Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

Sebastian Orozco

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Sebastian Orozco is a current fourth year student at UC Berkeley. He is majoring in Ethnic Studies and Political Science, with a minor in Education. As a first generation, low income student, he witnessed first hand the inequalities that plague his hometown of East Los Angeles. From under-resourced schools to outdated curriculum in the classrooms, at a young age, he developed a passion and need to advocate for himself and his community alike. He is passionate about issues regarding education, especially the policies that shape the curriculum that is taught in schools. This summer, he...

Jennifer Rodriguez

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Jennifer Rodriguez is a senior from a small agricultural town called Orange Cove in Fresno County. Jennifer grew up without a car in her rural community and dealt with hardships getting to grocery stores and appointments, especially during extreme heat in the Central Valley. Upon moving to Berkeley, she noticed the stark difference between public transportation in her community and in the Bay Area. After taking several classes that discussed city planning, she became interested in working in transportation planning to help increase accessibility...

Fela Tai Williams

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Growing up in the Bay Area, Fela has become motivated to look inward at our government and its relationship with our most forgotten and mistreated communities. The experiences of family and community members in navigating our institutions, from difficulty in attaining citizenship to being racially profiled by the police, have influenced Fela to understand the ways in which oppression is entrenched in our systems. Studying Political Science and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, she hopes to learn about and address how legislation and policies have helped or hindered progress for...

D'Angelo Francisco Gonzalez

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

As a first-generation college student, D'Angelo is committed to increasing accessibility to public services for all communities. His interest in social welfare began from a young age, where he was inspired to help others through public service at the encouragement of his family and friends. As he progressed through secondary education, he grew interested in how public services operated and assisted disadvantaged communities, many of which were represented in his city. He participated in extra-curricular activities to gain firsthand experience of how social...

Andrea Anahi Ayala

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Andrea Ayala is a first-generation Mexican-American student at UC Berkeley studying Rhetoric. After completing her undergraduate degree, she hopes to go to law school. Ayala's interest in public service was sparked by her experience working in student government at her previous community college and completing a fellowship with the ACLU of Northern California.

Ayala is motivated to help improve the lives of her community members that are often underrepresented and overlooked. During her time in the Cal-in-Sac program, Ayala hopes to gain additional first-hand...

Hugo Vallecillo

Class of 2025
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

My name is Hugo Vallecillo, and I am exchange student for the academic year 2022-2023 at UC Berkeley who was born in Valladolid, Spain. I am a full-time student in Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, where I am completing a Dual Degree in Political Science and Law.

Since I became aware of the problems surrounding my community, I have been really interested in learning about socioeconomic inequalities and the difficulties that the most vulnerable face when accessing the political system.

In the future, I would love to focus my career on academic...

Ana Iris Navidad Rayon

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...

Diversity & Entrepreneurship Research Products

The Diversity and Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program includes hands-on research and summer internship experiences for Cal undergraduates focused on diverse entrepreneurship and small businesses, along with academic instruction in diversity, entrepreneurship, and California policy. Students receive training and mentorship from Berkeley graduate students and other experts in the field, and an opportunity to present their findings at a research symposia in the fall. The goal of the program is to build a diverse cohort of future civic and political leaders who understand the challenges and...

The Mountain of Waste: How Small Businesses Have Managed Food Packaging Practices During the COVID-19 Era(link is external)

Layla Dargahi
2021
Layla Dargahi, Global Studies, Class of 2022

Internship Office: California Department of Food and Agriculture

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many restaurants to struggle as dining-in no longer became an option, causing a reduction in customers. Restaurants were forced to quickly adjust, resulting in a huge increase in disposable packaging for meals as most meal options were only offered as takeout. The op-ed explores the various effects of increased packaging in BIPOC Oakland based restaurants as they navigate costs, government guidelines, and other challenges to stay afloat.

2022 Matsui Center Fellow brings public service learning to life; Sam Greenberg says students need more voice in city politics, Daily Cal reports

October 19, 2022
Luka Marks

In an October Daily Cal article, Cal-in-Sacramento Fellow Sam Greenberg discusses the struggles and slow progress Berkeley has made in enforcing its 2017 Berkeley Bicycle Plan, as well as the need for more student voice in city decisions around public safety. Greenberg, the President of the student-led advocacy organization "Telegraph for People", laments, "Students are kind of treated as second-class citizens in the city...People think they’re temporary residents who don’t really deserve the same voice as permanent residents in the city, but since students are a third of the...

https://dailycal.org/2022/10/19/berkeley-struggles-to-enforce-city-bike-plans