Meet Shana Shay, proud Peralta alum and currently, a UC Berkeley undergrad who is working to dismantle barriers to academic and economic opportunities for formerly incarcerated students.

“Eventually, I want to be able to pay the students like an internship that leads to admission into a college. I see it as a crucial investment in the future. Their lives are too important to waste. As a Berkeley student going to school, raising my kids and doing this type of work, I feel like there should be people that are way more educated than me doing this, and Berkeley should be creating space for more institutional support for programs like ours.”