Regis junior learns from back-to-back Washington, D.C. internships

For many young Americans, working in Washington, D.C. with our political leaders is an ultimate career goal. For Regis University junior Christian Muñoz, that dream became reality — twice. During the summer of 2023, Muñoz completed an internship at the White House, along with many other young Americans who share his ambition. In 2022, he held an internship role at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) in D.C.

Muñoz’s path to the White House began at Regis, when he saw  a flyer in Loyola Hall. In 2022, with the encouragement of Professor and Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Nicki Gonzales. Ph.D., he applied for the internship the flyer described, with the CHCI.

“When I came across the flyer in Loyola Hall, I started looking into it and talked to my boss at the time, Dr. Gonzales, and she had a lot of great things to say about it and the opportunities it could entail,” Muñoz said.

During an event at the White House with the CHCI, he spoke to the intern recruitment team for the White House. They invited him to apply for an internship at the White House. That ultimately led to his role the following summer.

For his summer internship, Muñoz found himself working in the Office of Presidential Personnel, which is responsible for filling various positions throughout the executive branch. While unable to discuss the specifics of his day-to-day work, Muñoz shared his enthusiasm for the leadership development programs he took part in, and the people he got to meet.

“We got to speak with Anita Dunn, one of President Biden’s top leaders in communication,” Muñoz said. “Getting to hear how she started off as an intern and worked her way up to the White House was amazing.”

Outside his duties in the Office of the Presidential Personnel, Muñoz spent much of his time networking within his internship cohort and reaching out to other offices and groups to schedule lunches together to get to know one another. Muñoz said the nearly 250 interns in the program were from all over the country, each with knowledge and experiences that brought something to the table.

“These lunches were a highlight of my experience, because it made me realize that there is no one path the positions I would hope to hold in the future,” Muñoz said.

 As Muñoz continues his studies at Regis, he said he hopes the relationships he has fostered with both his professors and classmates will scaffold his future career. For him, the classes he has taken at Regis have challenged him to interrogate structural norms.

Muñoz plans to attend law school once he graduates from Regis, with the goal of practicing immigration law in Denver. His time in D.C. has opened his eyes to the important work of other Latine policymakers fighting to make a change.

“We need more Latino leaders and more representation in these spaces,” Muñoz said. “I’m motivated to return to this space and to teach others about the opportunities that exist for them.”