Ivelisse Porroa-García lives in Virginia and worked on Capitol Hill for approximately six years, during which she was a legislative assistant for U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz and worked for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, before becoming director of government affairs for Ferox Strategies, a consulting firm, in October 2021. Ivelisse and host Michael Whidden were connected by a mutual friend, Nic Adams, who was also a guest on the podcast in Episode 25.
Our discussion covers, among other things:
*her journey from growing up in Peru to working in the halls of Congress
*the American Dream and what it means to her
*the importance of compromise
*the burn pit exposure health bill for veterans and how it connected her with a certain activist celebrity
*how the inner workings of the Capitol have changed in recent years
Ivelisse finds hope in the younger generation and the confidence they have in their ability to effect change, as well as in many of the altered workings of the Capitol.