Student Profile: Benny Corona

What were you doing before you came to GSPP?

Before GSPP, I worked as a community organizer, in electoral politics, in community development, and with various civic engagement and political advocacy organizations. In 2016, I worked on my first presidential campaign. After my candidate lost, I felt compelled to return to my hometown in California’s Central Valley to work with my community, where I have organized communities around issues related to immigrant rights, environmental justice, water rights, and voting rights. This work also required that I enter new areas of political activism including policy advocacy, lobbying, and civic engagement. This has pushed me in roles where I have represented Central Valley communities in various capacities at the federal, state, and local level. In my last role, I worked in community development with different unincorporated communities throughout the Central Valley helping various water boards build water and wastewater infrastructure.

What made you decide to pursue an MPP? 

I believe shaping policy is critical to creating systemic/structural positive change in the lives of people in my community. I believe the MPP degree is preparing me for a future where I can continue to improve lives and where I can make the best and most thoughtful decisions possible in my work by incorporating elements of economics, data analysis, policy analysis, and probability. These are skillsets and knowledge gaps in my toolkit, and a strong reason why I decided to pursue my MPP degree. For a long time, I largely depended on the expertise of others to guide my decisions, and I believe the MPP degree will allow me to build greater agency in deciding what policies I want to pursue. I also want to engage with industry and quantitative experts when it comes to the economic impact of different policies in my community. I believe the MPP degree is giving me the tools to do this work in the future. 

Why Goldman? What are you most excited about over the coming two years?

Goldman has an unparalleled faculty, world-renowned experts, and an overall rockstar staff and student body that is already pushing me to expand my perspective and to think creatively about the different policy issues I care about such as immigration, climate change, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and local economies. Although I did come to learn the policy analysis toolkit at the Goldman School, what I most value are its people and the resources available at a world-renowned institution like UC Berkeley. As a Goldman student and a resident at UC Berkeley’s I-House, these last few months have been the most enriching in my entire life. I’ve learned more about perspective, culture, policy, economics, climate change, engineering, renewable energy, language, and geopolitics in these last few months than any other span of time. I am most excited that in the coming two years I’ll have access to perspective that will prepare me to play a role in implementing policy that will creatively address the most pressing public policy issues in my community. I am also excited to continue building community and friendships with all the brilliant, compassionate, empathetic, and thoughtful members of the Goldman community and my residence. I believe it will be this unique combination of policy training, global communities, and thoughtful analysis that will help me optimize my impact in uplifting the communities I love.    

What are your plans for after you graduate?

As a Wonderful Public Service Fellow, I am committed to returning to the Central Valley following graduation to work in public service. Service is my passion and what fulfills me. Having the opportunity to serve my community in different capacities has already been the greatest honor of my life. As a former farmworker and having been a witness for 17 years to the lived experience of some of the most exploited workers in the United States, I also feel it my duty to return and make things better for my community. I understand that as an American citizen and Berkeley graduate, I have a lot of privileges in society that I could have easily not have had had it not been for the role luck has played in my life. I understand that bad luck has also set up many members in my community to an existence of constant social, economic, and political struggle. It is my duty to use my privilege to support these Central Valley communities. 

What keeps you busy outside of GSPP?

I’m always thinking creatively about how I can continue raising awareness and collaborating with different folks to uplift Central Valley communities. Often you can find me having meetings, chatting, or hanging out with Central Valley community members. I am also heavily involved in the I-House community at UC Berkeley. I am the current Vice-Chair of the resident council, and this role keeps me constantly busy with engaging international residents, attending council meetings, and different events. I also enjoy building community and engaging with students in different fields and you can often find me having coffee or lunch with someone with a new and different perspective. To stay healthy and energized, I like to lift weights, exercise, and meditate. Lastly, I love to dance bachata, so you can often find me on various dance floors available to my hips in the Bay Area.