Michele Talley

Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Talley is dedicated to addressing disproportionate rates of incarceration and criminalization, housing insecurities and lack of adequate healthcare services faced by marginalized communities. Growing up, Talley witnessed friends, neighbors and family experience criminalization and harsh sentencing. More recently, while supporting her mother through her battle with Stage III breast cancer, Talley experienced firsthand the ways in which BIPOC and low-income families often receive unequal access to medical treatment.

At UC Berkeley, Talley, the first in her family to attend college, focused on learning about policing in marginalized communities and its impact on underserved populations. She graduated in 2024 with a major in Sociology. During her time at UC Berkeley, Talley was involved in various activities advocating for equality for all. She was a mentee for Social Science Research Pathways through the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, as well as a Policy Fellow for Underground Scholars Initiative and worked alongside the California Policy Lab to raise awareness about record reduction. These experiences led to her selection for the Matsui Center Washington Fellowship while at UCDC in Fall 2024.

As a Matsui Center Washington Fellowship recipient, Talley is dedicated to advocating for marginalized communities to reduce criminalization and incarceration rates, as well as addressing housing insecurity issues. She is passionate about legislative advocacy and aims to pursue a career in public policy and plans to apply for law school in Fall 2024.