Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

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Cal-in-Sacramento Fellowship

Cal-in-Sacramento is one of the University of California’s largest and most prestigious campus-based public service internship programs. For more than five decades, hundreds of Cal students have gone to Sacramento under our auspices to gain first-hand experience in the most dynamic state capital in the country. Many of these students have gone on to careers in politics, government, and public service.

About the Program

The Cal-in-Sacramento Fellowship is designed to train the next generation of public service leaders through a highly supportive and comprehensive approach to experiential learning.

Fellows develop critical skills and engage thoughtfully with key policy issues using a 3-pillar model, combining coursework, research training, and professional development. These components provide the foundation for the Cal-in-Sacramento capstone: the summer public service internship.

Cal-in-Sac Supplemental Fellowships

Cal-in-Sacramento Supplemental Fellowships

Most summer internships are unpaid. To assist with affordability and ensure that this life-changing public service opportunity is open to all student regardless of financial status, the Cal-in-Sac Fellowship Program provides students with free, shared housing at Sac State, a $200 transportation stipend, and a modest living stipend (usually $1,500). Cal-in-Sacramento applicants are also invited to apply to one of the following supplemental Fellowships, which includes a larger living stipend ($2,550)...

Katherine Rodriguez

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Kenneth Burt Fellow

Jennifer Ramirez

Class of 2024
2024 Percy Undergraduate Grant
2023 Kenneth Burt Fellow
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Washington Fellowship - Fall
2022 Democracy Camp Student Director
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
2022 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Jennifer Ramirez is a first-generation Latina studying Economics and Public Policy at UC Berkeley from the Bay Area. Growing up in a mixed-status household, she experienced first-hand the hardships Latinx immigrant families faced, such as the struggle to assimilate, obtain basic needs, and become financially stable. The systematic barriers that limit the upward mobility of historically marginalized communities propelled her to become an advocate in her local community, and pursue a career in public service. After being selected to attend Harvard Kennedy...

Christian Dieguez

Class of 2026
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento
2026 Kenneth Burt Fellow
2025 Washington Fellowship - Fall
2024 Democracy Camp Student Director
2024 Democracy Camp in Berkeley
2023 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Christian is a driven, first-generation student at UC Berkeley majoring in political science with a minor in public policy. Being raised in Los Angeles, California, Christian has become passionate about addressing the historically discriminatory systems that shape the access to opportunities and resources for many individuals. He is particularly interested in creating immigration reform and keeping families together, strengthening our human rights, and investing in early education.

During his time at UC Berkeley, Christian has been an active member in the Berkeley community by...

Carlos Santana

Class of 2025
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento Student Director
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2024 Washington Fellowship - Fall
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento
2024 Kenneth Burt Fellow
Placement: White House Internship Program, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Placement Location: Washington, DC

Carlos is a first-generation Latinx student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Chicanx Latinx Studies. Born and raised in the California Central Valley, he is the son and grandson of farmworkers. His paternal grandfather was in the temporary agricultural worker program known as the Bracero Program, and first came to the United States in 1952. His maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States in...

Janet Mendoza-Partida

Class of 2025
2025 Democracy Camp Student Director
2025 Democracy Camp in DC
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Kenneth 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...

Brandon Maskey

Class of 2027
2027 Cal-in-Sacramento
2027 Matsui Center Student Director
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento

Brandon Maskey is a senior transfer and second-generation Nepali-Chinese American at UC Berkeley, studying Political Science with minors in City & Regional Planning and Public Policy. Growing up in an immigrant household in the Bay Area, Brandon came to understand higher education and homeownership as fundamental pathways to upward mobility within his community.

After discovering a passion for student advocacy as a student at Diablo Valley College, Brandon became eager to champion affordable housing and students’ basic needs by sharing his lived experiences in Washington, D.C....