Announcement Introducing Our 2023 Summer Interns

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The staff of the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and California Strategic Growth Council are excited to introduce our interns for Summer 2023! During this paid, 10-week summer internship, each intern will work closely with a supervisor on a variety of projects that advance the Governor’s policy and planning priorities. Interns will gain hands-on experience with California State government and policy implementation, building skills in policy research and writing, land use planning, local government outreach, interagency coordination, legislative analysis, and more. Interns are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate degree programs and represent a variety of academic and lived experiences. We look forward to learning from them as they work with us this Summer.

The Interns

Ángel Manuel De Dios

Community Resilience Centers program

Ángel Manuel De Dios López (they/them) is an intern for the Strategic Growth Council’s Community Resilient Centers program through Stanford Wood's Institute. They are an incoming sophomore at Stanford University studying Urban Studies and Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies. They come from the Mexicali-Calexico borderlands hoping to provide a brighter future for their home and the state of California.

Beck Tran

California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine

Beck Tran is pursuing a Legal Studies and Asian American Studies B.A. at UC Berkeley and intends to pursue a JD/PhD after graduating. As a member of the queer and AAPI communities, they are dedicated to advancing equity, inclusion, and representation of minority groups in law and policy. Alongside their studies, Beck has served as director of UC Berkeley’s volunteer tax clinic and Cal-in-Sacramento fellowship, assisted in the instruction of UC Berkeley political science and law courses, and works as a caseworker in the legal clinic. As a two-time recipient of the Wells Fargo Research Fellowship, they published an article last summer regarding challenges faced by AAPI-owned businesses during the pandemic and is returning this year to do similar research concerning BIPOC small businesses. At the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine, Beck is working on projects to advance access and equity in healthcare.

Bella Barbosa

Climate Change Research program

Bella (bay-uh) Barbosa is from Sacramento, California and is a rising junior at American University in Washington, D.C., majoring in political science and journalism. Bella is passionate about environmental justice and excited to further her experience and knowledge in this field as an intern with the Strategic Growth Council under the Fifth Climate Change Assessment team this summer.

Brieanna Anderson

Strategic Growth Council – Leadership

Brieanna is a fourth-year student at the University of California, Merced, where she studies Political Science and English. Throughout her time in and outside of college, Brieanna finds interest in studying strategies to increase affordable housing, protecting natural resources, and promoting water conservation. Originally, Brieanna is a Sacramento County native and is a lover of the outdoors!

Isaac Bushnell

Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program – Climate Services

Isaac (he/him) is a Master's in Public Policy student at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is interested in helping craft equitable policy responses to the climate crisis and will be working with the Office of Planning and Research this summer as an intern with the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program's Climate Services team. Isaac earned his B.A. in Political Science and Global History from Northwestern University and has previously worked as a teacher and non-profit leader.

JieQi Yan

Transformative Climate Communities program

JieQi Yan (pronouns: she/her) is a Master of Science student at UC Davis, studying Environmental Policy and Management. She is currently interning in the Strategic Growth Council's Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) program. JieQi's previous engagement with various non-profit organizations tackling environmental hazards has sparked her curiosity in exploring how California supports community-based projects through grant programs. This interest has guided her to pursue an internship with TCC.

Jira (Hugh) Trinetkamol

Strategic Growth Council – Special Projects

ira (Hugh) Trinetkamol is an aspiring policymaker and planner from Bangkok, Thailand. He is a triple major in Urban Studies, Economics, and Political Science at UC Irvine, and he is passionate about regional development and housing policy. Upon graduation, Hugh plans to work in the field of international development for a few years before returning to the United States to pursue master's degrees in public policy and business administration in order to equip himself with the necessary tools needed to work in social and economic development in his home country.

Pranay Mamileti

Coast to Coast Smart e-Mobility program

Pranay (he/him) is a rising sophomore at Emory University, double majoring in Business Administration and Philosophy, Politics and Law. He is passionate about using politics and public policy to create a better world for those around him and has focused his studies and extracurricular efforts in those fields. At Emory, he is involved with Mock Trial, Young Democrats, and is the Student Government Association Executive Vice President of Wellbeing. In his free time, he enjoys photography, playing golf, and going on runs. Pranay is incredibly excited to get started with the Office of Planning and Research and the Coast-to-Coast team!

Rachel Ozer-Bearson

Planning and Land Use

Rachel Ozer-Bearson is a Master of Public Policy candidate at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy with a focus on housing policy. Rachel is currently conducting research with the SF Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) on property tax exemptions and other programs to encourage affordable housing development. She previously worked with Creating Resilient Opportunities and Programs (CROP), an Oakland-based organization providing wraparound reentry services, to develop a local evaluation plan for their rental assistance program. Prior to starting at the Goldman School, Rachel spent six years working in international education and non-profit management in Mexico and Guatemala.

Shaellen Franco

Community Assistance for Climate Equity

Shaellen Franco is a South Los Angeles native with strong ties to sustainable design, mobility justice, and urban environmentalism. Shaellen amassed five years of experience at Gruen Associates, leading the environmental certifications for projects in the Greater Los Angeles area and developing the firm’s Sustainability Action Plan for the American Institute of Architects AIA 2030 Commitment.

At the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z), she managed one of SLATE-Z’s five place-based workgroups dedicated to mobilizing community members and non-profit entities towards revitalizing transit in South Los Angeles. As the Transit Workgroup Coordinator, she led initiatives concerning Universal Basic Mobility, fareless transit, and the Rail to River Active Transportation Corridor project. Today, Shaellen is a Master of Regional and Urban Planning Graduate Student at UCLA and acts as a student researcher for the emerging TRACtion (Transformative Research and Collaboration) initiative.

Valeria Cantor Méndez

Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program – Adaptation Planning Grant

Valeria (she/her) is a rising Senior at UC Davis majoring in Community and Regional Development and minoring in Environmental Policy Analysis. She became involved in climate advocacy after moving to California in 2020 and has continued to engage with a variety of organizations since then, including the Sunrise Movement. Valeria currently serves as the Students Enacting Environmental Defense Campaign Vice-Chair for the UC Student Association, where she leads students in advocating for environmental justice across the UC system. She is excited to work with the Adaptation Planning Grant team at the Office of Planning and Research and looks forward to expanding her knowledge throughout the internship.