Intern Spotlight: Raegan Allinder!
This summer, we are excited to have five interns working with us in policy, law, grassroots, and intercessory prayer. Since their start date on June 1st, they have already contributed valuable work that advances the mission of The Family Foundation. In addition to their normal responsibilities, they also participate in our weekly EQUIP Worldview Program for high school seniors and college-age students. Today, we’d like you to meet Raegan!
Raegan Allinder joins The Family Foundation this summer as a grassroots and social media intern. If you have the chance to meet her don’t let her small stature fool you—Raegan received a black belt in Taekwondo from a martial arts school in Thailand. She is definitely not someone you want to mess with! And if that’s not intimidating enough, she has recently been wearing a pair of glasses that are strikingly similar to the ones Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) wears, so everyone in the office is terrified that she might turn into a socialist at any second. But all joking aside, Raegan has proved to be a valuable member of this year’s intern team and we are excited for you to get to know her.
Though Raegan is originally from Richmond, Virginia, she moved overseas with her parents and three younger sisters to be missionaries in Kathmandu, Nepal when she was eight and then moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand when she was twelve. Raegan moved back to Richmond with her family when she was sixteen where she completed high school. Raegan recently graduated with an English degree from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She says that living and traveling overseas has helped her to appreciate the things that so many Americans take for granted like freedom and liberty.
Raegan is most passionate about life issues, especially foster care. She interned at Virginia’s Kids Belong which is a nonprofit that works towards ending the foster care crisis in Virginia and was also an intern with Summit Ministries which is a rigorous worldview training initiative for students. She has also loved being involved with her church through leading worship by singing and playing the guitar and has been sent on two mission trips to the Middle East and North Africa. One of the things that stands out about Raegan is how invested she is in helping people think well about their Christian worldview. In the future, she hopes to either work for a nonprofit like The Family Foundation doing grassroots or communication initiatives, or she would also love to open a bookstore that doubles as a coffee shop ideally located in Colorado.
Some other fun facts about Raegan is she has been a barista at Starbucks all four years of college and her favorite secret drink is the “chaitro” which is an iced chai latte with nitro cold brew. She can often be found thrift shopping or watching Downton Abbey in her free time. Her biggest pet peeve is when people don’t give her the “thank you wave” when she lets them merge into traffic and she thinks that cornhole is boring and lame and should be banned from all future BBQs.
Raegan’s favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”