Join alumni, Micah Spangler '07 and Sam Hensel '11 for an interactive Q&A exploring how their careers in advocacy can be applied to influence policymakers and thought leaders to support strong multilateral investments.
As the UN Foundation’s Director of Advocacy and Humanitarian Affairs, Micah Spangler engages across Congress and the Executive Branch to strengthen U.S. political and financial support for the UN’s work around the world. In addition to his advocacy efforts in Washington, Micah has extensive field experience, organizing fact-finding missions to observe the UN's security, health, and development work in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali, Niger, Madagascar, Lebanon, Haiti, Nepal, and more.
Micah was seconded to the UN Secretariat in 2022, where he served as the Deputy Director of the UN in Washington and managed the congressional engagement portfolios for an array of visiting UN officials, including the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Executive Director of UN Women, Special Envoy on Myanmar, and Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Micah joined UNF in 2013 after serving as a Field Director on Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Micah graduated magna cum laude from Johns Hopkins University with an M.A. in government, received an honors B.A. in political science and philosophy from Roosevelt University, and studied Mandarin Chinese at National Taiwan University.
Sam Hensel graduated from Roosevelt University in 2011 with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Journalism. After graduation, Sam worked for approximately five years on a variety of political campaigns across Illinois as a Field Organizer, Regional Field Director, and Campaign Manager. Sam earned his Juris Doctor from the John Marshall Law School in 2019, where he served as President of the Labor & Employment Law Student Group, an Articles Editor on the Review of Intellectual Property Law, and competed in two moot court competitions as a semi-finalist. He is admitted to practice law in Illinois and in Indiana, and before some federal courts.
Sam worked as a law clerk and then associate attorney for 3 years at a law firm representing labor unions, employees, and multiemployer benefit funds before becoming in-house counsel to the Service Employees International Union, Local 73, which represents nearly 35,000 public and private sector employees across Illinois and Northwest Indiana who work predominantly in health care and educational settings. As counsel to the union, Sam represents the union in arbitrations and in court, in proceedings before federal and state labor relations boards and other administrative agencies, and advises the union on collective bargaining issues and a variety of internal matters. Sam also serves as the union's ethics officer to ensure high ethical standards.
Sam is an active member of the AFL-CIO's Union Lawyer Alliance and the American Bar Association's Labor & Employment Law Division. He has authored six publications in a variety of law journals and treatises, most of which cover different aspects of labor and employment law. When not advocating for the interests of a vibrant working class, Sam dedicates his time to friends and family, live music, and his 3-year old mutt Franklin.