The YEDI/LEAP Fellowship is an annual opportunity open to Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) undergraduate scholars. YEDI is a program of Innovations for Youth (i4Y), “a cross-disciplinary, innovative research hub addressing issues of youth equity through collaborative research, training and community engagement." This year, six undergraduate fellows who all demonstrated leadership, passion, and commitment to supporting the health and well-being of MCAH populations were selected. Read below to learn more about them!
YEDI/LEAP Fellows 2026: Serene H, Isole K, Kaleina M, Simon T, Sharon W and Abigail V (not featured).
Serene Han
Serene is from Fullerton, California and is majoring in public health and cognitive science with additional interests in data science and journalism. During the academic year, Serene was a part of Dr. Emily Ozer’s Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) lab. YPAR is an innovative methodology where youth identify issues in their schools and communities, conduct research, and use their findings to advocate for systemic change. The project has two main focuses: 1) optimizing a publicly accessible website (YPAR Hub) to build capacity for diverse users learning to implement YPAR; and 2) partnering with San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) students and teachers. Through these partnerships, the team supports youth in collecting evidence on self-identified problems and transforming their solutions into actionable, district-level improvements.
By being a part of this project, Serene developed a deeper understanding of how public health and youth-centered frameworks come together in real-world contexts by bridging national digital tools (the YPAR hub) with direct, school-based implementation in SFUSD classrooms and had the opportunity to build practical skills in YPAR workshop facilitation and participatory methods through co-facilitating workshops at Willie Brown Middle School and June Jordan School for Equity, where she guided about 30 students through research question design, interview tools, and data collection.
Serene was able to collaborate with cross-institutional initiatives across i4Y, the Ozer Lab, YEDI, and partner school districts to support youth-driven policy and institutional change. Having the opportunity to work on the communications tasks for IHD and i4Y taught her more about digital communications through websites and newsletters, as well as marketing strategies for research translation and dissemination, and the Big Give fundraising drive. She learned more about grant strategizing and institutional change aspect by collaborating with professors and researchers across schools. She also was able to branch out and meet with various YPAR-related scholars through the YPAR Network our lab has been growing and facilitating.
Summer Internship Highlight:
I really enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with Amia and my fellow interns to improve our curriculum and to reflect deeply on my experience in YEDI. Coming into the internship, I wanted to build strong qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills, and reviewing the survey responses and implementing suggestions to improve the curriculum and program has been truly meaningful and rewarding.
Recommendations for future students interested in pursuing MCAH-related research or YEDI:
YEDI has been an amazing community where I grew more interested in youth equity-focused work and got to know a lot of different aspects I hadn't known about. I highly recommend getting involved in spaces like YEDI or see what kind of problems you've been interested in so you can dig deeper. Don't be intimidated - if you are - by the name of "research" because it can come and happen in many different ways you haven't thought about!
Isole Kim
Isole is from South Pasadena, CA, a town in Los Angeles County. She is studying Cognitive Science and Linguistics at UC Berkeley and is interested in health communication, language development, and health technology. She sees herself pursuing a future career in academia, law, or communications. Wherever she lands professionally, she hopes to be in a place that supports her goal of being a lifelong learner, whether through mentors and peers or novel experiences and challenges. Outside of academics, she enjoys reading, creative writing, and exploring locations with friends.
Isole was part of the Research Translation and Dissemination (RTD) project, led by Dr. Marieka Schotland. RTD aims to increase the impact of Innovations for Youth (i4Y) and affiliate youth equity and well-being research by translating and disseminating findings to a wide variety of audiences through multiple communication mediums such as LinkedIn, MailChimp newsletters, and websites. The goal is to address the gap between researchers and practitioners by making findings accessible and optimized for use by organizations, communities, and policymakers.Isole could not have asked for a better way to kickstart her research journey at UC Berkeley than with i4Y; being a part of this project has equipped her with a wide range of professional and technical skills including data management, website development, technical writing, and outreach campaigning. RTD introduced her to a variety of youth equity research projects and the inspiring people working on them, and has allowed her to play a central part in increasing their impact. Translation and dissemination are hugely important yet underrated steps in the research lifecycle. Contributing to these steps, she believes that she has gained skills applicable to virtually every future lab or project.
Summer Internship Highlight:
Through the YEDI summer internship, I’ve gained valuable insight into program evaluation and curriculum development. My academic year project with i4Y involves considering the audience for translation and dissemination efforts, so analyzing qualitative and quantitative survey data from YEDI scholars themselves was a great opportunity to hone this skill. As a previous YEDI participant, I was able to share my experience with the program to improve it for future cohorts, directly impacting aspects such as workshops, events, and program objectives. Collaborating with the rest of the summer intern team and learning their unique takeaways was both eye-opening and empowering. I grew to appreciate the behind-the-scenes work that goes into running student research programs like YEDI. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to truly shape the program and give back to this supportive community.
Recommendations for future students interested in pursuing MCAH-related research or YEDI:
Have the courage to be curious! It can be daunting to explore different interests when the pressure is on to commit to a specific major or career path as soon as possible. However, personal experiences and conversations with mentors have helped me realize that being open-minded and following your curiosities can lead to unexpected opportunities. It is not too late to pivot. Your passions deserve exploration and play, which is one of the most valuable takeaways I have from my first year at UC Berkeley.
Kaleina Mejia
Kaleina Mejia is studying public health at UC Berkeley. During the 2025-2026 academic year, she part of Dr. Hannah Thompson’s lab, supporting the project: Increasing school-based physical activity and socioemotional learning for elementary students. Kaleina conducted data collection on California public elementary school bell schedules to evaluate compliance with California Senate Bill 291 (Recess for All), which mandates 30 minutes of recess. Outside of Innovations for Youth, she also serves as an Outreach Coordinator for Suitcase Clinic's Women's Clinic, providing basic needs to people experiencing homelessness in Berkeley. her advocacy for youth and underserved communities fuels her passion for healthcare and commitment to equity. In her free time, she likes to snowboard, take pictures, and rate food on Beli.
Summer Internship Highlight:
As a YEDI Scholar, I was excited for the mentorship and professional development opportunities through YEDI. During the summer internship, I evaluated students' survey responses and recognized a trend in feedback toward improving professional development skill-building. I advocated to implement more resources and support to improve this skill-building within the program. I'm excited for future YEDI Scholars to see what we worked on and to feel more confident about their career goals and how to prepare for and achieve them.
Recommendations for future students interested in pursuing MCAH-related research or YEDI:
Stay in touch and involved on campus, you're bound to have peers with similar interests!
Simon Tzeng
Simon was born and raised in San Francisco, California. His academic and professional interests center on education research, particularly the role of technology in teaching and learning. He is interested in studying how emerging technologies can be used to better support students, teachers, and schools. He hopes to teach high school students in the future and eventually become a professor in the field of education, where he can conduct research and contribute to improving educational practice.
This summer, he worked with Dr. Amia Nash Chambers and Dr. Marieka Schotland to organize and analyze feedback from YEDI scholars, utilizing the results to update resources and create new materials, with the overall goal of strengthening and improving the YEDI program for future students. Through this project, he strengthened his program evaluation skills and learned how to apply participant feedback to improve program materials and experiences by creating and updating resources for program participants.
Summer Internship Highlight:
I gained a better understanding of how program evaluation can support program improvement and learned more about the work that goes into planning and improving the YEDI program
Recommendations for future students interested in pursuing MCAH-related research or YEDI:
Take feedback well to improve your work
Sharon (Ronnie) Wang
Sharon is originally from East Los Angeles and is currently studying social welfare at UC Berkeley. She comes from an immigrant family and has previous work experience in both healthcare and education with individuals and families across the spectrum. Her learning journey has led her to develop a strong passion in solving issues related to access to justice, particularly with legal aid and community-based advocacy. Currently, her coursework and extracurricular endeavors are focused on legal and education systems impact marginalized communities and how we can make those systems more accessible and humane. Sharon supported Dr. Jennifer Skeem and Dr. Sharon Farrell’s Risk Resilience Lab - Playing for Change (P4C). The core of P4C is un-TILTED!—a fast-paced videogame that is designed to promote thoughtful action in provocative situations but looks, feels, and engages like popular videogames young people love. P4C wraps un-TILTED! inside an afterschool group that is overseen by a coach. Over a two-month period, youth spar with a teammate on un-TILTED!, before testing their skills in the more provocative context of a competitive tournament with spectators and prizes. The goal is to reduce automatic aggressive responses and help youth “think slower” when making choices in hot situations—in games, and in life.
At Risk Resilience Research in Berkeley, California, Sharon contributed as a Research Assistant, focusing on youth engagement within the Playing for Change (P4C) research program. Her role involved fostering supportive environments and monitoring participant behaviors to ensure respect, alignment with project goals, and positive behavior. She also assisted with data entry, ensuring the integrity of research data. This experience helped her strengthen her skills in management, team communication, and responsive and empathetic intervention. From the pilot study, the team found significant improvements in aggression, victimization, overall emotional and behavioral well-being. This role also provided her with the opportunity to develop lasting connections with her peers. Her favorite part of YEDI was being able to advance her professional development by presenting her lab's findings at the annual YEDI Research Symposium to fellow faculty and UC Berkeley students.
Summer Internship Highlight:
I enjoyed developing resources and improving curriculum for next year's incoming YEDI scholars, joining YPAR Hub activities including Network and Staff meetings, and contributing to the backend of logistics-focused work to improve the access, impact and advancement of YPAR's mission.
Recommendations for future students interested in pursuing MCAH-related research or YEDI:
Make the most of your undergraduate research experience at the best research university and this amazing program here! Don't be scared to ask questions and advocate for yourself. It may seem intimidating at first, but your mentors and the professionals around you really friendly and are here to support your learning journey, especially the ones in YEDI!
Make friendships and most importantly, seek resources! There are so many out there. My fellow interns and I also developed many new resources such as spreadsheets that can help with finding internships, grad school programs, scholarships, on-campus organizations, and much more. I know the gatekeeping culture can exist in some places at Cal, but my hope is that YEDI makes opportunities accessible for your needs and interests!
In addition to the fellows highlighted, we want to recognize Abigail Villa who was also selected as YEDI/LEAP Fellow 2026.