Matsui Center Cal-in-Sacramento Fellows

Jenny My Quyen Dang

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

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...

Fiona Vogler

Class of 2023
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Fiona Vogler is a fourth year studying Geography, with a focus on economy, culture, and society, and Political Economy, with a concentration in development and globalization. Her upbringing in Oakland alongside a neurodivergent sibling who faced significant struggles in the public education system provided evidence of systemic neglect and violence towards minority populations. During the Spring 2022 semester, Fiona studied abroad in the Netherlands, whose infrastructure and social policy starkly contrasts that of the U.S. These experiences ultimately demonstrated the importance of...

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...

Ethan Kim

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

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...

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...

Avery Graham Arbaugh

Class of 2025
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento

Avery Arbaugh (he/him), is a second-year Political Science major with a passion for community organizing and policy work surrounding the protection and expansion of social programs and institutions, and the elimination of barriers to access to social aid.

Coming from a low-income background, Avery has focused his work on fostering a working-class movement and enriching advocacy and policy spaces’ understanding of the issues facing marginalized communities.

Avery has previously interned with The Hub Project in Washington D.C. where he drafted multiple...

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...

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...

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...