Cornerstone is excited to welcome our Summer 2025 Intern Class! Each semester, we are proud to host a talented group of students and recent graduates who spend several months immersed in the world of government relations, public affairs and policy.
Our interns have the opportunity to sharpen their communication, research, writing and policy analysis skills, while working closely with teams across the firm. Throughout the program, they gain valuable insights into the workings of the U.S. government, the intersection of public affairs and public policy and the business development process.
Out of over 2,400 applicants this summer, we’ve selected 20 exceptional young professionals to join our federal team. They are joined by 3 state interns in our Georgia, Maryland and Texas offices. Collectively, they will support senior professionals across various functions—including policy, research, public affairs advisory services, compliance, marketing and operations.
We are grateful to have this group on our team and look forward to seeing all they will accomplish in the time they are here.
Joe Aguiar
- College: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- Major: Agricultural Communication with minors in Agribusiness and Water Policy
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Joe worked at a winery, where he assisted in the wine-making process!
Amelia Barlow
- College: University of Southern California
- Majors: International Relations and Narrative Studies
- Role at Cornerstone: Operations Intern
- Fun Fact: Amelia did two years of wrestling in high school!
Sam Brown
- College: Washington and Lee University
- Majors: Global Politics and Business Administration
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Sam is forklift certified and loves to weld!
Maggie Bunch
- College: University of Missouri
- Major: Journalism with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
- Role at Cornerstone: Public Affairs Intern
- Fun Fact: Maggie got to live out her Pitch Perfect dream when her competitive A Capella group won the 2022 International Championship of High School A Capella during her senior year of high school!
Andrew Burchett
- College: Emory University
- Major: Political Science and Philosophy
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Beginning in his junior year of high school, Andrew became a musical fan, and his favorite is MJ the Musical!
Lauren Lucy Caddell
- College: University of Chicago
- Major: Business Economics with a minor in East Asian Languages and Civilizations
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Lauren Lucy listens to genres of music, from country, classical, alternative, alternative, rock, and everything in between. She especially loves listening to metal when she feels low energy!
Samantha Chambers
- College: Brown University
- Major: Sociology
- Role at Cornerstone: Public Affairs Intern
- Fun Fact: Samantha is a huge fan of the show Survivor. She has watched over 30 of the 48 seasons and would love to compete if not for the bugs!
Cooper Danielson
- College: Claremont McKenna College
- Major: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and Biology
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Cooper spent a month backpacking in the Northern Talkeetna Mountain range in Alaska and plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail after graduating college!
Julia Haley
- College: Georgia Institute of Technology
- Major: Public Policy and minored in Sustainable Cities and Leadership Studies
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern, Georgia
- Fun Fact: One time, Julia spoke about higher education and student government with university and government officials visiting the United States from Guinea-Bissau as part of a U.S. Department of State program. She learned how hard it is to communicate through translators!
Rio Hanson
- College: Bowdoin College
- Major: Government and Legal Studies
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: During Rio’s sophomore year of high school, he lived in Sydney, Australia!
Finn Henry
- College: Yale University
- Major: Political Science
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Finn can solve a Rubik’s cube in under 1 minute!
Emily Heyler
- College: Gettysburg College
- Major: Political Science and Public Policy
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Emily is originally from Aiea, Hawaii – the only town in the United States spelled with all vowels!
Ganeev Kaur
- College: University of Virginia
- Major: Government and Cognitive Science
- Role at Cornerstone: OpsWatch Intern
- Fun Fact: During the COVID pandemic, Ganeev challenged herself to read 365 books in a year – and succeeded. Though now much busier, she still makes time to read about four books a month!
Colin Kolb
- College: University of Georgia
- Major: International Affairs with a minor in Law, State and Jurisprudence
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Colin is very passionate about sports and strongly considered choosing a major where he could work in that field after college!
Jacob Kolton
- College: Northeastern University
- Major: International Affairs
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Jacob spent two cumulative years living in Israel, one of those years at the height of the pandemic in boarding school and the second in a gap year program!
Maren Rasmussen
- College: Pepperdine University
- Major: Political Science and History
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Maren loves to hike and plans to hike Mt. Whitney in the fall!
Joey Szabo
- College: University of St. Thomas
- Major: Political Science
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern, Houston Team
- Fun Fact: Joey used to have two pet ducks when he was a child (He loves ducks).
Julia Vasilj
- College: Georgetown University
- Major: Healthcare Management & Policy with minors in Economics and Journalism
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern
- Fun Fact: Julia met Pink at the Democratic National Convention last summer!
Allison Whellan
- College: University of Pennsylvania
- Major: Political Science and Communications
- Role at Cornerstone: Operations Intern
- Fun Fact: Allison just ran her first half marathon!
And, re-joining the Cornerstone team from previous intern classes…
Chayce Canty
- College: Colgate University
- Major: Political Science and Peace & Conflict Studies
- Role at Cornerstone: OpsWatch Intern
- Fun Fact: Chayce loves horror movies, one of her all-time favorites is Hereditary and most recently – Sinners!
Tomas Aguirre Duffy
- College: The University of Texas at Austin
- Major: International Relations & Global Studies
- Role at Cornerstone: Policy Intern, Austin
- Fun Fact: Since college he has tried to take up a new hobby every year: boxing, chess, rock climbing, swimming and he is currently trying to learn French cuisine!
Savannah Raley
- College: Appalachian State University
- Major: Political Science with a minor in Leadership Studies
- Role at Cornerstone: OpsWatch Intern
- Fun Fact: Savannah has been inside a submarine!
Aidan Thornbrough
- College: American University
- Major: Political Science with minors in Economics and Spanish
- Role at Cornerstone: Public Affairs Intern
- Fun Fact: Aidan recently returned from studying abroad in Madrid, Spain for a semester and speaks Spanish fluently!
Join us in giving a warm welcome to all the students and recent graduates who are joining Cornerstone this summer! If you’re interested in joining an upcoming intern class, you can learn more at cgagroup.com/internships