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.” Five fellows were selected and participated in the YEDI Summer Evaluation and Planning Team, and they worked together to develop the 2024-25 YEDI Evaluation Summary. Undergraduate students interested in YEDI should check out their recruitment flyer and apply to join this academic year!
Undergraduate scholars selected for this fellowship have demonstrated leadership, passion, and commitment to supporting the health and well-being of MCAH populations. Read below to learn more about their research and interests!
Christina Chang
Major: Psychology
Christina calls San Jose, California her home and is majoring in Psychology with minors in Journalism and Politics, Philosophy & Law at UC Berkeley. Her interest lies in youth mental health, which she has explored through the realms of research, storytelling, and community service. Wherever she ends up professionally — be it research, academia, law, or something else entirely —she knows that it will be driven by her passion for youth equity, well-being, and empowerment. In her leisure time, she enjoys writing poems, contemplating philosophical questions, hiking, playing basketball, and admiring the sunset.
During the academic year, she worked in Dr. Sean Darling-Hammond's Thriving and Health Equity through Social Inclusion in Schools (THESIS) Lab — which focuses on K-12 school practices and minority student well-being. In this lab, she contributed to a literature review and qualitative pilot study on social media usage and vulnerable student well-being.
"THESIS Lab provided me my first ever experience engaging in research. I learned a lot: how to acquire CITI certification for Human Subjects Research, how to apply for IRB approval for a research study, how to conduct a literature review from start to finish, how to interview subjects for qualitative studies, how to edit manuscripts, and more. Perhaps most importantly, through THESIS, I both met the greatest mentors I've had throughout my college experience to date — my PI (Dr. Darling-Hammond) and my GSR (Meghana Ammula) — and discovered a passion for research as a tool to drive change. I4Y's Youth Equity Discovery Initiative played an instrumental role in enabling me to thrive in my academic year project. It offered me invaluable guidance, providing not only a supportive community of like-minded peers and mentors passionate about youth equity, but also practical skills in research methods (e.g., focus groups, photo voice, data visualization, research poster creation and presentation) and professional development (e.g., resume writing, LinkedIn maintenance, internship/grad school applications). Together, these experiences equip me with a strong foundation to further contribute to efforts promoting and ensuring youth well-being."
Christina had an incredible and rewarding experience as a YEDI scholar during the past academic year, and the YEDI summer internship has allowed her to give back and contribute to its continued success through enhancing the program for future cohorts. Her project focus is on curriculum evaluation and development; she learned how to evaluate the efficacy of a program through analyzing and synthesizing both qualitative and quantitative data and presenting the findings through creating a comprehensive report and flyers. Through this work, she also learned how to identify areas for improvement and take concrete steps to improve via building and refining content for workshop slides and agendas.
Areianaz Eghbali
Major: Psychology
Areianaz (Ara) Eghbali (she/her) studied Psychology, Journalism, and Public Policy at UC Berkeley. She is originally from Los Angeles and has a long passion for advancing youth mental health and health equity through systems-level change. Over the past year, she has deepened this commitment through research, mentorship, and public health education. Outside of her academic work, she enjoys reading, road trips, and learning new languages. She is excited to continue exploring how public health and technology can come together to build more just and accessible systems.
During the academic year, she was a researcher in the THESIS Lab (Thriving and Health Equity through Social Inclusion in Schools), led by Professor Sean Darling-Hammond. The project focuses on how K–12 school practices affect student mental health, sense of belonging, and long-term outcomes. Their work aims to identify promising school-based interventions that could promote equity and well-being for all students.
“Through the I4Y project, I gained hands-on experience conducting literature reviews, synthesizing research findings, and framing them in ways that are meaningful to policy conversations. I also grew my confidence as a public health researcher by working closely with faculty and peers in a collaborative, equity-driven environment. The project strengthened my understanding of how school-based policies and practices shape youth mental health and revealed the power of research to drive systems-level change.”
Collaborating with her YEDI team this summer, she has supported efforts to restructure and enhance the public health research curriculum for future student researchers. She has led a focus on making research experience accessible, inclusive, and empowering, especially for those new to the field. She has strengthened her skills in writing, curriculum development, and collaborative planning. Overall, YEDI has reaffirmed her desire to build a career that bridges public health, technology, and education.
Claire Shintani
Major: Legal Studies
Claire is studying Legal Studies and Data Science, from San Mateo, CA. She is passionate about youth equity and social and environmental justice where she will pursue a career in public policy and service. She is currently involved in youth-led research, focusing on the social determinants of health. Over the past year, she has worked under Dr. Valerie Shapiro on the "Youth Engagement Tool Development for California Friday Night Live Programs" project, developing training videos and protocols to support California youth conducting focus groups and observational research.
“Through my research project, I learned to synthesize material and write informational and instructional video scripts and protocols for youth conducting research. I also learned to tailor my writing to effectively communicate with my target audience of middle and high school-aged youth. Furthermore, I practiced formatting documents for optimal user experience, and engaged in a collaborative revisions process with my faculty mentors.”
As part of the YEDI summer team, she has built and developed curriculum for incoming student researchers. Her curriculum supports student researchers in their careers. She has gained experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and written synthesis reports to share with program facilitators. Finally, she has been a representative who expresses YEDI's goals and impacts to other spaces on campus.
Hazel Warner
Major: Psychology
Hazel is from Edmonds, Washington, a small town right outside Seattle. As a Psychology major with minors in Global Poverty & Practice and Public Policy, she is deeply impact-driven and committed to community-engaged research. Her academic interests include youth equity, mental health awareness, and addressing structural drivers of poverty. She is also dedicated to partnering with underserved communities to create change grounded in lived experience. Through YEDI, she has grown as a researcher, advocate, and student. For the past two years, she served as an undergraduate student researcher to Dr. Coco Auerswald in the Youth and Allies Against Homelessness (YAAH) Lab. The YAAH lab is a research team based in i4Y (Innovations for Youth) committed to uplifting the voices of youth experiencing homelessness and working towards creating tangible change.
“I’ve learned about so many youth-equity focused research projects and have enjoyed building community with other students, graduate students, and faculty through a combination of workshops and mentorship meetings.”
Continuing to work with her peers whom she became close with during the academic year has been a highlight of this summer project. She values the opportunity to rebuild the curriculum as someone who has gone through the program, and the work has strengthened her research skills and knowledge.
Angela Zhang
Major: Psychology
Angela is studying psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on cognitive development and youth mental health research. Her professional goals include graduate studies in clinical psychology to develop evidence-based interventions for diverse communities. Outside of academics, she enjoys participating in Playback Theater and exploring creative storytelling. For the past year, she has worked as an undergraduate researcher in the Fuerte Lab at UCSF with Dr. William Martinez, focusing on evaluating the efficiency of a school-based group program for new Latinx immigrants. She drafts scripts for clinicians, summarizes recent findings on school-based programs, conducts data cleaning, and shadows in-school data collections.
"My experience in YEDI greatly improved my qualitative and quantitative research skills, including focus group, literature review, photovoice, data visualization and so on. This summer, I learned a lot about curriculum design, from the scope of the whole semester to how to arrange the time in one specific workshop. Also, as a previous participant of the YEDI program, I included my prior experience in the curriculum design process. This experience constantly reminds me of how YEDI workshops include youth's initiative in research.”
Throughout her research, she has developed skills in program evaluation. In YEDI, she learned about team-based research alongside other students and youth. She has met a passionate community, including mentors who provide valuable guidance.