Meet the 2012 Class of Fellows

YP4 is proud to introduce you to our 2012 fellowship class! After a rigorous nomination, application and selection process, 150 fellows were selected from 80 campuses in 32 states.

These innovative leaders come from community colleges, state universities, historically black colleges and universities, tribal colleges, liberal arts colleges and Ivy League universities. Our fellows bring a vital infusion of energy, creativity and passion to the progressive movement and are catalysts for positive change on their campuses and in their communities.

Beatriz de la Espriella, University of Florida

Beatriz is a student at the University of Florida majoring in Criminology. She has been a leader of a student organization for two years. CHISPAS is a student led organization that focuses on addressing the pressing needs of the immigrant community through advocacy and service. She is also the North Florida Steering Committee Representative of the Florida Immigrant Youth Network. In the past two years she has worked with both campus and community members to organize against anti-immigrant legislation and work towards education for all regardless of immigration status. As part of CHISPAS, she started a campaign called Undocumented Not Uneducated that asked the university to effect policy change and openly accept undocumented students. She is a Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) Undergraduate Research Scholar and has conducted research to identify the relationship between acculturation, assimilation and analogous delinquent behavior of Hispanic immigrants.

Jenny Tang, University of California, Berkeley

Jenny just finished her third year studying environmental science- energy and resources. She is currently an intern at MapLight- a nonprofit organization with the agenda of exposing money's influence on politics, and editor of Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative-China Focus. She strives to pinpoint and understand the links between the business, politics, economics and their effects on the environmental movement, in both the United States and China. With that understanding, she hopes to be able to encourage people to be more mindful of the consequences of their everyday decisions. 

Elliot Sakach, Oberlin College

Elliot Sakach is currently a student at Oberlin College. He has lived in many places, but he is now a proud resident of Austin, Texas. Throughout his life, Elliot has discovered that the quality of one's education greatly influences the opportunities one receives in the future. In the past, he has worked with non-profit education organizations such as Breakthrough and Communities in Schools to ensure that students in his community receive the best education possible. In addition to education, Elliot believes the political system greatly influences the opportunities one has, and he has actively engaged in local, state, and national politics as the co-chair of the Oberlin College Democrats. Elliot has also been involved in environmental sustainability and is currently working on a project to transform the way people interact with the environment by installing electricity-generating bicycles in his dorm.

Bryan Payton, Brown University

Bryan Payton, a born and raised Detroiter, is an education history & policy concentrator at Brown University. He is interested in community organizing and development with a focus on fostering better partnerships between nonprofits, businesses, schools, parents, and students. Though he is an advocate for an array of social justice causes, his heart focuses on educational disparities, racial inequity, and social reproduction. He is not for sure what career he will have in the future but knows he always wants to be a progressive leader for low income communities and people of color.

We are excited to introduce you to some of today’s young dynamic leaders: