Molding Tomorrow’s Civic Leaders—From Firsthand Experience

Shetty first started volunteering in fourth grade, donating her time to the children’s department of her local public library in High Point, N.C. She went on to volunteer with the Boys and Girls Club of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Habitat for Humanity and at a day care facility for young adults with developmental disabilities.

Shetty knew intimately how important it was to have a community of people who cared. Her father abandoned her family when she was young, leaving her mother with heavy debt. Soon, her mother was working multiple minimum-wage jobs: the overnight shift at a factory, as an activity coordinator at a nursing home and in an interior design furniture showroom. She also went to community college to earn a nursing degree—an extra challenge for a woman born in Bulgaria who spoke English as a second language.

“We were frequently unable to afford electricity or hot water,” said Shetty. “It was really hard. She was gone a lot.”

Still, Shetty worked her way into Duke University and on to law school at the Catholic University of America. “I wanted to be here in the nation’s capital so I could learn more about ways to help people on a broader scale,” said Shetty. She worked for Ed Towns, a member of Congress from Brooklyn, and did advocacy work for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

In 2014, Shetty decided to run for office herself. “I really like solving problems and helping people, and I had a lot of experience in legislative advocacy at the federal level, so I wanted to bring some of that federal experience—and in particular a strong belief that our health care system is very broken, and some concrete ways I wanted to help fix that,” she said. She lost then but was successful when she ran again in Maryland’s 18^th District, in Montgomery County, in 2018.

Two years ago, Shetty joined the launch of the Maryland Fellows program, a collaboration among the Federal and Global Fellows programs, the Department of English’s Maryland General Assembly Writing internship and the Department of Government and Politics. In the Fall semester, students choose from among three courses, and in the spring, they intern in the public and nonprofit sectors—many choose the Maryland General Assembly. (Shetty teaches only in the fall, since Maryland’s legislative session runs from January into April.)

“I had zero idea how any of these processes worked before” taking Shetty’s class, said Jillian Waxman ’25, who took the course last fall and is a teaching assistant this semester. “I’d heard of delegates and senators, but this class fully developed my understanding from the ground up.”

Over the semester, students heard from guest speakers, including delegates, county council members, leaders in law enforcement, and professionals working in housing policy and criminal justice. “I’d say it’s one-third focused on individual leadership development, one-third about how our government operates and one-third building a network of practitioners who share their experiences with the class,” said Shetty.

For students, it’s a chance not just to learn about leadership, but also about the importance of dialogue. “I lean pretty left, and before taking this class I was kind of stuck in that mindset,” said Divyasri Malavathu ’27. “Taking this class made me realize that it’s not just about political parties—civic leadership is about everyone, regardless of what you believe in or what your personal values are.”