This is a space to check out where some of our members have gone after graduating from Berkeley. We are deeply proud of what our alumni have gone on to achieve!

Tere Cruz

Tere graduated from UC Berkeley in 2018 with a degree in Economics. She is the original founder of UME and served as UME President from 2017-2018. During her time at Cal, she volunteered at employment clinics at El Centro Legal de La Raza in Oakland, participated in the American Economic Association Summer Training Program (AEASP), and was a Research Assistant with URAP at BIDS. In 2017, she was selected to be McNair Scholars Program where she conducted a quantitative evaluation of the Incentive Awards Program at UC Berkeley, a recruitment and retention scholarship program that served low-income and first-generation students at Cal. After graduating, she joined the Research Scholars Initiative at Harvard University, a post-bac program for URM students in economics and in 2020 she returned to UC Berkeley to start her Ph.D. in economics. When she is not leading the way for URM students in Econ, you can find her listening to Reggaeton, sipping on a latte reading a good book, or hanging out with friends.

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Nishan Jones

Nishan graduated from UC Berkeley in Fall 2019 with a degree in Economics. While at Cal, she was selected to participate in the AEASP (American Economic Association’s Summer Program for Minorities). She went on to accept a full-time offer from the Boston Federal Reserve, where she currently works as an Economics research assistant. When she’s not blazing the trail in Economics, you can find her either surfing or at her favorite brunch spot!

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Ellie Koepplinger

Ellie graduated from UC Berkeley in Fall 2019 with an honors degree in Economics and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. During her time at Cal, she served as UME’s President and Finance Chair (2018-19), as well as completing a senior thesis about the effects of banning affirmative action on Black college enrollment in California. While an undergraduate, she took up internships at the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, Court-Buddy (an SF-based legal-tech start-up), and Patpatia & Associates Consulting. She is getting ready to start her career as a Digital Analyst at Accenture’s SF office. When she’s not busy studying, you can find her baking sourdough bread, listening to Burna Boy, or hanging out with her dog Pepper!

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Omar Morales

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Sara Castro

Sara graduated from UC Berkeley in Fall 2020 with a degree in Economics and a minor in Public Policy. During her time at Cal, she served as UME’s President, VP of Finance, and VP of Internal Affairs (2019-2020). While an undergraduate, she worked at the Public Service Center as a BUILD Director and helped tutor children in reading. She is very passionate about helping first-generation college students like herself succeed in higher education. She is getting ready to start her career as a Commercial Banking Analyst at JP Morgan Chase’s LA office. When she’s not busy ranting about public policy, you can find her painting, shopping, or binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy.

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Manny graduated from UC Berkeley in 2020 with a degree in Economics and Ethnic Studies and a minor in Demography. During his time at Berkeley, he served as UME’s External Vice President (2018-2020). He also took on multiple positions on campus such as a BUILD Mentor and Director (2017-2018), Experience Berkeley High School Coordinator (2017-2018), Student Learning Center Economics Tutor (2017-2019), and he also was an (under)Graduate Student Instructor for the Economics Department at Cal (2019-2020) where he won the Outstanding GSI award in Spring 2020. While an undergraduate, he interned at the Hutchins Center for Monetary and Fiscal Policy at the Brookings Institution, a Research Assistant for the economics department, and was a Research Intern for the CENSOC Project in the Demography department. In 2019, Manny became a Cal-ADAR research fellow which is a program geared towards assisting underrepresented UC Berkeley undergraduates in developing quantitative research skills in the field of the demography of aging. After graduating during a pandemic, he went on to become a Research Associate for the K-12 Education Team at the Public Policy Institute of California. When he’s not talking about something interesting he’s learned, you can find him binge-watching shows/movies, playing chess, or grinding to become a better gamer.