Lizzie Ong is a Filipino American student at UC Berkeley, majoring in History with an emphasis on Southeast Asia and a minor in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy. She was raised in Makati, Philippines where she volunteered at Philippine General Hospital. Her passions for equitable education opportunities and the U.S.-Philippine military and economic relations stem from these experiences.
In Spring 2020 at El Camino College, she was elected International Club President and Student Equity Advisory Council Member, creating the Addressing Anti-Asian Violence Forum attended by over 100 people, including Assembly Member Muratsuchi, the Board of Trustees, and 99 ECC students.
In Spring 2024 at UC Berkeley, she began her work as an admissions tutor for Bridge the Talim Gap, a start-up helping refugees from Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya apply to universities in the U.S. She edited college essays and conducted one-on-one English tutoring. Her first student was admitted to UC Berkeley for the class of 2029. Over this Summer of 2025, she wrote an article on the emerging digital infrastructure of South Sudan and its potential, emphasizing policy recommendations for accessible education and networks for refugees.
In Spring 2025, she was a Policy Advisor for the Alliance for American Leadership where she wrote nonpartisan policy memos, briefs, and reports of Senate Committee Hearings and State Department Press Briefings for internal circulation. Last Spring, she also wrote her thesis titled, "Infantilization of the Philippines: The Philippine Response to U.S. Nuclear Weapon Agreements With The USSR and the Renegotiation of the U.S.-Philippine Military Base Agreements," for which she was awarded Honors Distinction. She is continuing to research nuclear nonproliferation in the Indo-Pacific as a National Security, Intelligence, and International Affairs Research Intern at the Institute of World Politics as a member of the Fall 2025 UCDC Cohort.
In Fall 2025, she was selected as a Fellow for the Paragon Policy Fellowship where she is conducting research on North Carolina's critical minerals infrastructure and supply chain ecosystem for electrical vehicles, energy storage, and U.S. national defense systems, delivering policy recommendations for their local government partners.
As a Matsui Center Washington Fellow, she looks forward to continuing her work in public service through her intelligence and national security research work at the Institute of World Politics.
Major: History
Minor: Public Policy
