The Matsui Center Washington Fellowship offers financial support for Cal undergraduate students participating in the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC). The fellowship provides a $1,000 stipend to help defray the costs of spending a semester in Washington, DC.
Eligibility
This Fellowship is only open to UC Berkeley students who have already been accepted to the UC Berkeley Washington Program. Visit the UC...
Joanna Ugalde is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Sociology. She is a first-generation college student, who was born and raised in Southern California as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, who came to the United States seeking better opportunities for their children.
Joanna’s journey has been shaped by overcoming numerous challenges, including breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. As a student parent of four children, she has navigated the complexities of balancing family life with her academic...
My time in DC allowed me to realize my full potential, and to create a better vision of the role I see public service playing in my future. Being from California, DC exposed me to the ways different communities across the country express themselves through activism and culture. Learning about DC politics and the unique histories of the different neighborhoods that make up the federal district opened my eyes to see DC as more than just our center of government, but a place that thrives on storytelling and the work of marginalized communities to make their voices heard. At...
Isabella is a first-generation Latine student at UC Berkeley, majoring in Political Science with a focus on International Relations. She was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley by a loving family who immigrated from Mexico in the 1980's. Her academic pursuits and passion for public service inspired her to become an International Lawyer to defend those suffering from the greatest injustices around the world.
During Isabella’s time at UC Berkeley she has been dedicated taking an active role in the campus community, through conducting research as a...
Eric is a student at UC Berkeley, majoring in legal studies. Coming from an immigrant low-income household, he has witnessed and experienced the struggles of the immigrant community with language barriers and accessing institutional support.
In Eric's freshmen year in 2022, he joined the Racial Justice Now! organization as the UC Berkeley coordinated where he advocated for the Opportunity for All campaign through tabling, organizing rallies, giving public comments, and Op-Eds, which collectively with the other UC campus coordinators, pushed the UC...
Noor Alramadan is a driven, first-generation third-year studying media studies with a concentration in media law and policy and a minor in education. As the daughter of immigrant parents in a dual-heritage household from Nicaragua and Iraq, her upbringing has shaped her values toward education and human rights advocacy. She is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in higher education and professional spaces, grounded by her experiences growing up in Chula Vista and attending public K-12 schools.
Her passion for public service is rooted in her experience as a longtime Girl...
The idea of living in Washington, DC, and working in the highest levels of government was something I was very interested in since starting as a freshman at Cal. As someone who has known no other state than California, living in DC took some getting used to. My time in DC started with walking around and seeing the city. My...
Being a first-generation college student is about more than simply being the first in your family to attend college. For me, it has meant navigating uncharted territory and embracing life’s many firsts. Yet, with these opportunities comes a unique burden—the guilt of being first-gen, of experiencing things beyond my parents' wildest dreams.
This fall, I’m interning at the UC Federal Governmental Relations office in Washington, D.C., gaining invaluable professional experience as I prepare to graduate from UC Berkeley. As I grow in this role and run the...
Over the past 11 weeks, my UCDC experience has been full of surprises. While I anticipated the usual challenges—like adjusting to a new environment, navigating travel logistics, and dealing with the distance from friends and family—I never expected to adapt so quickly or to find joy in this transition. Initially, I thought being away from my loved ones would be harder than it turned out to be, especially since I’m not usually a fan of change. However, this experience has surprisingly been exactly what I needed. It forced me out of my comfort zone, allowing me to learn how to handle change...
