Matsui Center Schaeffer Government Fellows

As the daughter of an immigrant mother and growing up 15 minutes away from the Southern border, Sofia’s upbringing included two very different languages and cultures. It is because of those unique experiences and interactions that she has always had a deep interest and understanding in the uplifting of her Latine community through policy and the field of law. Her personal experiences with challenges accessing professional opportunities and facing workplace discrimination, due to her background, further inform and inspire her undergraduate efforts. She works to increase access to...

Janet Mendoza-Partida is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley studying legal studies and Chicanx/Latinx studies. She was born and raised in Watsonville, California by Mexican migrant agricultural workers. While in high school she volunteered at multiple elementary and middle schools around her community, leading her to understand the educational disparities predominantly impacting students of color, and prompting her to develop a passion for educational equity. During the summer she continues to serve as a mentor, translator, and educator in...

As a queer and disabled woman, Ariana Kretz hopes that by pursuing a placement in environmental justice, she can create systems that better uplift those of marginalized identities while protecting the planet. Her particular policy interests include public transit and the intersection between Indigenous sovereignty and environmental issues.

At UC Berkeley, she majored in History with double minors in Public Policy and Conservation and Resource Studies. Her honor’s thesis focused on how Native American parents advocated for their children who...