Warm Up with Yale in DC: Hot Cocoa & Connections

On January 22, 2026, 1stGenYale attended an engaging evening at the Yale Office of Federal & State Relations in Washington D.C., where Director Sarah Shapiro shared an update on the work Yale is doing on Capitol Hill.

As attendee, Lisa Jones, RN, MPH '04 shared, "Thank you to the Yale Club of Washington, D.C., Yale’s Shared Interest Groups, and Sarah Shapiro—our new Yale Director of Federal Relations—for hosting such a warm and welcoming Cocoa and Connections event at their new D.C. office! I am delighted to see Yale expanding its presence and advancing its strategic initiatives in the Nation’s Capital, aiming to shape, educate, and connect with Yale in the DC alumni community and beyond. As a first-generation graduate of Yale's graduate school, I value the continued access to Yale’s resources, services, and opportunities."

The coincidence that the House had just passed the Appropriations Bill a few minutes before the event gave added meaning to the description of how its funding provisions would affect Yale, and of importance to our mission, how it would affect financial aid for low-income students.

During the rest of the evening, 1stGenYale reps Ted Jaditz '79, Lauren Robinson '81 and Barb Protacio '81 mingled with alumni guests, made new acquaintances, introduced them to our SIG. Victoria Hernandez '17 is now a new 1stGenYale WDC member! She is now working in Washington D.C. as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow (STPF). If you have or are planning to obtain a STEM Ph.D. and would like to learn more about science policy and the AAAS STPF program, you can reach out to Victoria.

We are looking forward to hosting future events in the newly available common space which the Director generously offered to share. Stay tuned for our next Washington DC event by joining our contact list: https://www.1stgenyale.org/join.