman Fellow, Abigail will continue her advocacy work with a social media campaign focused on educating students at Simmons and throughout Boston on different disabilities and available resources.
Personal Statement
As a Newman Civic Fellow, I hope to continue my leadership journey and am excited to develop my skills further. My experience as President of the Student Organization for Disability Awareness, the Tourette Association of America (TAA), and two congressional internships have heavily informed the work I currently do and hope to do in the future. As the President of the Simmons Organization for Disability Awareness, I noticed a trend of students not knowing about all of the available resources given to them by Simmons and the City of Boston, which I will aim to address through my fellowship project. Throughout my time at the TAA as a Rising Leader, I helped them advocate for Tourette Syndrome research funding on Capitol Hill. This interest in lobbying then pushed me to pursue my first congressional internship with Massachusetts Representative Jake Auchincloss, a member of the Tourette Caucus, and then my second congressional internship with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. These experiences working for Congressional Representatives have taught me many things, but above all, they taught me what strong leadership looks like. Through this Fellowship, I hope to continue the development of my leadership skills and create my way of leading.