Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

Fatima Martinez Jara

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
2022 Schaeffer Fellowship

Fatima Martinez Jara is a senior studying Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. She immigrated to the United States at five and grew up in a low-income immigrant community. As a result, she experienced firsthand the injustices immigrants of color encountered, making her interested in legal and policy-making. She became her community’s translator at a young age, enabling her to find her passion for public service.

This past summer, she was selected as a Leonard D. Schaeffer Local Government Fellow, where she interned for the California Research Bureau and...

Ethan Kim

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow

My name is Ethan Kim, and I am a political science major with a minor in public policy. In the classroom, I love studying constitional law and comparing different government systems. Outside the classroom, I am a copy editor for the Daily Californian, and I write several opinion articles on political issues. After one year, I transferred from Santa Monica College with an Associate of Arts in political science. In high school, I wrote for numerous newspapers and publications, including the Los Angeles Times High School Insider and my own newspaper called the Outspoken. My passion for...

Marisol Medina

Class of 2025
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Jo Freeman Women in Politics Fellow
2022 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Marisol Medina, a child of Mexican immigrants, is a first-generation college student. She is a second-year majoring in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy. She grew up in Inglewood, California, neighboring the city of Los Angeles, which inspired her to advocate for more equitable education opportunities in low-income areas as she saw how educational disparities impacted youth in her city. Inspired to bring change to her community, she spent her high school years heavily involved in civic engagement and social justice activism as an intern for the Invest In Youth Coalition...

Hanyu (Megan) Yao

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Jo Freeman Women in Politics Fellow

Megan is a third-year student studying Comparative Literature, Sociology and Japanese at UC Berkeley. She is passionate about public services and advocacy work, specifically that related to education equity, education policies and gender topics in the education system. Prior to Cal-in-Sac, she interned at a variety of non-profit organizations, such as US-China Education Trust (USCET), Sanctuary for Families (SFF), Shanghai Young Bakers, etc. On Berkeley campus, Megan was a Research Assistant at the School of Social Welfare with Prof. Valerie Shapiro, on Social Emotional...

Katie DaQuino

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Jo Freeman Women in Politics Fellow
2022 Democracy Camp in Berkeley

Katie DaQuino is a fourth year student studying Political Science, with minors in Public Policy and Interdisciplinary Human Rights Studies. She is the president of Cal Habitat for Humanity, a community service club that aims to give students opportunities to volunteer in the local community. The club is focused on affordable housing and during her time as president she has worked to expand the advocacy branch of the club. Katie is also an editor for the Undergraduate Public Policy Review Journal, where she published an article about housing policies in California.

She also is...

Devyn Aridny Lopez

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Jo Freeman Women in Politics Fellow

Devyn Lopez is a third-year student at UC Berkeley pursuing a Social Welfare major and a Spanish minor. Devyn was raised in the Bay Area most of her life and discovered how crucial it is to give back to her community when she moved to East San Jose. Devyn is committed to assisting communities of color and under-served populations through direct legal, educational, or social services aimed to help individuals build a sense of agency. She is genuinely passionate about ending gender-based violence and one of her ultimate aspirations is to advocate on...

Jenny My Quyen Dang

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Golden State Fellow

Jenny Dang is a first-generation Vietnamese American studying political science and public policy. She has a passion for community organizing and has been involved in a variety of organizations throughout her academic journey. After graduation, she hopes to continue her work in policy at the federal level working on areas such as affordable housing or public health with the hope to do her part in uplifting marginalized communities.

On campus, Jenny is currently serving as one of the state associates for the EAVP office where she is able to expand upon her policy interests at...

Deborah Adepeju Alagbada

Class of 2024
2024 Democracy Camp in DC
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Golden State Fellow

Deborah Alagbada is a first-generation Nigerian-American majoring in Legal Studies and Sociology with a minor in Ethnic Studies. She was raised by her immigrant parents in Watts, a low-income neighborhood primarily occupied by Black and Latinx communities. Growing up, she witnessed a lot of inequalities streaming from a lack of resources and inadequate funding. Deborah hopes to use her degree to help amplify the voices of those who have been silenced for too long. By continuing the fight against injustice for everyone facing inequalities and...

Aiko Dabu

Class of 2026
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento
2024 Golden State Fellow

Aiko Dabu is a first-generation college student born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area to Filipinx-immigrant parents. Growing up in a low-income BIPOC community, she witnessed numerous instances where her family and friends were subjected to deliberate underpayment, overwork, and emotional abuse by their clients and employers. Witnessing the enduring impact of such abuse on her own immigrant parents, Aiko developed a strong commitment to advocating for improved legal resources and accommodations to support vulnerable immigrant communities in the workplace.

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Jade Jaimes-Chavez

Class of 2026
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento
2024 Golden State Fellow

Jade Jaimes Chavez (She/Her/Ella) is a first-generation UC Berkeley student double-majoring in ethnic studies and data science and proudly represents her Mexican-American heritage. Raised in an immigrant, farm-working family from Orange Cove, California, Jade has witnessed firsthand the challenges of violence, poverty, and oppression that affect her family and the broader rural community in their struggle for equitable access to education, healthcare, and essential quality-of-life resources. As the first in her family to attend a 4-year university, Jade actively engages in public service...