Democracy Camp in DC

Yessica Mox

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
2021 Schaeffer Fellowship

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...

Fiza Mehmood

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

As a first-generation student, I am committed to amplifying the voices of those who are not heard. I have spent my life on labels that the government often overlooks, such as low-income or people of color. I have completed research and interned for the City of Sacramento, the Sacramento Mayor’s Office, and Sacramento’s District 3 Office. It was vital for me to have my voice heard and speak about issues the government was not interested in. During my time, I aided the Council in passing a legislative bill regarding plastic pollution. While working with City Hall, I realized how...

Kulsoom Hasan

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC
2023 Schaeffer Fellowship

Kulsoom Hasan is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing studies within the Travers Department of Political Science and the Goldman School of Public Policy. Her passion for public service was initially forged through community engagement at the local governmental level as a voter drive organizer and grassroots campaign canvasser. From there, her foray into legislative research and policy advocacy expanded as she further explored the interdisciplinary nature of politics and government through hands-on experience.


Her passion for comparative...

Karen Esparza Lopez

Class of 2023
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

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,...

Bianca Torres Murray

Class of 2024
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Bianca is a proud Mexican-American from Echo Park, Los Angeles. Her ancestors’ grit and determination greatly inspire her. Also, Bianca is a second-year Ethnic Studies major who’s passionate about social justice and community engagement. Specifically, she’s interested in the intersections between race and public policy and how policy impacts peoples’ lives. Bianca has had many experiences working to change policies for the better. As a high schooler, after being denied the opportunity to run for a board seat on her local neighborhood council due to her...

Daniel Munoz

Class of 2023
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Danny is a transfer student who identifies as re-entry, first-generation, and formerly incarcerated, among other marginalized populations. Raised in Oakland and San Leandro, California, a disadvantaged family dynamic has caused him a great deal of adversity. After decades of going back and forth to jail and a violent lifestyle, in 2016, Danny was shot five times. In 2018, Danny made the decision to pursue higher education, with goals of giving back to his community.

Now, as a Sociology Major and Public Policy Minor at UC Berkeley, Danny aspires to not...

Alexander Rodriguez

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Alex Rodriguez is a Latinx, first-generation student majoring in Legal Studies and double-minoring in Education and Global Poverty and Practice. He grew up in a lower working class community in South Central Los Angeles in his immigrant household. Considering his background, Alex is interested in becoming a civil rights attorney to make strides within the legal system to help undocumented, poor, and non-English communities through legal advoacy and activism. Alex has interned with the ACLU of Northern California, ACLU California Action, UC Berkeley...

Gélser Zavala Garcia

Class of 2023
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
Gélser Zavala is an East Oakland born and raised Central American-American native, the child of war refugees from El Salvador's U.S. funded civil war, who transferred from Laney College with an AA in Paralegal and Social Studies now studying Legal Studies. Through a tumultuous upbringing living in a working class family, and attending under-resourced and underfunded public school system, Gélser has witnessed and experienced how public policy and other forms of leadership has been inadequate for communities needing to be empowered and assisted for upward economic status and thrive...

Ibrahim Mohyuddin

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

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...

Jocelin Robles

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Jocelin Robles is a first-generation Latina from East Oakland majoring in Ethnic Studies and minoring in Education. As someone from a low-income immigrant family in the Bay, Jocelin has first-hand witnessed how local and federal governments inflict economic, social, and political injustices within her community. Her upbringing as someone who struggled due to intersectional identities has driven her to pursue opportunities that allow an in-depth understanding of education, immigration, and basic needs policies. More so, Jocelin believes in...