Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

Emily Chamale

Class of 2027
2026 Matsui Local Government Fellowship
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
2024 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Emily Chamale Hernandez (she/her)

Born in Guatemala and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Emily Chamale is a first-generation student at UC Berkeley double-majoring in Political Science and Ethnic Studies. Her upbringing in South LA, shaped by systemic underinvestment in immigrant and working-class communities, grounds her commitment to equity and public service. An Ethnic Studies class in high school deepened her political consciousness and sparked her passion for organizing. She further developed her advocacy through four years in the ACLU’s Youth Liberty Squad,...

Kaiana Kotero

Class of 2027
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2026 Pathways to Federal Public Service

Kaiana Kotero is a third-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, double-majoring in Legal Studies and Psychology, with a focused academic and professional interest in sexual violence prevention, public safety, and institutional accountability. Her experience bridges legislative policy, legal services, and applied research addressing violence and security within government systems. As a Cal-in-Sacramento Fellow in the Office of California’s Fourth Senate District, Kaiana evaluated the Sexually Violent Predator Conditional Release Program, authored a published...

Estefani Carrasco

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

Estefani Carrasco is a Oaxacan first-generation student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Sociology and Legal Studies. Born and raised in North County San Diego, she has lived experiences within the Oaxacan diaspora that have shaped her commitment to advocating for historically marginalized communities while advancing visibility and empowerment.

Estefani is passionate about community organizing, advocacy, and research, which has guided her involvement both in the Bay Area and at Berkeley. She has supported immigrants, asylum-seekers, and survivors...

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...

Rebekah Becerra

Class of 2026
2026 Pathways to Federal Public Service
2026 Matsui Center Student Director
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento

Rebekah is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing Ethnic Studies and Political Science. As a Latina student from Los Angeles County, Rebekah has a particular interest in Latine voting rights and government transparency work. This passion led her to her academic studies where she continues to learn about the intersection of ethnicity/race and participation in politics.

On campus, Rebekah has been involved in the Public Service Center's Cal in the Capital program, the Residence Hall Assembly, and as a Student Director for the Matsui Center fellowship, Pathways to Federal Public...

Lara Zangana

Class of 2026
2026 Schaeffer Fellowship
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
2024 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Lara Zangana is a first-generation undergraduate at UC Berkeley, double majoring in Society and Environment and Conservation and Resource Studies. As a Climate and Youth Engagement Fellow with UC Berkeley’s Student Environmental Resource Center, Lara contributed over four hundred hours of public service focused on immigration, housing, and environmental justice. In fall 2024, she also interned at the White House within the Biden Harris Administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy.

This past summer, Lara served as an undergraduate researcher and Cal-in-Sacramento Fellow...

Laila Hamidi

Class of 2026
2026 John Gardner Fellowship
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento
Laila Hamidi is a fourth year at UC Berkeley pursuing simultaneous degrees in Environmental Economics and Policy and Geography, with a minor in City Planning. Growing up in suburban Orange, CA gave her personal experience with the crises of housing affordability and car dependence that threaten the future of our state. As an intern at the Orange County Transportation Authority, Laila worked hard to expand funding for rail transit infrastructure threatened by climate change in Southern California. As a Cal-in-Sacramento Fellow, Laila interned in the Capitol Office of Assemblymember Alex Lee...

Kenny Kutter

Class of 2027
2026 Democracy Camp in DC
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento

Kenny is a third year student studying Political Science, with a minor in Data Science. Kenny is interested in how data science tools can be used to explore society's most pressing problems and use this research to push for meaningful change. Previously, Kenny was a 2025 Cal-in-Sacramento fellow, where he interned in the office of Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson, who represents his hometown of Moreno Valley.

Currently, Kenny is the Policy Executive in the ASUC Office of the President, where he advises the student body president on pressing...

Giovanna Cornejo

Class of 2027
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento

Giovanna Cornejo Figueroa (She/her)

Giovanna Cornejo Figueroa is a proud first-generation undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. Born and raised in Los Baños to Mexican immigrant parents, her upbringing in the Central Valley shaped her deep commitment to social, economic, and environmental justice. She witnessed firsthand the resilience of immigrant and working-class families in agricultural communities, inspiring her to advocate for equity and representation in public policy.

Giovanna currently serves as an Environmental Justice/College Corps...

Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows & Alumni