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Hi friends, We’re already at the halfway point of the 2026 Bipartisan Learning Communities (BLC) Congressional Fellowship, if you can believe it. Since our last program update in May, the fellows have kept up a steady pace of learning and community-building. One thing I’ve noticed is that our classes have different personalities. The first class was populated by a group that was open to new experiences. They were our pioneers. This year, we’re seeing a class of fellows who joined a proven program who are making the most of their time: showing up ready to ask questions and take notes, and leveraging every chance to learn and grow in their careers on the Hill. We’ve witnessed that in the ways the fellows are molding this fellowship into something completely their own. In addition to learning from our experts and events, they’ve built on last year’s fellowship strides in working together. They’ve turned to each other as resources that they can call first when seeking a second point of view on an issue or a piece of legislation, thereby strengthening their peer network across the aisle, across chambers, and across delegations. “I’ve made connections I wouldn’t otherwise have made if the…

The Odyssey. The Wizard of Oz. Into the Woods. Life is a Highway. Thunder Road.  From ancient times to the present, from the sublime to the everyday, our culture is replete with stories about the journeys we take in life. When we travel through memory, we “revisit” the past. When we face a tough decision, we’re at a “crossroads”. And when we are called to new adventures, we venture into “uncharted territory.” As people, we are meant to explore – whether physically traveling from place to place, or inwardly, on the metaphorical hero’s journey (or both). Along the way, important life lessons are learned. New alliances are formed. Difficult choices are made. And sometimes, our heroes confront their darkest fears and emerge with deeper clarity and wisdom about their next steps. What does all this mean for those of us who have dedicated our careers to health policy? Let us consider what typically draws our heroes out of their comfort zones: an unexpected visitor, a cataclysmic event, or a growing, unsettling recognition that the status quo, as comfortable as it might seem, is simply too painful to sustain. I believe we are now at that point in our health policy…