Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

Vivian Kuang

Class of 2024
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Vivian Kuang is a sophomore studying Political Economy (with a concentration in Inequality in the U.S.) and Data Science. She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and was born and raised in the Bay Area. Growing up and seeing crises of injustice unfold that her generation would have to inherit, she became passionate about bringing her perspective to spaces that shape government policy and radically rethinking how government can serve people that have been historically neglected. She is...

Alexis Aguilar

Class of 2022
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

My name is Alexis Aguilar, I am a fourth studying Conservation and Resource studies. At the age of seven years old, my mother and I fled our hometown in Michoacán, Mexico, escaping a life flustered by organized crime and violence. Throughout the course of my life, I’ve used these experiences to frame the mantra I live by; no matter what happens, never let it affect your education. As I navigate my undergraduate career at UC Berkeley, I proceed to valorize this notion while I forge my own path...

Tristan Shaughnessy

Class of 2023
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Tristan Shaughnessy is a junior transfer studying political science. At community college, he wrote for the Diablo Valley College’s newspaper, The Inquirer. Watching county supervisors respond to a pandemic, he saw how the everyday decisions of elected and unelected officials impacted thousands of people. For him, this highlighted the importance of good governance and local politics, making him want to pursue a career in public service.

Tristan is currently working at Bay Area Legal...

Sinchana Srinivas

Class of 2024
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
Placement: Placement Location: Sacramento, California

Sinchana Srinivas is a first-generation Indian-American intending to study Public Health and Political Economy. Having grown up in California and South India, she has experienced different healthcare systems and aims to continue to learn more about California-specific legislation and offices that aim to resolve issues regarding healthcare inequities.


She has worked with non-profits in Southern California and is currently involved with a nonprofit that connects...

Nancy Kim

Class of 2023
2022 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Schaeffer Fellowship
Placement: Congressional and Public Affairs Department, Millenium Challenge Corporation Placement Location:

Nancy Kim is a junior from Dublin, Ohio studying Economics and Media Studies. Her career interests include equitable economic and workforce development policies. After graduation, she hopes to combine her communications and policy background to implement programs that not only promote economic well-being, but also focus on raising marginalized communities.
Nancy currently serves as the Chief Communications...

Hanyu (Megan) Yao

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

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...

Tristan Muir Keene

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Born and raised in the East Bay Area, Tristan Keene is the result of numerous public sector efforts to better her community, state, and country. AB 19 allowed her to attend community college for two years tuition-free, providing an inclusive and accessible educational setting that prepared her for the rigorous academic environment of UC Berkeley. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 lightened the financial burden of being an independent college student by providing her and other students with grocery money every month. The Middle Income Student Assistance Act of 1978, which created the...

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...

Katherine Rodriguez

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Kristel Cosio

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Kristel’s interest in medicine began as a child when her father's rare genetic disease caused blindness. His diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) ignited her passion for understanding the unseen world, how small life forms impact our daily lives. At UC Berkeley’s Herbert Wertheim’s School of Optometry and Vision Science Kristel is able to work at the Puthussery & Taylor Lab where she is a research assistant on leading therapeutics for RP.

As a senior she helps run the Outreach Taskforce, an umbrella under UC Berkeley’s Suitcase Clinic that provides resources for...