Preparing the next generation of leaders

Last week, Amazon’s Public Policy office in DC hosted an event with more than 20 public policy fellows from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute fellowship programs, which share a mission to prepare the next generation of leaders through fellowships, mentorships and leadership development opportunities.

This year, we’re excited to sponsor a public policy fellow from each of the two organizations for the first time, and we were thrilled to invite this group to our office where they heard from Senior Vice President of Global Affairs Jay Carney, Vice President of Public Policy Brian Huseman, and met in small groups with several more members of the public policy team.

Both the CBCF and CHCI do the important work of preparing young adults for careers in diverse fields, and last week’s event allowed the fellows to learn more about Amazon’s culture and public policy work in DC, network with members of the team and ask plenty of questions.

Brian spoke about his career and what led him to Amazon, focusing on Amazon’s unique way of embracing failure as part of the process, especially when it comes to innovating. Jay talked about the fact that diverse perspectives are valued at Amazon and even needed – it’s the reason our innovations and creative ideas have taken the company far. And because an event at Amazon wouldn’t be complete without talk of books, Jay recommended one of his favorites to the group: “What it Takes: The Way to the White House” by Richard Ben Cramer.

As the Public Policy team in DC continues to grow, we’re able to take advantage of the diversity of thought that is within reach by virtue of being here in the Nation’s Capital. We continue to learn so much from the CBCF and CHCI fellowship programs and look forward to more events like these in the future.