President
Emely Bermudez
Hi! My name is Emely and I am a 3rd-year student at Cal. I am a declared Social Welfare major and I am in the process of declaring Environmental Economics. I have been a part of this organization for over a year and I am currently the President. While at Cal, I have found my love and hate relationship with Economics. As a first-generation student, I struggled to find a safe space until I found this organization. Through this organization, I have learned the importance of having diversity in the econ field as it is key to answering difficult questions from various perspectives. My interests include racial discrimination, environmental injustices, child development, and more. When I am not studying you can find me hiking, cooking, or at the beach. Welcome to UME I am very excited to meet you all!
VP of External Affairs
Icelyn Yepez
Hi! My name is Icelyn and I am a 3rd-year student at Cal. I have been apart of this organization for a year and I am currently the External Affairs VP. While at Cal, I have fallen in love with Economics and the environment. I have realized how important it is to represent minorities in this field as it is growing rapidly. It is vital that as students at this university we ask the difficult questions and I am here to make sure we do! With that being said I am an Environmental Economics and Policy major with a minor in sustainability so if you have any questions about that please feel free to reach out!
VP of Finance
Emmanuel Hernandez
Hi! My name is Emmanuel, and I am a rising sophomore at Cal. I am majoring in Economics and minoring in Data Science. I have been a part of this organization for about a year and I am currently the VP of Finance. Through this organization, I have felt supported as I navigated through Cal as an Economics student. I have learned the importance of having a space for minorities within the Economics community. When I am not busy studying, I am running or playing soccer in the stadium. I look forward to meeting you all! Do not hesitate to reach out!
VP of Marketing
Julio Ornelas
Hey y’all! My name is Julio and I’m from Pico Rivera, CA. I’m a 3rd year at Cal majoring in Economics and Neurobiology. I am currently the VP of Marketing and have been a part of UME for about a semester now. Cal can be a difficult environment to navigate where you seldom find individuals that look like or have similar lived experiences as you, so I see UME as a safe space that has created a second home for me and has allowed me to become an empowered student through peer guidance. I’m interested in the intersection between health and labor economics and wish to dismantle and rethink the current structures in place to ultimately create a more equitable and just healthcare system. When I’m not in class or at work you can catch me vibing on the Glade with a poke bowl in hand or crying on the bottom floor of Mainstacks to WILLOW. Welcome to UME, please reach out to me with any questions!
VP of Internal Affairs
Rhammses Del Rio
Hello, and welcome! I am a transfer student from Santa Monica College, focusing on my research interests in labor economics, specifically structural unemployment. I’m a part of many communities on campus, such as EOP, transfers, first-gen, reentry, DSP, NavCal, and McNairs, in case anyone would like to talk about some of the resources at Cal. My passion for being a voice in literature for labor workers comes from spending over 20 years in the labor market with positions in logistics, retail, manufacturing, and government. In my downtime, I visit my family and friends in San Jose or try to catch a game of my sports teams.