Policy with Purpose: How Rutgers Alum Lily Antonowicz Is Making an Impact on Capitol Hill
For Rutgers School of Social Work alum Lily Antonowicz, a career in public policy began with a simple but profound goal: making a meaningful impact. “I was really agonizing over what I was going to do,” she recalled of her undergraduate years. “I just found myself wanting to make an impact in some kind of way and just wasn’t really sure how to best do that.” Encouraged by a mentor to explore social work, Lily discovered a path that would ultimately lead her to Capitol Hill, where she now serves as a legislative assistant in the office of Andy Kim, advising on health and labor policy.
While she valued her early experiences in direct practice, Lily quickly recognized the potential to influence change on a broader scale. “I really enjoyed my experience working directly with people, but I wanted to translate that somewhere else,” she said. That realization led her to pursue the Management & Policy (MAP) specialization within Rutgers School of Social Work’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program, where she found the academic and practical foundation necessary for a career in policymaking. “MAP prepared me a lot for my current role,” she said. “There was devoted attention to the macro practice part of social work where we got really deep into the nitty gritty.”
A pivotal component of her graduate experience was her practicum placement with the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, where she engaged in advocacy efforts spanning healthcare access, labor protections, and community organizing during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was extremely interesting and meaningful to see how they applied intersectionality with everything that we were doing,” she said. “There is very little, if anything, that poverty doesn’t touch in people’s lives.” That experience reinforced a principle that continues to guide her work: “Connecting with the community and having empathy is the number one way that you can influence policy.”
Lily began her federal career in a constituent services role in then-Congressman Kim’s district office, bringing a social work perspective to navigating government systems on behalf of New Jersey residents. “I thought, who better to help people with the ins and outs of federal government than a social worker who happens to be from New Jersey and the district he was representing?” Within months, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she advanced into policy work and ultimately followed her office to the Senate. “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind ride within the last couple years,” she said. “But the office really believed in the value of social work and having a background from Rutgers.”
In her current role, Lily operates in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, where no two days are the same. “There is not a single day that I’m not learning something new in this job,” she said. Her responsibilities include advising on legislative strategy, preparing materials for hearings, engaging with constituent groups, and building coalitions to advance policy priorities. Central to her work is a commitment to ensuring that policy remains grounded in lived experience. “A lot of the work that we do is forming relationships with our community,” she explained. “It’s also building coalitions around policies that we really care about and want to see advanced.” Much of her recent work has focused on caregiving policy, an issue she emphasizes as universally relevant. “There’s not one person that doesn’t require care in some aspect,” she said. “A lot of the work we do lies in humanizing policies so we can try and advance positive solutions.”
Lily credits Rutgers with preparing her not only with technical knowledge, but also with the professional skills essential for success in policy environments. “The program teaches social workers to be advocates for themselves,” she said. “That’s something that I apply in real time. Not even just to myself, but in interpersonal meetings and professional situations.” She also recognizes the impact of MAP’s collaborative learning environment, which broadened her perspective and strengthened her ability to navigate complex policy challenges. “It exposed me to a really diverse set of views and people and expanded my thinking,” she said. “It pushed me to think outside the box rather than staying in a narrow lane.”
Faculty mentorship also played a critical role in her journey, particularly the influence of Associate Professor of Professional Practice Marla Blunt-Carter. “She was the most amazing professor at Rutgers,” Lily said. “She genuinely helped me figure out what it meant to pursue this path and made me feel like working in Congress was actually possible.” That encouragement helped solidify her confidence in pursuing a nontraditional path for social workers.
Reflecting on her career trajectory, Lily encourages current MSW students and recent graduates to pursue ambitious goals and remain persistent. “Shoot for the moon,” she advised. “I remember thinking there’s no way employers are going to understand my background, but you can’t get discouraged.” She also emphasized the importance of continuing to expand awareness of social workers’ role in policymaking. “We’re trying to build the understanding of why we fit into policy and why that is so important,” she said. “Social workers are policymakers. Those things are not mutually exclusive. They’re actually quite connected.”
Looking ahead, Lily envisions a future where social workers are a consistent presence in legislative offices across the country. “To me, the future looks like every legislative office having a social worker on their team,” she said. “I want it to be just as common as seeing lawyers in those roles.” Through her work, she continues to demonstrate the value of a social work education in shaping responsive, community-centered policy and serves as a compelling example of the impact Rutgers MSW graduates can make.
