Democracy Camp Berkeley

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...

Democracy Camp

Democracy Camp is designed for Cal undergrads who are interested in enhancing our democracy through public service. Students can apply to one of two programs: Democracy Camp in Berkeley, the Matsui Center's alternative spring break program, or Democracy Camp in DC, a weeklong...

Racceb Arikew

Class of 2029
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Racceb Arikew is a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Legal Studies with a minor in Journalism. Raised in a low-income immigrant household, she developed an early awareness of how legal systems and public narratives shape access, justice, and opportunity. Her academic interests focus on gender justice, civil rights, and the role of media in amplifying marginalized voices. Through her studies, Racceb aims to combine legal analysis with storytelling to challenge inequity and promote accountability. By participating in Democracy Camp, she hopes to...

Michelle Romero

Class of 2027
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Michelle Romero is a scholar dedicated to serving her community. Her passion for policy and legislation sparked during the 2016 election after watching how mixed status families such as her own, were being discriminated against. Beyond immigration, she is deeply interested in women’s rights and safe, accessible education.

She is a firm believer that under-privileged voices should be uplifted. In her community college she promoted non-partisan student engagement in the polling booths and reformed the active shooter protocol; constantly advocating for student safety. At UC...

Maria Davila

Class of 2029
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Maria Davila is a first-generation student from Southern California, pursuing political science with a strong commitment to civic engagement and public policy. She is currently a Political Science major and she is actively involved in policy research, legal advocacy, and student governance.

At UC Berkeley, Maria serves as a legal intern for the ASUC President, a legal associate for Senator Nikki Nunez Rivera, and a research associate with the Student Policy Institute. Her policy experience includes co-authoring California Assembly Bills AB 1939 and AB 2771...

Zella Carmichael-Price

Class of 2028
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Zella Carmichael-Price (they/she/any) is a pre-law student in her second year at UC Berkeley pursuing a double major in Psychology and Spanish, with a concentration in Hispanic Linguistics. In her free time, she is involved in various organizations, including QARC, CalACLU, Cal Ocean Society, and the ASUC, to provide resources to both on- and off-campus communities. She also enjoys volunteering at Openhouse in San Francisco, giving back to the queer and trans seniors who fought hard for the current rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Growing up in Northern California, the far-...

Vanessa Mombrun

Class of 2028
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Vanessa is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley and is a proud first-generation, Haitian-American student from Burbank, California. Coming from a multicultural background, she brings a deep appreciation for community, language, and connection into every space she occupies. She first discovered her passion for social justice in high school through her involvement in restorative justice programs aimed at disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, as well as her service on the California Association of Youth Courts Youth Advisory Board. In...

Jasmine Bloomberg

Class of 2027
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

My name is Jasmine Bloomberg, a transfer student from Santa Rosa Junior College. Being raised in a low-income family as a first-generation college student, education was always understood as an obstacle in the road of my life, rather than a tool that I could utilize to my advantage to better understand the world and people around me. At my community college, I developed self agency and became interested in education and how we counsel students. I’m deeply passionate about student agency and voice, and am currently studying the contemporary issues and history surrounding students and...

Iraiz Chavez

Class of 2027
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Iraiz Chavez is a first-generation, low-income, pre-law fourth-year transfer student from MiraCosta Community College, majoring in Legal Studies and Sociology. Their academic interests center on democratic governance, public policy, and the role of law in shaping equitable outcomes for underrepresented communities. Iraiz is particularly interested in how policy decisions influence civic participation, access to public resources, and community well-being. They are motivated to contribute to policy conversations that center community voices and promote equity within legal and political...

Kevin Vargas

Class of 2026
2026 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

My name is Kevin Luis Vargas and I am the first person from my Latino immigrant family to go to college and enlist in the United States Army. I am a re-entry and transfer student.

While I knew I had always wanted to attain a higher education; I knew from a young age that I did not have enough resources or finances to do so. I sought to circumvent the obstacles that were dealt to me and enlisted in the military in order to obtain a better opportunity for education. It was one of the best and most transformative decisions I have made and have no regrets in doing so. Now that I...