Since her graduation from Carleton as a political science/international relations major and educational studies minor, Mary Baumgartner ’18 has worked with numerous organizations to advocate for equity and help people experiencing food and other insecurities. Baumgartner kicked off her career as an OpenSky Policy Fellow, serving as a tax policy analyst at OpenSky Policy Institute in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she researched fiscal and budgetary policy to increase educational, healthcare, and tax opportunities. Returning to Minnesota, she worked for the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition to organize interfaith communities around social justice issues and empowered them to build relationships with their legislators, and later for Churches United in Ministry (CHUM) in Duluth, where she designed and implemented a mobile food shelf program for community members facing food security issues and other barriers to receive 50 pounds of pre-packaged food boxes.
Baumgartner is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public affairs at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She remains connected to Minnesota as a policy advocate with the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing (MICHA) and a co-chair for the Homes for All Coalition’s communications team. She continues to be involved with Carleton as a member of the Alumni Annual Fund Board of Directors, an AAF class agent, and a member of the Class of 2018 Reunion program committee.