Central Grad on the Hill

Since 2010, Erinn Lauterbach ’09 has been working as scheduler and office manager for Congressman Bruce Braley in Washington, D.C. Since Braley’s daughter was a childhood friend of Lauterbach’s, she had volunteered with his campaigns in the past. After serving in an AmeriCorps position for a year after graduation, she got a call from Braley asking her to move to Washington. She couldn’t resist.

Managing the hectic schedule of a congressman is no easy task. “There are constantly phones ringing and people yelling,” Lauterbach says. She is responsible for balancing Braley’s schedule between committee meetings and voting, and she also handles meeting requests from lobbyists and constituents. She says Wednesdays are the craziest because representatives are more likely to be in their offices. The people requesting meetings have noticed and always crowd in on that day.

Lauterbach has learned on her feet, and she knows the tricks when problems come up. “I just try to make sure I’m around when things could go wrong,” she says with a laugh.

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