What is the Berkeley Changemaker Fund?

UC Berkeley has a singular history of graduating Berkeley Changemakers who use their agency to make society better for all of us. The Berkeley Changemaker is a campus-wide program that complements programs within individual Schools and Colleges at Berkeley. The Berkeley Changemaker Fund supports development and teaching of courses with interdisciplinary content that gives students the skills they need to make the change they seek.

In the words of student Cyn Gomez ’24, after taking the gateway course, The Berkeley Changemaker: “[I] had relatively little guidance as to how I could be a leader, changemaker, and effective teammate before this course ... I am more than excited to instill the lessons I've learned into my everyday life.”

The curriculum and narrative have caught fire over the first eighteen months with more than 10 percent of Berkeley undergrads enrolling in a Berkeley Changemaker class. To learn more about the Berkeley Changemaker program, please visit: https://changemaker.berkeley.edu/

Here's what other students say about our Berkeley Changemaker courses and workshops:

"I'm thankful that I've been able to learn so much from this course! I truly believe this is the greatest preparation I could have received going into my first year at Berkeley. I'm sad this has come to an end, but excited to apply the lessons and principles I learned into my Berkeley."

"Being a part of this class is life changing and it truly shapes your identity, and I am so glad to be a part of this community."

"I feel very empowered by this course."

"Questioning the status quo and serving the community are certainly important themes right now. These values are why I chose Berkeley and I am glad we are taking the time to analyze how we can act on those values in the interest of building a better world."

"This workshop was very insightful and eye-opening for me as a first-generation student. Being in leadership positions, I never really took the time to evaluate what the culture of our organization or team was. I was never really coached on how to be an effective leader and how to create real and valuable change in groups that were not aligning to their goals and purpose. Through this workshop, I learned how significant the culture of a space can be and how much of a role it plays when deciding between two options. As Rich Lyons mentioned in the workshop, culture of different organizations, workplaces always existed, yet recognizing them as a gear factor to contribute to a decision is something that is very valuable and efficient in the long run. I am super grateful for this workshop and am eager to take a Berkeley Changemaker class soon!"