Democracy Camp in DC

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
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Sayeda Kulsoom Hasan

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

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...

Chan Venh (John) Lam

Class of 2024
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...

Nouhamin Leoulekal

Class of 2025
2024 Democracy Camp in DC Student Director
2024 Democracy Camp in DC
2023 Democracy Camp in DC
Nouhamin Leoulekal is a first-generation college student, a child of immigrant parents, raised in the East Bay Area, California. She is a rising junior double majoring in Legal Studies and African-American Studies. Nouhamin’s research interests range from prison surveillance, data usage, femtorship, financial literacy, and much more. Her time at UC Berkeley has been invaluable, as she’s had the opportunity to research a few of her interests. She hopes to continue her journey with education upon graduation, to pursue her Juris Doctorate Degree, eventually working to serve...

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,...

Mayra Lua Reyes

Class of 2024
2024 William K. (Sandy) Muir, Jr. Leadership Award
2024 Democracy Camp in DC

Mayra Lua Reyes (she/her)

Mayra Lua Reyes ('24) is a first-generation student earning a double major in Political Science and Legal Studies and a minor in Public Policy. She was born and raised in the Central Valley (Merced, CA) and is the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents.

Mayra’s lived experiences and the knowledge she has gained at UC Berkeley have shaped her career aspirations and her interests in public service. For Mayra, public service means creating opportunities and pathways to break generational barriers and increase access to economic mobility. This includes...

Fiza Mehmood

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

As a first-generation student, I am committed to amplifying the voices of those who are not heard. I have spent my life on labels that the government often overlooks, such as low-income or people of color. I have completed research and interned for the City of Sacramento, the Sacramento Mayor’s Office, and Sacramento’s District 3 Office. It was vital for me to have my voice heard and speak about issues the government was not interested in. During my time, I aided the Council in passing a legislative bill regarding plastic pollution. While working with City Hall, I realized how...

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...

Anthony Mondragon

Class of 2024
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

Raised by a single mother in a household of six siblings in Southern California, Anthony is passionate about creating solutions for formerly incarcerated, system-impacted, and marginalized communities. At an early age, Anthony was abandoned by his father and was forced to live in a heavily gang-infested area which led him to be incarcerated at a young age. Through this experience, he became acutely aware of policies that affect youth at a young age due to being forced to live in low-income communities with high crime rates. At UC Berkeley, Anthony, the first in his family to...

Yessica Mox

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
2021 Schaeffer Fellowship

Yessica Mox is a Political Science major from Riverside, CA. She comes from a low-income community and has lived experiences that have shaped the type of work she would like to do in the future. She hopes to work in the public service sector and would like to one day attend law school. In the past, she has interned for a local nonprofit, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. She was part of the board of directors for Inside the Living Room, a student-led organization that helps students connect with internships at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC). In...