Since 1997, Dan Lamb ’86 has served as a top adviser to U.S. Con­gressman Maurice Hinchey.

As a district representative in Hinchey’s Binghamton, New York, office, one of Lamb’s biggest responsi­bilities is fielding the wide spectrum of opinions from 660,000 constituents and making sure everyone feels like they’re being heard.

When he’s able to help address their concerns, as he did in Endicott, New York, where a massive environmen­tal cleanup is ongoing, it makes it all worthwhile, he says.

“To bring relief to a lot of people who had been ignored for years and address health concerns that had been ignored for years was very gratifying,” Lamb says. “I got to meet people who had had their lives altered by cancer linked to this contamina­tion. That’s where you see the real impact of environ­mental policy, regulations, and the need for protec­tions for the public.”

After graduating from IC, Lamb went to Los An­geles to pursue a career in the music industry. When he returned to upstate New York, he became interested in environmental issues and wanted to get into politics to help a candi­date who was strong on environmental policy. He says that candidate was Hinchey.

Lamb worked as a volunteer orga­nizer on Hinchey’s first campaign, in 1992, before enrolling at Syracuse University for graduate school. After earning his master’s degree in public administration, he took a post with Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, where he project managed, planned routes, and took care of the federal report­ing required by the Federal Transit Authority.

“I’ve always been a strong supporter of public transit, and we have a great system in Ithaca, so it was always a passion of mine,” he said. “But at the same time I felt removed from the political realm.”

So he started to look for opportunities to work on a congressional staff where he could interact with the general public, elected officials, nonprof­its, businesses, and institutions of higher learning like Cornell Univer­sity and Ithaca College. He’s been making those connections now for 15 years.

“I love this region of upstate New York,” Lamb says. “One of my goals is to see more people who came here to go to school stay in the region—live, work, and raise their families here like I did. I want more people to find their way back to upstate New York.”

Read more about IC alumni who work behind the scenes in the world of politics at these links:

Georgia Bills ’74 represented Massachusetts State Representative Jerry Parisella while he was deployed in Iraq.

Les Bernal ’91 is executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling.

Tammy Mayberry ’97 is a a lobbyist for the City of Chi­cago in Wash­ington, D.C.

Rob Bluey ’01 is the director of the Center for Media and Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation

John Balduzzi ’01 is the president of The Balduzzi Group, a political consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

Rob Flaherty ’13 served as campaign communi­cations director for Ithaca mayor Svante Myrick.

Sam Adams ’11 interned in Senator Olympia Snowe's office.