Schaeffer Fellowship

Leonard D. Schaeffer Fellows in Government Service

Mckenzie Diep

2023 Schaeffer Fellowship

Mckenzie Diep is a second-year student at UC Berkeley pursuing simultaneous degrees in economics and urban studies. Her interests include broadband equity, science technology policy, anti-displacement studies, and human-centered design. As a Bay Area native, she is passionate about understanding housing and displacement issues. She actively studies how urban design perpetuates racial inequities and informs policy. Mckenzie is a Researcher at the UC Berkeley and the University of Toronto's Urban Displacement Project and a Research Fellow at the UC Berkeley Center on the Politics of...

Renée Diop

Class of 2026
2025 Schaeffer Fellowship

Renée Diop is an aspiring policymaker dedicated to advancing ethical AI, international development, and cultural exchange. Currently, she is a third-year pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her focus is in International Relations with a minor in Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy.

Growing up in Silicon Valley, Diop is both excited by the potential of emerging technologies and mindful of the challenges they pose to society, particularly in deepening existing inequalities...

Kaila DuFour

Class of 2026
2025 Schaeffer Fellowship

Kaila DuFour is a third-year student majoring in Legal Studies with a minor in Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Recently, they served as a Law Clerk in the Special Prosecutions Section of the Attorney General's Office in Los Angeles, where they gained insight into complex legal processes and the pursuit of justice on behalf of the public.

On campus, Kaila is a senator for the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC). As a senator, they have dedicated themselves to expanding outreach, promoting inclusive...

Rosie Echeverria

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in Berkeley
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2022 Schaeffer Fellowship
2022 Washington Fellowship
Placement: Rep. Adam Schiff - Burbank District Office Mentor: Colleen Oinuma

Rosie Echeverria was born and raised in East Hollywood, Los Angeles in a Central American immigrant household and she is a first-generation, low-income, EOP, DSP, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ student at UC Berkeley. She went to Santa Monica College (SMC) for about two and a half years then transferred and moved to UC Berkeley in Fall 2020, toward the beginning of the covid pandemic. She is a Political Science major with a minor in Public Policy and Education.

Her...

Gélser Zavala Garcia

Class of 2022
2022 Democracy Camp in DC
2022 Schaeffer Fellowship
Placement: Special Assistant to Mayor Libby Schaaf Placement Location:

Gélser Zavala is a rising senior majoring in Legal Studies after transferring from Laney College with a AA in Paralegal Studies and Social Sciences. He is an East Oakland born and raised native, the son of war refugees from El Salvador who migrated to California in the late 1980s. Growing up in a working class family, Gélser endured challenges in his public education with insidious systems of underfunded policies for school, gang-violence, teen pregnancy, and dropping out of...

Cyn Gomez

Class of 2023
2022 Schaeffer Fellowship
Placement: San Francisco District Attorney's Office Placement Location: San Francisco, California

Cyn Gomez is a nineteen-year-old, first-generation, second year at UC Berkeley, studying Social Welfare with minors in Race and the Law & Spanish. Cyn’s pronouns are he/him and they/them and identify as nonbinary and transmasculine. Cyn is an election poll worker, Berkeley Student Cooperative House President, a student worker at UC Berkeley, ASUC Cheif Advisor on QT+ Wellness, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director for the...

Lauren Ashley Gonzalez

Class of 2025
2025 Schaeffer Fellowship
2024 Cal-in-Sacramento

As the daughter of an immigrant father, Lauren is passionate about utilizing public service to fill in the gaps of unjust systems. Her background also includes family members exposed to environmental pollutants that had unjustly contributed to severe health problems. Due to her background, Lauren is focused on environmental justice and empowering disadvantaged communities. Currently, Lauren is majoring in environmental science and public health.

Previously, Lauren has worked in the ASUC Student Advocate’s Office as both a Financial Aid Caseworker and Director for...

Sofia Marie Greenwald

Class of 2024
2023 Cal-in-Sacramento
2023 Diversity & Entrepreneurship Fellow
2023 Schaeffer Fellowship

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...

León Felix Gutierrez

Class of 2026
2025 Schaeffer Fellowship

León Felix Gutierrez was born and raised in Fresno, CA, son to immigrant parents. He is a first-generation student studying legal studies and public policy. From early on in his childhood, he was surrounded by a vibrant working community where he learned endless perseverance and diligence. He is very grateful for the support he has received from his family and friends on his academic and professional journey.

León is involved in numerous community-based organizations where he has deepened his passion for the intersections of law and public...

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...