Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

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 the past 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.

2025 Diversity and Entrepreneurship Undergraduate Research Symposium

October 3, 2025 9:30am - 2:00pm Creating Opportunity in the Midst of Crises; Strategies for Increasing Access, Reducing Disparity, & Strengthening Diverse Small Businesses in California

In Spring of 2021, the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded a grant of more than $333,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation to launch a two-year Diversity and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program. The new initiative expands Berkeley undergraduate research, advocacy and internship experiences that focus on how small...

2026 Cal-in-Sacramento and Schaeffer Fellows Info Session

September 15, 2025 6:30pm - 7:00pm Interested in public service? Apply for one of our internship programs today!

Information Session: Cal-in-Sacramento Fellowship and Leonard D. Schaeffer Fellows in Government Service | September 17 | 6:00-7:30 p.m. | 119 Philosophy Hall

Speaker: Megan Collins, Institute of Governmental Studies

Sponsor: Institute of Governmental...

Celina Buncayo

Class of 2026
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento Student Director
2026 Matsui Center Student Director
2026 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Jo Freeman Women in Politics Fellow
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento

Celina Buncayo (She/Her)

Celina Buncayo is a first-generation Filipina student at UC Berkeley majoring in Political Science. Born and raised in the Philippines, Celina understands the importance of political empowerment and representation in uplifting underserved communities. Her lived experiences as an immigrant and first-gen inspire her to pursue public service as a leader that advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Celina is passionate about research, community organizing, and civic engagement. In Summer...

Noor Alramadan

Class of 2026
2025 Washington Fellowship - Spring
2025 Schaeffer Fellowship
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento
2024 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow

Noor Alramadan is a driven, first-generation third-year studying media studies with a concentration in media law and policy and a minor in education. As the daughter of immigrant parents in a dual-heritage household from Nicaragua and Iraq, her upbringing has shaped her values toward education and human rights advocacy. She is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in higher education and professional spaces, grounded by her experiences growing up in Chula Vista and attending public K-12 schools.

Her passion for public service is rooted in her experience as a longtime Girl...

Eric Zhu

Class of 2026
2025 Washington Fellowship - Spring
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento
2024 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow

Eric is a student at UC Berkeley, majoring in legal studies. Coming from an immigrant low-income household, he has witnessed and experienced the struggles of the immigrant community with language barriers and accessing institutional support.

In Eric's freshmen year in 2022, he joined the Racial Justice Now! organization as the UC Berkeley coordinated where he advocated for the Opportunity for All campaign through tabling, organizing rallies, giving public comments, and Op-Eds, which collectively with the other UC campus coordinators, pushed the UC...

Allyson Velez

Class of 2022
2022 John Gardner Fellowship
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento Student Director
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
2021 Cal-in-Sacramento
2021 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
Placement: California Health & Human Services Agency Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Raised in an immigrant household in Southern California, Allyson is passionate about creating solutions to health care challenges marginalized communities face. At an early age, Allyson’s father was diagnosed with a chronic health condition that required frequent interactions with the health care system. Through this experience, she became acutely aware of the high cost of health care and its disproportionate impact on BIPOC and low-income families....

Angie Castellon

Class of 2025
2025 Democracy Camp Student Director
2025 Democracy Camp in Berkeley
2025 Cal-in-Sacramento
2025 Golden State Fellow
2024 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Angie Castellon (she/her)

As an undocumented individual, growing up I faced a lot of struggles. I came to this country as a child, not knowing the obstacles that being undocumented would create for my future. After high school, there were not many options for me as I faced a new life as a single, undocumented mom at the age of 17 years old. Since then, I worked various jobs in which I often saw people of my community get taken advantage of due to their undocumented status by the employers, as well as by our criminal and immigration systems. I often felt frustration more...

Jennifer Ramirez

Class of 2024
2024 Percy Undergraduate Grant
2023 Ken Burt Fellow
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Washington Fellowship
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...

Janet Mendoza-Partida

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