Cal-in-Sacramento

Ana Navidad

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
I’m Ana Navidad, a fifth-year transfer student majoring in Sociology and minoring in Education. I was born in Guerrero, Mexico and immigrated to the U.S at the age of three years old. My family decided to leave their homeland and immigrate to the U.S for economic opportunities and to escape poverty and violence. We moved to Oakland, California where I had to navigate a new language, culture, and a new school system. Receiving a public education and higher education in the U.S was important to me and my family because it’s an opportunity that was inaccessible in our Mexican pueblo...

Cindy Nguyen

Class of 2022
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Cindy Nguyen is a first-generation Vietnamese-American studying Social Welfare and double minoring in Public Policy and Global Poverty & Practice (GPP). Her career interests include strengthening the social safety net to ensure that families and individuals have access to their basic needs. She plans to earn a Master’s degree in Social Work or Public Policy, with ambitions of working in the public sector to advocate for underrepresented and marginalized communities.

Cindy is involved...

Ashlyn Olah

Class of 2023
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Ashlyn Olah is a junior studying Society & Environment with a concentration in US Environmental Policy & Management. Growing up in rural Northern California, in the small town of Chester, she developed a deep appreciation for forest ecosystems and landscapes. With the increasing severity of wildfires in California, she has been able to see how government agencies have failed to protect rural communities in the direct path of rampant wildfires. She hopes to help mitigate the effects of...

Sebastian Orozco

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Sebastian Orozco is a current fourth year student at UC Berkeley. He is majoring in Ethnic Studies and Political Science, with a minor in Education. As a first generation, low income student, he witnessed first hand the inequalities that plague his hometown of East Los Angeles. From under-resourced schools to outdated curriculum in the classrooms, at a young age, he developed a passion and need to advocate for himself and his community alike. He is passionate about issues regarding education, especially the policies that shape the curriculum that is taught in schools. This summer, he...

Jenifer Lopez Osorio

Class of 2022
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Jenifer Lopez is a first-generation, low-income student studying legal studies. Growing up in a farm-working, immigrant household has allowed her to see the hardships and hurdles undocumented immigrants face the second they come to this country, in hopes of attaining a better life. As someone who has gone through the immigration system, which has prompted her to pursue a career in immigration law. Jenifer's activism and community organizing started in 2016, when she joined a local non-...

Lynda Otero

Class of 2026
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento
2026 Democracy Camp in DC

Lynda is a first-generation Salvadoran student at UC Berkeley majoring in Political Science with a minor in Chicanx Latinx Studies. Her commitment to public service is deeply rooted in real-world service and community building. Her work includes frontline advocacy, where she partnered with non-profits like Border Angels in San Diego to distribute essential supplies and know-your-rights cards to day laborers and provide water along migrant routes. She also served as a College Corps Fellow, mentoring newcomer students to develop their English skills. In order to expand her professional...

Janet Mendoza-Partida

Class of 2025
2025 Democracy Camp Student Director
2025 Democracy Camp in DC
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Ken Burt Fellow
2024 Schaeffer Fellowship
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

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...

Valeria Pasillas

Class of 2026
2025 Schaeffer Fellowship
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento

Valeria is a first-generation Mexican-American student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Political Science with a double minor in Education and Public Policy. Proudly raised in Fresno, California, in the heart of the Central Valley, she is the eldest of five children and the daughter of immigrant farmworkers. Valeria’s passion lies at the intersection of politics, education, and advocating for young, low-income students.

During the summer of 2024, Valeria interned at Bay Area Legal Aid in Richmond, where she served as a paralegal student intern. Bay Area Legal Aid provides critical...

Yecenia Perez

Class of 2025
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow

Yecenia Perez (She/her)

Yecenia is a first-generation student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Legal Studies and minoring in Public Policy. Raised in a low-income family of six in Los Angeles, California, Yecenia’s lived experiences have fueled her passion for social justice and dismantling inequities in education and economic opportunity. Experiencing firsthand the lack of resources in public schools, she sought mentorship from nonprofits that helped her achieve her goal of becoming one of the first in her family to attend college and...

Ysabela Yasmin Philip

Class of 2027
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento

Ysabela is a third-year student majoring in Environmental Economics & Policy and Public Health. She is passionate about, environment, health and equity, and plans to pursue a career dedicated to public service.

In 2023, she co-founded University Housing Rights Organization, a student group dedicated to advocating for student health and safety in the on-campus residence halls. She served as Publicity Officer, and now serves as Officer of Legal Affairs. Through collaboration with Cal Housing administration, in 2025, she helped found the first ever Residential & Student...