The Matsui Center Local Government Fellowship offers students the opportunity to gain firsthand municipal experience and provide direct service from the ground up. Fellows work in or alongside local government, gaining insight into the political and policy landscape in local communities around the country.
Selected Fellows must secure a full-time summer internship. Eligible internship placements include local government offices, nonprofit and community organizations, think tanks, legal services, and more, and can be located anywhere in the United States. Fellows receive advising...
Placement: Office of Oakland Mayor Libby SchaafPlacement Location: Oakland, CA
Ben Harper is a rising senior from Weaverville, CA double majoring in Political Science and Music. His career interests include developing equitable policies to secure housing and other economic justice for low-income communities. He plans to continue his education by pursuing a law or public policy degree.
Currently, he is an intern at Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s office, where he conducts research on homelessness and housing issues in the city and helps to craft...
Placement: Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti Placement Location: Los Angeles, CA
Declan Chin is a third-year undergraduate studying Economics and Data Science at UC Berkeley. He currently works as a research assistant to Professor Bruce Fuller in the Graduate School of Education; the team is researching pre-K quality distribution in New York City. He also works at CalPerformances as an Usher Captain.
Declan grew up in South Pasadena, CA in a family of eight. In high school, his participation in his local Youth and Government delegation cultivated...
Arianna Rubalcava is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley studying Political Science and Public Policy.
Arianna is originally from the San Fernando Valley and transferred to UC Berkeley from College of the Canyons in Southern California. While Arianna was attending College of the Canyons, she explored her interests in politics and public service inside and outside of the classroom.
She interned at district offices for Los Angeles City Council members Monica Rodriquez and Nury Martinez, CA State Assemblymember Luz Rivas, and worked as...
Naz Balkam is a first-generation Ethiopian-American studying Political Science at UC Berkeley. As a life-long Oakland resident and the daughter of two working-class Ethiopian immigrants, she has seen the ways in which the government has both failed and succeeded in addressing the socio-economic issues impacting low-income communities and communities of color. Her upbringing has guided her towards a career in serving these communities. Throughout her time at UC Berkeley, she has worked with non-profits throughout the Bay Area and with local government officials dedicated to resolving...
Mia Ndalugi is an upcoming senior at the University of California, Berkeley and she is currently a research assistant to professor Gabriel Lenz of the Political Science department. She is majoring in Sociology and minoring in Ethnic Studies. This is to gain a broader perspective of the social relations in everything and how these relations intersect with the field of law which she intends to pursue. Aside from her intensive workload, Mia is currently the President of UC Berkeley’s Black Sociological Alliance and the Co-President of UC Berkeley’s chapter of ONETrack International. She...
Annett Tamayo is a rising senior from San Pablo, CA double majoring in Ethnic Studies and Legal Studies. Her career interests include ensuring that an equitable and accessible legal system is made available to immigrant and low-income communities of color. She plans to continue her education by pursuing a law degree and a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies.
Currently, she is a research assistant for a professor in the Ethnic Studies department, where she conducts research on education equity and inclusion for students of color at an elite private high school in San Francisco. Through her...
Born in Guatemala and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Emily Chamale is a first-generation student at UC Berkeley double-majoring in Political Science and Ethnic Studies. Her upbringing in South LA, shaped by systemic underinvestment in immigrant and working-class communities, grounds her commitment to equity and public service. An Ethnic Studies class in high school deepened her political consciousness and sparked her passion for organizing. She further developed her advocacy through four years in the ACLU’s Youth Liberty Squad,...
