Avery Durham received an email from the Hinckley Institute in 2019 asking him to consider applying for a Hinckley internship in Washington, D.C.. He applied on a whim and his D.C. experience ended up having a tremendous impact on the next 5 years of his life.

Durham first became familiar with the Hinckley Institute through the forum series class and later completed a D.C. internship with Anacostia Consulting Group. His D.C. internship proved to be transformative in more ways than one. Not only did he gain valuable work experience and independence, but he also met his wife! His internship also helped him figure out his next steps.

"My National Internship especially influenced my career path. It got me more interested in politics and government, so I got a job with the Utah County Elections Office, which excellently prepared me for my current GIS job working with political jurisdictions. Not to mention it also introduced me to several people in the DC area that I have been able to keep in touch with."

He graduated from the U with a degree in Geography, a Global Citizenship Minor and a GIS Certificate. He went on to obtain a Master’s degree in GIS. Durham and his wife loved D.C. so much that they have since moved back.

Durham currently works as a GIS analyst for a political data company in Arlington, VA. He spends his work days reconstructing voting precincts, map making and updating our national voter file with latitudes, longitudes and political jurisdictions.

He is certainly glad that he responded to that email all those years ago!