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Date: 3/1/2023
SPRINGFIELD — Rose McCaffrey, a senior at American International College, interned with the campaign of Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
They won the election and were inaugurated on Jan. 5 making Healey the first elected female governor of Massachusetts and the nation’s first openly lesbian governor.
“The opportunity just fell on my doorstep,” said McCaffrey. “I was a part of the campaign newsletter, and they were looking for interns. I got involved right after the primary and was on the campaign for two to three months.” She continued, “I learned that change starts when you go. If you want someone to go into office, you need to be able to support them wholeheartedly.”
McCaffrey is a first-generation college student. She’s a triple major in political science, public relations and media communication studies and interned during Richard Neal’s campaign in 2020. McCaffrey credits her two high school teachers Dean Berry and Erin Mulvay from Sabis International Charter School — now called Springfield International Charter School — who started her interest in politics and her nono — grandfather — who passed away three years ago encouraging her to do whatever she sets her mind to.
McCaffrey’s day would go from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. She had her school load, worked for College Steps on campus and worked for On Broadway Dance Studio along with her internship with the Healey campaign. McCaffrey made nearly 3,000 phone calls and knocked on 3,000 doors between canvassing on the weekends and on election day. She had conversations with Driscoll about Salem and Driscoll told her stories of different celebrities she came across. McCaffrey recalled, “She was just trying to talk to me more on a friend level versus anything else and get to know me as a person.”
Currently, McCaffrey is interning with Mayor Domenic Sarno’s office. She likes the idea staying involved in politics and being behind the scenes. Ideally in the next few years, McCaffrey would like to pursue a career in political communications.
“The biggest rewarding part is not only making my family proud, but I also made myself proud in realizing that girls can do whatever they want to do,” McCaffrey said. “In a political field, it’s very heavily dominated by men so to say as a 21-year-old intern on a campaign I was able to make a difference. Even though it’s very small, I made a difference locally.”