HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 31, 2016 – High Point University senior Delaney Crampton spent the summer interning for The Raben Group, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. A Lewisville native and political science major, Crampton worked as a policy and communications intern, confirming his desire to pursue a career in lobbying.
The Raben Group, a firm that focuses on progressive-related issues, was founded by former President Bill Clinton’s past Assistant Attorney General, Robert Raben.
“When most people think of ‘lobbying,’ they think of big business: Exxon Mobile, Wal-Mart, etc.,” says Crampton. “While The Raben Group certainly caters to corporate clients, much of my focus was spent with non-profit clients, expanding protections to minority groups, working on education-related as well as environmental protection related clients.”
Crampton spent much of his internship developing a business model for a practice that the Raben Group hopes to start in the future.
“My initial role was to gather information about competitors and how these organizations were made up. It eventually turned into me drafting a business model, which I did out of my own excitement for the project.” says Crampton.
Crampton says that his time spent in D.C. laid the groundwork for furthering his career when he graduates from HPU in December.
“The connections I made there couldn’t have been found anywhere else,” Crampton says. “I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to work after I graduate, but now I know that I want to go back up to Washington and work on Capitol Hill in a congressional office to get the policy experience I need to eventually get into lobbying.”
Aside from his daily work within the firm, Crampton was able to attend the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on the night that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spoke. He says that the experience was one he will always remember and look back on with importance.
Crampton says that past experiences with HPU, including his spring 2016 semester trip to D.C. through The Washington Center, helped prepare him for the internship that he held this summer.
“Going on the Washington Maymester my freshman year with Dr. Whitt and Dr. Kifer was an experience that helped me out immensely,” says Crampton. “Being able to visit places where I got a better insight on what type of work I wanted to do was extremely valuable, and I used connections from the places that we visited to actually land my internship at The Raben Group.”
Having arrived on campus for his senior year, Crampton’s internship has provided him with a set of values that he plans to use at HPU.
“Knowing the importance of professionalism, networking and hard work are things that I’m going to use to my advantage during my last semester here,” Crampton says.