MLC lobbyist Amber has been part of our firm for four years. Click here to read her full bio and get to know her better!
Since I was a teenager on the precipice of college, I knew I wanted to be a lobbyist. I remember watching Thank You for Smoking and being completely captivated by the main character’s ability to persuade — to take seemingly opposed sides and move them toward a common point. It felt like a superpower. While I idolized the character, I had no real roadmap for how to get there. What I did have was an intense, unshakeable interest in politics.
That interest led me to political summer camps as a teen — think Youth in Government, but on a grander scale. Those programs gave me an extraordinary gift: the chance to meet Senator John McCain, President Bill Clinton, and Secretary Chuck Hagel while I was still forming my worldview. Those weren’t just resumé moments — they were formative ones. Watching leaders operate up close, understanding how they communicated and commanded a room, quietly shaped the kind of advocate I was becoming.
That fire carried me to Howard University in Washington, D.C., where I pursued a degree in Political Science. Being in the nation’s capital meant the classroom extended well beyond the lecture hall. I interned with the Campaign for America’s Future, an advocacy organization that sharpened my understanding of how ideas become movements. I worked for Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and the Congressional Black Caucus, where the theories I was absorbing in my courses came alive in real-time policy work, coalition building, and the constant push-and-pull of Capitol Hill. I wasn’t just studying how government worked — I was inside it.
Each of those experiences layered something essential onto the foundation. The summer camps gave me confidence and a model of persuasion. The internships gave me context, relationships, and an understanding of process. Together, they taught me that effective advocacy isn’t about having the loudest voice in the room — it’s about understanding what everyone else in the room needs and finding the thread that connects them.
That is exactly the work I do today at MLC. The persuasion instincts I developed as a young person, the institutional knowledge I gained as a student-intern, and the relationships I’ve cultivated along the way all converge in this role every single day. Lobbying, at its core, is the art of building trust, translating complexity, and making the case for why something matters. Looking back, I wasn’t just preparing for a career — I was building a life’s skill set, one experience at a time.
Reach out to MLC to learn how Amber can utilize her years of experience to help you achieve your goals in Detroit and in Michigan.
