Democracy Camp in DC

David Carranza

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

David Carranza was born and raised in Los Angeles by immigrant parents from Central America. As a child, his parents instilled in him the value of education and hard work and he aspired to go to college, however, as a teenager, David struggled to cope with the emotional trauma of growing up in an abusive household and his father being habitually incarcerated. Although he excelled in high school, he gravitated toward gangs and during his senior of high school was sentenced to life in prison. While incarcerated he found healing from his past and pursued his dream of going to...

Jacqueline Zuno

Class of 2024
2024 Democracy Camp in DC

Jacqueline Zuno (she/her)

Jacqueline Zuno is a first-generation Latina, majoring in Legal Studies and Political Economy. Her academic focus centers on the development of Latin America, shaped by her upbringing in the border between San Diego and Tijuana. Having navigated life and education in both regions, she brings a nuanced perspective to her studies.

Outside the classroom, Jacky is deeply passionate about empowering underrepresented communities. Over the past three years of her undergraduate journey, she has been actively involved with the Raíces Recruitment...

Jovanni J. Vazquez Rangel

Class of 2025
2024 Democracy Camp in DC

Jovanni J. Vazquez Rangel (he/him)

Jovanni is dedicated to addressing the ongoing challenges of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and marginalized communities. At the age of eighteen, Jovanni found out that he was not a U.S. citizen; however, Jovanni was fortunate to qualify for the DACA program and is now protected from deportation. Through this experience, he became aware of the immigration issues and the profound impact on Dreamers. As a first-generation student attending UC Berkeley, Jovanni is dedicating his focus to legal studies with a...

Salvador Uribe

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC

Salvador Uribe is a non-traditional student obtaining his undergraduate degree as an older student at UC Berkeley. Salvador Immigrated to the United States at a very young age, along with his two parents and older brother. For someone like Salvador and his background, a first-generation, low-income, transfer, re-entry, disabled student navigating higher education, the terrain is uneven, which places him at a disadvantage among many of his peers that grew up with the privileges of generational knowledge. Salvador is passionate about the law and will pursue a J.D. after...

Daisy Flores

Class of 2023
2023 Democracy Camp in DC
Daisy Flores (she/her) is a first-generation, system-impacted Chicana student from Compton, California, pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Ethnic Studies with a minor in Race and the Law at UC Berkeley. Experiencing the incarceration and deportation of her family and loved ones has prompted Daisy to actively combat white supremacy and the structural racism of our crimmigration system—the simultaneous enforcement of immigration law and criminal law—to advocate for those who have been impacted by all carceral systems through holistic legal, humanitarian, and educational support in various...

Amya Parks

Class of 2025
2024 Democracy Camp in DC

Amya Parks (she/her)

I'm currently a third-year student at UC Berkeley, pursuing a double major in legal studies and African American studies. Raised in Los Angeles by my single mother, I am deeply committed to addressing the critical human rights challenge of homelessness. My firsthand experiences have vividly highlighted the alarming ease with which individuals can find themselves without stable housing.

I am driven by a passion to develop sustainable solutions to this pressing issue. I firmly believe that the federal government must prioritize addressing the housing crisis...

Democracy Camp in DC Fellows & Alumni

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...

Ariana Berumen

2022 Democracy Camp DC Fellow
Class of 2022

Ariana Berumen is a first generation Latinx student at UC Berkeley. Ariana grew up in San Martin, CA, but now lives in Gilroy, CA. Ariana is a senior double majoring in Sociology and Spanish with an Education Minor who is ambitious to continue to learn in order to better understand how to make a difference in the world. Growing up, she faced educational injustices of only knowing Eurocentric knowledge that oftentimes made her feel like people of color do not have the capability of succeeding and attaining a college education....