🎉Welcome 2024 Students for Economic Justice Interns!!! 🎉

Hot labor summer! 🔥☀️ We’re not new to this, we’re true to this!

In 2000 CPI started the Students for Economic Justice (SEJ) program to organize with local college students around economic and worker justice issues.

We’re in the middle of this year’s program and are excited to introduce the 2024 SEJ interns.

Every week SEJ interns receive trainings on labor history, organizing skills, digital organizing and messaging, and hands-on experience in local organizing campaigns with community organizations and labor unions. The Students for Economic Justice internship is an intensive $22 an hour six week program that trains and galvanizes the next generation of leaders.

You’ll see a lot of SEJ alums working with unions, social justice organizations, and local government in the San Diego region.

Read below and get to know this year’s interns! ⬇️

Elaf Al Saadi (she/her)

Elaf Al Saadi is an Arab student living in San Diego. She is proficient in Arabic, fluent in Turkish, and currently learning Spanish. As a political science major, her passion lies in social justice and economic equality. Elaf chose to apply to the Students for Economic Justice (SEJ) Summer Internship program to bridge theory with practice, applying her academic knowledge to real-world challenges. Through SEJ, she aims to develop her leadership skills, understand intersectional approaches to justice, and expand her professional network. Elaf is eager to gain hands-on experience in grassroots organizing and contribute to meaningful change in San Diego’s labor and community sectors.

Elaf is working with Majdal Center on organizing youth in the Arab community.

Omar Federico Mondragon (he/him)

Omar Federico Mondragon is a third-year UCLA student studying to uplift his Southeast San Diego community through public service. His efforts are centered around finding effective ways to center the experiences of marginalized communities to generate effective policy advocacy. Omar hopes that his experience with SEJ will further his ability to support social movements in San Diego.

Omar is working with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) on their tenants’ rights and rent control campaign.

Allison Gable (they/them)

Allison Gable is a third year at UC San Diego majoring in Urban Studies and Planning, and is graduating early in June of this year. They’re from the Bay Area, but hope to find a job in San Diego after the SEJ program ends. At UCSD, they were the design director at Other People Literary Magazine, volunteered at Groundwork Bookstore, and wrote several opinion articles for the UC Climate Change Review. Recently they’ve put together an honors thesis project on radical planning. This summer, Allison hopes to learn about building community power, to get involved in local struggles, and to connect with others in the San Diego region who are working towards justice and liberation.

Allison is working with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 122 on their fight for a new contract.

Nicole Garcia Delgado (she/her)

Nicole Garcia Delgado is a first-generation Chicana foster youth, born and raised in San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood. She is a student organizer at San Diego City College and a member of M.E.Ch.A and the Association of Raza Educators. Nicole is the recipient of the RISE Inclusive Leadership in Action Award. She applied to SEJ because she believes in the transformational potential of her community to address the injustices that they are constantly subjected to. As an aspiring educator, pursuing her Sociology and Chicanx Studies Degree, Nicole has become deeply passionate about educational, socioeconomic, and environmental justice for working-class communities. She is excited to continue learning from great community organizers who have tirelessly contributed to the collective change of communities most affected by systemic racism.

Nicole is working with the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) on a transportation justice campaign.

Elphran Jappi (EJ) (she/her)

Elphran Jappi, who goes by EJ, grew up moving around a lot but spent most of her time living between San Diego and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. EJ is currently entering her third year at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) as a Political Science student specializing in International Relations. She chose to apply to SEJ because the program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to explore and learn about organizing and mobilizing in the field of socio-economic justice and local governance. As a result, EJ is thrilled to be able to gain valuable skills from well-seasoned organizers on how to push for socio-economic change. EJ was an AFT intern last semester, and this experience opened her eyes to the entire field of organizing and social justice unionism. She is extremely excited to further her knowledge in this field through the SEJ internship program this summer!

EJ is working with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 221 on a worker justice campaign.

Keila Menjivar Zamora (she/her/ella)

Keila Menjivar Zamora is a journalism and Chicano/a studies student at San Diego City College with goals to enter the journalism industry. As a first-generation Mexican-Salvadoran and Los Angeles native, she has observed the impact of socioeconomic disparity on advancing political agendas that continue to marginalize historically oppressed communities. She aims to advance justice-focused journalism that highlights marginalized communities navigating environmental and social inequities, as well as the systemic barriers they face. Through her involvement with SEJ, Menjivar Zamora aspires to strengthen her activism and engage with organizations that are addressing disparities in San Diego. She is the managing editor for City Times, City College’s award-winning, student-produced media platform. In her free time, she likes to garden, paint, delve into bipoc-centered literature, and embody radical liberation by engaging in ancestral healing practices, pleasure activism, and intercommunal support.

Keila is working with Mid-City CAN (MCC) on their transportation justice campaign.

Jennifer Nguyen (she/her)

Jennifer Nguyen is from a small town called Pittsburg in the Bay Area. She currently attends UCSD, where she studies Public Health and Human Developmental Sciences with a specialization in Equity and Diversity. Growing up with undocumented refugee parents, she has firsthand experience with the nation’s unjust social system and the disparities it causes.

Jennifer’s personal experiences have fueled her passion for advocating for marginalized communities and striving for systemic change. She believes San Diego offers a unique landscape to address these issues and through this opportunity, she hopes to gain valuable insights and practical skills to further her goal of creating social change. Jennifer is extremely excited to be an intern with the SEJ program, and to collaborate and contribute towards meaningful work in the region.

Jennifer is working with Youth Will on a youth engagement campaign.

Melony Pina Lopez (she/her)

Melony Piña Lopez is a Chicana, first generation student at UCSD, studying Sociology and Law. Born and raised in San Diego, she grew up in Barrio Logan near Chicano Park where she learned quickly about Cesar Chavez and his extraordinary work fighting for the rights of migrant farm workers. Melony chose to apply to SEJ because the mission towards social and economic justice aligns perfectly with hers. She is motivated by her passion for supporting migrants who come to this country for a sustainable and better life, just like her father once did twenty-four years ago for her and her sisters. She hopes to continue her journey and contribute to her community with the new skills and knowledge gained from the program through hands-on training and meaningful experiences.

Melony is paired with the Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) and is working on a warehouse worker campaign.

Special Thanks to this year’s SEJ Program Sponsors:

Peacemakers Fund
AFT Guild

If you would like to support the next generation of Social Justice leaders in San Diego, please consider making a donation of any amount that is meaningful to you. Donations support SEJ interns’ wages, training materials, travel costs, and tech needs for virtual learning.