Iris De Leon

Iris De Leon (he/him)

Iris De Leon is a first-generation student at UC Berkeley. As a first year with an intended political science major, she is determined to work for immigrant advocacy, and uplifting students’ voices. Being raised in Los Angeles, Iris has made it her prime objective to represent and give back to the community that had a strong impact on her upbringing. Coming from a low-income community and having experienced scarcity of educational resources has only motivated her to work towards advocacy of marginalized groups and building community.

Iris has actively participated in organizations such as The Garment Worker Center. Iris was involved in uplifting the marginalized voice of garment workers who undergo unseen injustices, such as wage theft. Through her activism support, Iris was part of a successful campaign to eliminate the piece rate system, through passing of the SB62 legislation to enforce minimum hourly pay in California.

Iris has now been able to become involved in the Berkeley community through programs such as NavCal, Inside the Living Room, UC Berkeley Labor Center, and Raices, which has allowed her to become more civically engaged, gain awareness of the public service world around her. Through these involvements, she has also built a stronger bond with the Berkeley community and promoted student voices to ensure they are not disregarded. Iris plans to take advantage of the opportunities offered at UC Berkeley, where she can strengthen her knowledge about advocacy and learn to use these skills in effectively advancing toward political and legislative change.