Democracy Camp in DC

John Lam is a first-generation transfer/reentry student at the University of California, Berkeley studying political science. He was born and raised in South Sacramento, CA to Vietnamese political refugees. Growing up in an under-resourced and underprivileged neighborhood made it difficult for him to imagine life out of poverty.

At the age of 17 he experienced the school-to-prison pipeline first hand. He found his political consciousness and passion rooted in the story and lives of those who are incarcerated and want to work toward criminal justice...

Karen Esparza Lopez is first-generation Mexican Immigrant and former foster youth studying Political Science. During her time in foster care, she witnessed extreme injustices that many foster youth face in the child welfare system. She has seen the ways in which local and federal governments have both failed at meeting the needs of their underrepresented community members in the foster care system. She hopes to resolve these issues through a career in public service. She is most passionate about resolving issues regarding child welfare, social welfare,...

Ibrahim Abdul-Aziz Mohyuddin is a college senior studying Legal Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He grew up in a very tight-knit immigrant Muslim community in Tennessee where he had gotten to experience first hand the ways that ethnic immigrants and Muslims were treated in a southern, conservative state post-9/11. He has seen first hand how the government can be used to target minority communities; the Tennessee State Legislature being one of the few legislative bodies in the United States to not only introduce, but also pass an “Anti-Sharia...

Yessica Mox is a Political Science major from Riverside, CA. She comes from a low-income community and has lived experiences that have shaped the type of work she would like to do in the future. She hopes to work in the public service sector and would like to one day attend law school. In the past, she has interned for a local nonprofit, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. She was part of the board of directors for Inside the Living Room, a student-led organization that helps students connect with internships at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC). In...