Janet Mendoza-Partida

Janet Mendoza-Partida (She/They)

Janet Mendoza-Partida is a rising senior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Legal Studies and Chicanx/Latinx studies. She was born and raised in Watsonville, California by Mexican migrant agricultural workers. While in high school she volunteered at multiple elementary and middle schools around her community, leading her to understand the many disparities predominantly impacting students of color. Working with students in her community she realized the barriers in accessing adequate healthcare, housing, and equitable education. This prompted her to develop a passion for equity, hoping to create positive systemic change, for the generations to come.

She has since spent her summers as an assistant educator in the East Bay and continued to support students back home. She works with students as an EAOP student advisor to prepare and educate them about their post-secondary options and increase the number of college enrollments for underrepresented students.

As the first in her family to graduate high school and attend college, Janet strives to support other first-generation students. She continues to do this work during the school year, as an office manager at the Latinx Student Resource Center (LSRC), by fostering community and working to close educational/knowledge gaps.
This past summer, as a Leonard D. Schaeffer Fellow in Government Service, she worked in Congresswoman Doris Matsui’s DC office, learning and supporting legislative staff on bills and resolutions related to healthcare and immigration.

As a Cal-in-Sacramento fellow, Janet hopes to return her attention to her home state of California. She aims to serve minoritized students within California’s Educational system by working within governmental frameworks to facilitate policy work that will improve the experience of California’s youth in K-12 public schools.