"We're going to have to meet late," Jen Dodge (LA '00) says on the phone. "I have to work late." It's understandable, the election is only five weeks away, so it's crunch time for Dodge, the political organizer for Massachusetts National Abortion and Reproduction Rights Action League (Mass NARAL).
"Honestly, I don't remember the last time I left work at 5 p.m.," she said, sliding into the seat at Diesel Cafe in Davis Square at 9 p.m. "But I love it. I really love what I do."
Dodge has been working for Mass. NARAL since June, but she has been campaigning for women's rights for many years. At Tufts, Dodge was a prominent activist for women's and gay rights. She was involved in Team Q (the Tufts Queer Speakers Bureau) and the Tufts Transgendered, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Collective (TTLGBC). She also served on the board of the Women's Center and co-founded the Tufts Feminist Alliance (TFA) during her sophomore year.
She describes her leadership of the Alliance as the most rewarding of her activities at Tufts. "It was really hard in the beginning, and it wasn't until later that I realized what a great experience it had been in terms of the people I had met," she said. "It wasn't just a resume builder, it really taught me about what I do now."
As political organizer, Dodge is responsible for promoting Mass. NARAL's political agenda. She is a registered lobbyist at the state house lobbying on behalf of pro-choice legislation. "I strategize with legislators about how to get bills through," she said.
The other part of her job is to get pro-choice candidates into office. That's why this time of year is so hectic for Dodge. "I basically do whatever they need," she says of her campaign work. In terms of running a grassroots campaign, that means doing everything.
"But I'm definitely not complaining," she added. "I'm very excited. There's so much going on and it's really rewarding work."
By the time she started applying for jobs, Dodge knew that she wanted to pursue a career in activism. But her path wasn't always that clear. "I didn't think you could make a living at it," she admits. "I thought I'd be in publishing, and it just bored the hell out of me."
She credits her involvement with the TFA for turning her attentions back to organizing.
"I have done this all my life," she said, "my mom had me stuffing envelopes when I was eight years old." But somehow she got away from it and didn't get back until she started the Alliance. "I realized that I could be really happy doing this," she says.
Dodge says she also feels obligated to give back to society. "I felt like my education would be wasted on one person. You can't get an education and hog it all for yourself. You have to go out and use it for the betterment of others," she said. "You have no excuse."
With that in mind, Dodge began to search for jobs involving the issues about which she feels most passionately: gay rights and choice. "These are the issues I'd go to work and die for," she said. "I knew it had to be something I felt strongly about."
Another factor Dodge considered in her job search was location. "I was thinking about moving to San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, but, truth be told, I just got scared," she said of her decision to stay in Boston. "I couldn't move to a new place where I didn't know anyone and start a new job the first year out of college."
Dodge is living in Somerville. Davis Square is still her stomping ground. At Diesel, an old classmate stops by the table to say hi and they chat for a minute. She is definitely still in her element.
"My friends from Tufts are still my support system and base," she says. "That's changing; I'm meeting people at work, people with similar interests." She is discovering more of Boston, too, because her office is in Downtown Crossing.
"I love Somerville... it is a great place to start," she adds.
Tufts was a great place to start, too. Dodge says that she felt very prepared to enter the work force as an activist. Dodge graduated with an English major and a women's studies minor. She draws on experiences from class and also her extra-curricular activities in her job.
"I don't think I could be doing this work without a background in women's studies. It helped me define my view of the world and my place in it," she said.
But Dodge was careful not to put too much emphasis on academics. "I consider a substantial portion of my education as not in the classroom. If you don't do anything but go to class, you don't get half of what you should get out of college." She also noted that she doesn't have much time for reading and writing - standards of college life.
"No more theory, no more novels, it's all grunt work now," she said. "I miss academics. I miss reading and writing. I loved college," she said. "But I think I like this better."
