Sonia S
- Research Program Mentor

MPP at University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

Expertise

Education policy, child welfare policy, housing policy, corporate social responsibility

Bio

I received my undergraduate degree in business and journalism from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2017. After graduating, I moved to Atlanta, GA, where I worked on Deloitte's Corporate Citizenship team, focused on empowering Deloitte professionals to make an impact in their communities and helping students prepare for college and careers. I graduated with a Master's in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley in May 2023. During my time at Goldman, I worked on policy projects focused on education, housing, child welfare, economic policy, and various other social policy areas. I currently work at the California Legislative Analyst's Office, conducting fiscal and policy analyses on behalf of the state Legislature. My work focuses on human/social services, particularly anti-poverty programs such as cash welfare, food stamps (SNAP), guaranteed income, and more. Outside of school and work, I enjoy reading, spending time outdoors, doing yoga, and hanging out with family and friends. I am originally from Omaha, Nebraska and my immediate family is split between Nebraska, North Carolina, and California, so I love to travel to visit them!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

High School Students and Political Media

This project would address the question, "how are high school students influenced by the politically-focused media they consume?" The student could conduct interviews or focus groups with peers to understand how political news impacts their views on topics in the news, wellbeing, and more. The student could also draw on existing literature to understand the impacts political news has on young people.

Coding skills

Stata

Teaching experience

I taught an introductory political science class last spring to 56 college students (mostly freshmen and sophomores). I taught an after-school leadership development program to high school students for approximately two years. I also mentored middle school girls through a local nonprofit.