Democracy Camp in DC

Janet Mendoza-Partida

Class of 2025
2024 Schaeffer Fellowship
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

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...

Chan Venh (John) Lam

Class of 2023
2024 John Gardner Fellowship
2023 Democracy Camp in DC Student Director
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Chan Venh (John) Lam, a first-generation Chinese-America from Sacramento, California, has embarked on a remarkable journey of resilience and advocacy. After spending 16 years incarcerated, Chan's path took a transformative turn when his sentence was commuted by Governor Brown in 2018, igniting a passion for social justice that continues to drive his advocacy efforts today.

Throughout his time behind bars, he played a pivotal role in shaping legislative change, collaborating with Human Rights Watch and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition to advocate...

Tatiana Butte

Class of 2023
2024 John Gardner Fellowship
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
2023 Democracy Camp DC Student Director

Tatiana Butte, a Geography Major with a Minor in Public Policy, is dedicated to empowering individuals and amplifying the voices of underrepresented communities in environmental justice. A first-generation Afro-Latina, Tatiana grew up in Southeast San Diego in a single-parent, Caribbean-immigrant household under challenging circumstances. Throughout her life, Tatiana has shown her exemplary leadership talents: from heading her high school JROTC battalion to advocating for outdoor equity and environmental education programs for Black and Brown youth to being a student leader...

Kulsoom Hasan

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC
2023 Schaeffer Fellowship

Kulsoom Hasan is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing studies within the Travers Department of Political Science and the Goldman School of Public Policy. Her passion for public service was initially forged through community engagement at the local governmental level as a voter drive organizer and grassroots campaign canvasser. From there, her foray into legislative research and policy advocacy expanded as she further explored the interdisciplinary nature of politics and government through hands-on experience.


Her passion for comparative...

Karen Esparza Lopez

Class of 2023
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Karen Esparza Lopez is first-generation Mexican Immigrant and former foster youth studying Political Science. During her time in foster care, she witnessed extreme injustices that many foster youth face in the child welfare system. She has seen the ways in which local and federal governments have both failed at meeting the needs of their underrepresented community members in the foster care system. She hopes to resolve these issues through a career in public service. She is most passionate about resolving issues regarding child welfare, social welfare,...

Bianca Torres Murray

Class of 2024
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Bianca is a proud Mexican-American from Echo Park, Los Angeles. Her ancestors’ grit and determination greatly inspire her. Also, Bianca is a second-year Ethnic Studies major who’s passionate about social justice and community engagement. Specifically, she’s interested in the intersections between race and public policy and how policy impacts peoples’ lives. Bianca has had many experiences working to change policies for the better. As a high schooler, after being denied the opportunity to run for a board seat on her local neighborhood council due to her...

Daniel Munoz

Class of 2023
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Danny is a transfer student who identifies as re-entry, first-generation, and formerly incarcerated, among other marginalized populations. Raised in Oakland and San Leandro, California, a disadvantaged family dynamic has caused him a great deal of adversity. After decades of going back and forth to jail and a violent lifestyle, in 2016, Danny was shot five times. In 2018, Danny made the decision to pursue higher education, with goals of giving back to his community.

Now, as a Sociology Major and Public Policy Minor at UC Berkeley, Danny aspires to not...

Alexander Rodriguez

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Alex Rodriguez is a Latinx, first-generation student majoring in Legal Studies and double-minoring in Education and Global Poverty and Practice. He grew up in a lower working class community in South Central Los Angeles in his immigrant household. Considering his background, Alex is interested in becoming a civil rights attorney to make strides within the legal system to help undocumented, poor, and non-English communities through legal advoacy and activism. Alex has interned with the ACLU of Northern California, ACLU California Action, UC Berkeley...

Gélser Zavala Garcia

Class of 2023
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
Gélser Zavala is an East Oakland born and raised Central American-American native, the child of war refugees from El Salvador's U.S. funded civil war, who transferred from Laney College with an AA in Paralegal and Social Studies now studying Legal Studies. Through a tumultuous upbringing living in a working class family, and attending under-resourced and underfunded public school system, Gélser has witnessed and experienced how public policy and other forms of leadership has been inadequate for communities needing to be empowered and assisted for upward economic status and thrive...

Ibrahim Mohyuddin

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC

Ibrahim Abdul-Aziz Mohyuddin is a college senior studying Legal Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He grew up in a very tight-knit immigrant Muslim community in Tennessee where he had gotten to experience first hand the ways that ethnic immigrants and Muslims were treated in a southern, conservative state post-9/11. He has seen first hand how the government can be used to target minority communities; the Tennessee State Legislature being one of the few legislative bodies in the United States to not only introduce, but also pass an “Anti-Sharia...