The Spring 2026 Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics) fellows class features a wide array of perspectives, from former senators to journalists. Now, halfway through the semester, their weekly discussion groups are in full swing.
Each semester, GU Politics welcomes a fresh cohort of fellows, consisting of a diverse mix of politicians, veteran strategists, and media experts. These individuals serve as a bridge between the classroom and the front lines of government, leading weekly discussion groups, hosting office hours, and participating in campus panels.
Before beginning their time on the Hilltop, the Voice met with the fellows to discuss why they wanted to join the initiative, advice they would give to their younger selves, and skills they want to master.
The Voice met with all full-time fellows. The Voice was unable to meet with GU Politic’s visiting fellows, Mehdi Hasan and Julia Nesheiwat due to their limited availability.
The Voice: What made you want to become a GU Politics Fellow?
Richard Walters: I became Chief of Staff at the RNC at a very young age, 27 years old. It was the youngest of either party, and it was through various different events that led to it. The chief of staff at the time resigned. They had to find someone, and it worked out. But I was always in the early part, was always discounted by the Washington establishment, because of my age, what they deemed as lack of experience and whatnot. I think that I overcame that and have had a relatively decent career since, but it was important to me.
I decided back then when people discounted me because of my age, that I would work on my part to give back to young people who want to be in Washington, whether Republican or Democrat, doesn’t matter. People who are eager and excited and want to try and do something in this town—I felt it was important for me to try and be a mentor and give back, because I would have loved to have that at a young age.
I remember when I first started at the RNC, one of my first interactions there was with someone in the leadership and I was very excited to meet the individual—who will remain nameless today, at least—who was just totally dismissive and rude. I thought to myself at the time, I will never be like this. Like, you don’t have to be rude. There’s this culture in DC where if you have had success you are dismissive to people who have not had the same level of success. That’s why I felt like I wanted to give back.
Monica Popp: I have several colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have done the fellowship over the years, and have had a tremendous experience and had nothing but great things to say about the program. Then, I would tell you that the reason for doing this is 50% selfish, and then 50% to give. The 50% selfish is to be inspired by students, to take some of your energy and take it back into my real world, and learn from you all.
The other 50% is that I tend to reject a lot of the negativity and cynicism, such as how it’s being used right now in terms of whether or not to go into public service, or whether or not to go into politics. Is this sort of the end of us? I wanted to do this to help students realize there’s a more positive viewpoint out there. There are a lot of opportunities for you as you embark on your career. So I thought this would be a great way to not just share my experiences and for you all to sort of share your experience, but also some of your concerns and challenges that you’re facing—either entering the job market or thinking about your degree and the development of your degree, and so that’s why I ultimately applied. I’m really honored to be here and super excited for it.
Stephen Martinko: I’ve had tremendous respect for this institution, going back to my experience in Jesuit high school. I’ve had the opportunity to learn from people throughout my career and get mentorship and guidance and support. To have conversations with students and share what I’ve learned, and the opportunity to learn from them on a regular basis, it’s important to get a broad perspective that informs the work that you do, from not just those that might be your direct peers, but also people from various demographics and ages. I’m excited to get those perspectives in our discussion groups, because the work that I do and the platform that I work for is very popular among younger people.
The Voice: What’s a piece of advice you would give to your college-aged self that might inspire students today?
Jon Tester: I’m not sure it’s inspiring. You accomplish anything you want with hard work. But the truth is that anything you want to accomplish in life, you can do it if you focus and apply yourself and work hard. I mean, there are some limitations. If you’re 6’7”, you probably can’t be an astronaut.
Popp: I’d say a few things, but one specifically for students at Georgetown, because by all definition, you are the most elite, right? It’s a reminder to every student here about how you got here in the first place. Stop being so scared. Take some risks. The best career advice I ever got was to do your current job. Stop always thinking about what’s next. The next will come to you if you’re doing your current job well. And the last thing I’m gonna say is don’t be a jerk. No one likes a jerk.
The other thing I tell you about risks is, if you don’t take risks for your own life and your career, who’s going to take them for you? This is your life to design. When you get stuck in that fear mode, especially when you’re young, you’re forgetting that you’re wasting your time, and it’s much better to learn from mistakes than to just sit there, stalled out.
Martinko: I’m 46 years old, and still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up. And I think the younger version of me thought that you had to have every step of your career mapped out and that you really needed to go in a straight line, and that’s just not the way life works. I got my first job on Capitol Hill because I had a home run in a softball game. You zig, you zag, you move. Back and forth. Sometimes you have ups, sometimes you have downs. But it’s just taking advantage of opportunities and being willing to take risks. I think many of us are risk averse, and it’s oftentimes the biggest risks that have the biggest payoffs. And if you take a risk and you fail, oftentimes you learn a tremendous amount from that failure, and it puts you in a position to succeed in the future. And I’ve definitely had failures. I’ve definitely taken risks. Some of them have paid off. Some of them haven’t, but you stick to it and recognize that it’s not a straight line path. It’s a journey.
Walters: Don’t take yourself so seriously, which I know is an easy thing for me to say, hard thing for people to do. I was one of those students. I worked in college and was involved politically in college and was focused on the next political thing, because I had it all figured out of what I wanted to do. My background was in education policy and I went to work on a Master’s in education policy. Guess how many times I’ve used a degree in education policy? None, right? My advice would be, be serious, but don’t take yourself too seriously, though. Go with the flow. Be open to the plan deviating, be open to the perfect plan that you have in mind not working out because it will work out somehow.
The Voice: If you could instantly master one skill right now what would that be?
Martinko: Speak more languages. I’m monolingual, and almost everyone that I work with speaks more than two languages and does business in not their native language. And it is just incredibly impressive, and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to be able to do, to communicate across cultures. I dream that we’ll have headphones one day that you can do real time translation to any language. And I just think that would be amazing for travel, for business, and for building relationships across cultures.
Popp: Ever since I left Capitol Hill, I have this habit where I take one night a week to learn something new each quarter. So I’ve done things like painting lessons, singing lessons, guitar lessons. I’ve kind of picked different hobbies when I didn’t really have that time, especially on Capitol Hill. I’m not good at any of it, and that’s okay. I think it was more, “how do I get good at just exploring and being open to learning new things all the time?” And that’s been a really fun part of the stage of my career. What I will tell you is, I’m a tennis addict. I took it up in 2020 and I really aspire to go pro. It’s not happening at 46 years old, but in the spring, during my office hours, I intend to take something out on the tennis court. I would love to play a student who plays tennis.
Tester: It’s interesting because this question is asked in a different way than what I usually ask. I would say, and maybe it’s just because of the time we’re in, if I could master a way to bring people together better, I think that would be pretty cool. With people being so damn divided, it worries me. I wish there was some way that I had a skill that would help remedy that, to help with that problem.
The Voice: Any final thoughts?
Tester: I’m very much looking forward to this, we’re going to get as much out of this as we give. I just hope the students feel free to be able to go anywhere they want to go, because it’s for them, ultimately.
Popp: I like to tell people, ask me anything. You won’t offend me. I’m here to be helpful and to learn from you. And so keep the conversation open. Keep your minds open as you come to the discussion groups, and frankly, let’s have fun!
Martinko: I think a lot of people come to Georgetown, especially in the McCourt School, because they want to have an impact, or make a difference, or have an influence. You don’t have to wait until you start your career to do that. And having these discussion groups is a great way [for] people who are operating in various sectors of politics at very high levels, and these discussion groups and conversations and the insights that we gain in those are going to inform our thinking and influence what we do. So come to the discussion groups not just because you want to learn, but because you want to express your point of view. And it may inform how each of us goes about doing our job and impact things that way.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the Fellows, you can sign up to join their discussion group here or schedule office hours here. Discussion groups for Martinko, Popp, Tester, and Walters occur weekly and the visiting fellows’ occur biweekly.
Stephen Martinko, Global Head of Product Public Policy, TikTok, hosts his discussion group, The Politics of Digital Innovation: Navigating Disruptive Technologies, on Thursdays from 4:00-5:30 PM. Martinko’s discussion will explore the intersection of governance and innovation by examining how global actors balance emerging technologies with the regulatory and geopolitical risks they pose. Over eight weeks, the discussion will cover case studies, from AI safety and content moderation to digital campaigning, to uncover the varying political philosophies shaping the future of global tech policy.
Richard Walters, Former RNC Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor; Executive Director, Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, hosts his discussion group, Parties, Power, and Polarization: What to Expect in the Midterm Elections, on Mondays from 4:00-5:30PM. Walters’ discussion will examine the upcoming 2026 U.S. midterm elections, diving into the political, social, and economic factors that will determine if Republicans hold onto their control of congress, or if Democrats have a path to reclaim power. Over eight weeks, the discussion will explore the impact of Trump 2.0’s policies, the media’s influences on polarization, and looking ahead at the 2028 presidential race.
Jon Tester, Former U.S. Senator (D-MT), hosts his discussion group, Discussion Group Topic: American Democracy at 250: Is It Still Working?, on Tuesdays from 4:00-5:30PM. Tester’s discussion will provide an evaluation of American democracy’s resilience, tracking how it has evolved since the Founding to the modern challenges of Artificial Intelligence and urban-rural divide. Over eight weeks, the discussion will touch on the health of the U.S. ‘s institutions, looking at lobbying and accessibility to the economy, to see if democracy is still functional.
Monica Popp, Former Chief of Staff, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX); Co-President, Marshall & Popp, hosts her discussion group on, How Policy Issues Such as Health Care Become Larger Political Movements, on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:30PM. Popp’s discussion will hone in on the ins and outs of modern political mobilization by looking at the evolution of U.S. healthcare policy. Over eight weeks, the discussion will examine how private donors, lobbying giants, and grassroots movements come together to shape legislation and elections.
Visiting Fellows
Mehdi Hasan, Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Zeteo; former Host, MNSBC, will host his discussion group, Who’s Afraid of a Tough Question? Debate, Division, and Democracy in a Polarized Age.
Julia Nesheiwat (MA’08), 10th White House Homeland Security Advisor (1st Trump Administration); Distinguished Fellow and Board Member, Atlantic Council, will host her discussion group, Discussion Group Topic: National Security in an America First World: From AI to the Arctic.
