This year marks the 15th Anniversary of the Equality California (EQCA) Comcast Fellowship, an immersive, educational experience for six college students.
The Equality California Institute-Comcast Legislative Fellowship is an educational opportunity for students, who have completed at least their first year of undergraduate studies, to participate in a four-week in-person change-making program. Every student received a stipend financed by Comcast. The goal of this Fellowship is to provide students with hands-on experiences discussing legislative decisions regarding the equality and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. The voices of these students will help push a greater importance on representation within the government to ensure there is a place for everyone regarding policymaking.
Equality California brings the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people. This program aims to increase LGBTQ involvement and visibility in policy and legislation while also providing mentorship opportunities to support the Fellows’ work.
To celebrate fifteen years of change-making, Comcast and Equality California hosted an intimate dinner and networking reception for current and former Fellows. Attendees gathered in the heart of downtown Sacramento to share their fellowship experience, where they are now, and hopes for the future of LGTBQ+ representation within California’s government.
In 15 years of the fellowship, over 100 fellows have gone through the program. Some of them have:
- Go on to start careers in Capitol offices
- Become local and state-level appointees
- Move on to attend EQCA’s Leadership Academies
- Become party delegates
- Lead local nonprofits
- Be local school board members
- Become EQCA staff
Meet the 2024 Equality California Cohort Fellows:
Joseph Awad (He/Him) is a Psychology major at UCLA. Prior to transferring from Mt. San Jacinto College, Joseph was primarily involved in both advocacy as the district’s Student Trustee and research. His award-winning work has focused on exploring the psychosocial and demographical determinants of voter willingness within California Community Colleges. As he works towards his PhD, he hopes that his research will inform meaningful and successful public policy development and statewide interventions relating to Health and political behavior.
Isabella Sharp (She/Her) is a student from Sacramento about to begin her third year at UCLA, majoring in Public Affairs with a minor in Environmental Systems & Society. She is extremely passionate about sustainability and policy areas surrounding the environment and Californians’ relationship to it. Being deeply invested in the future of California, she hopes to dive deeper into impactful state legislation through this fellowship. She is grateful to have been placed in the Capitol to learn from those around her and looks forward to giving back to the community she grew up in. Isabella will be working with Assemblymember Papan.
Neha Suri (She/Her), from Sacramento, is entering her second year at the University of California, Los Angeles as a Political Science and Economics double major. She is interested in the ways politicians choose and prioritize what issues to work on, as well as increasing representation of marginalized groups in politics, particularly racial minorities, being a Sikh American woman herself. She is passionate about environmental, housing, and immigration legislation. Neha is working with Assemblymember Boerner during the fellowship.
X Vazquez (They/Them) is an Ethnic Studies Major and LGBT Studies Minor at UC Berkeley. Interning in Assemblymember James Ramos’ office, X was particularly interested in the legislative capacity to further Native sovereignty. As a queer and trans abolitionist with a background in grassroots advocacy, they were curious to see firsthand how social change is institutionalized through state-wide policy, working alongside the very people who keep their home-state running. Prior to this fellowship, X took a class on Latinx Political and Cultural Leadership in CA Today at Cal, co-taught by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, exploring the importance and history of Latinx representation, as well as the community’s political, economic, and cultural power. Through this class, they met Assemblymember Ramos during a Capitol visit, learning of his profound impact as the first California Native Assemblymember and founder of the Native Caucus. Keenly aware of the ongoing violence of settler colonialism, X seized the opportunity to work in Ramos’ office and the Native Caucus to further their allyship to California Indigenous Nations, both as a settler and a reconnecting Taíno-descendant. Passionate about Native history, decolonization, antiracism, and TGNCI justice, they’ve felt very welcomed in their office, and hope to use their acquired knowledge to be a strong community asset.
Lena Nicoletti (She/Her), originally from Santa Clara County, is a rising sophomore at University College London, studying International Social and Political Studies. Owing to her passion for gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and reproductive justice, she currently serves as the Welfare Officer of her university’s Gender and Feminism Society and works for the Afghan Female Student Outreach. Ultimately, Lena hopes to use her experience as an EQCA Comcast Fellow to pursue a career in public service and address the needs of marginalized communities. Lena will be working in the office of Assemblymember Zbur.
