2023 Applications are now closed
Questions? Contact Matsui Center Program Manager Megan Collins (meganjcollins@berkeley.edu) and register to attend an info session on Thursday, September 22 at 6:30-8pm PT.
Eligiblity
Open to Cal undergraduates (all years and all majors). Accepted Fellows must enroll in a required 3-unit course (PS110B) during Spring 2023.
About Cal-in-Sac
Each year the Matsui Center's Cal-in-Sacramento program sends approximately 30 Cal students to California’s capital for eight-week public service internships. Cal-in-Sacramento is the University of California’s largest — and one of the nation's most prestigious — campus-based public service internship programs. For more than four decades, hundreds of Cal students have gone to Sacramento under our auspices to garner first-hand experience in the most dynamic state capital in the country. Many of these students have gone on to careers in politics, government, and public service.
Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows work for eight weeks in Sacramento internships in the offices of Senate and Assembly members, the Governor's Office, state agencies, or nonprofit groups. The program provides students with free housing, a free light-rail pass so students can travel to and from work, and a modest stipend for living expenses, thanks to a generous gift from PG&E.
Students prepare for their summer internships by taking the 3-unit course PS110B in the spring semester. During the spring, in addition to receiving instruction that will prepare students to succeed in their internships, students receive training in developing a research proposal on an issue of their choice that they will investigate during their summer internships. At the end of the summer, Fellows will write a blog post or op-ed, produce a 5-10 minute podcast or vlog, or create another multimedia presentation based on their research findings that can be shared with the broader public.
Research Fellowships
Cal-in-Sacramento Fellowship applicants are invited to apply to one of the following research Fellowships, which provide additional summer funding in the amount of $2,550 for Cal-in-Sac Fellows. Research Fellowship applications are included in the Cal-in-Sacramento application form.
WELLS FARGO DIVERSITY & ENTREPRENEURSHIP FELLOWSHIP
This Fellowship will support a team of Cal-in-Sac Fellows engaged in a group research project focused on two critical research areas:
- Access to Capital – Recent data shows how disparities in pay, investment and valuation all compound to expand the gender wealth gap. How can resources, policies and practices be better aligned to support women-of-color’s access to capital?
- Product Innovation – What are the factors that inhibit or support innovation among diverse small business owners? How does lived experience, such as immigration status, housing insecurity, and basic economic stability, impact an entrepreneur’s willingness or ability to take on new risk through product innovation?
Requirements: In addition to producing a group research deliverable, D&E Fellows will present their findings at an all-day Fall 2023 Symposium hosted by the Matsui Center. D&E Fellows are also paired with a career mentor during their summer residency in Sacramento.
Read more about the Diversity and Entrepreneurship Initiative here.
THE GOLDEN STATE FELLOWSHIP
This Fellowship will support a Cal-in-Sac Fellow who secures a summer placement interning in organizations related to civic and political advocacy (e.g., labor unions, voting rights organizations, immigrant rights organizations, racial justice organizations), and who has demonstrated a commitment to diversity.
JO FREEMAN WOMEN IN POLITICS FELLOWSHIP
This Fellowship will support Cal-in-Sac Fellows whose individual research projects focus on women in politics, including research on public policies that affect women.
KENNETH BURT FELLOWSHIP
This Fellowship will support a Cal-in-Sac Fellow whose individual research project focuses on Latinx education, labor, and political issues.