Social Justice & Community

Transforming Futures alumni turn summer scholarships into community serving careers 

UC Santa Cruz’s Transforming Futures Program, housed within the Social Science Division’s Institute for Social Transformation, is a philanthropy-funded program providing scholarships for students to pursue career-defining internship experiences. Three alumni of the program share how their time with Transforming Futures led to careers in community building.

September 28, 2026

By Rachel Raiyani

Cherre Bull, Josh Patstone, and Maya Mendoza entered UC Santa Cruz knowing they wanted to contribute to the community’s wellbeing. With a program like Transforming Futures and an internship with Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, these alumni are the praxis of giving back to the community. 

Bull (Merrill ’26, politics and critical race and ethnic studies) came to UC Santa Cruz as a mother of three in 2023. Her higher education journey had begun almost a decade earlier. At the start, she pursued school to become a licensed dietitian, but soon had to put school aside to focus on her health. The start of Bull’s UC Santa Cruz journey coincided with the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. She realized her focus was better suited fighting for systemic change for her community. 

In her pursuit to make change, Bull majored in politics, and soon after added critical race and ethnic studies (CRES) to the bill. It was through an email from the CRES department that Bull found out about Transforming Futures.

Transforming Futures is a donor-funded program within UCSC’s Institute for Social Transformation that provides scholarships to remove financial barriers for UCSC students to participate in summer internships. The program aims to support low-income and first-generation students by providing them with up to $8,000 in funding to pursue unpaid or low paying summer internships.

“A lot of non-profits work off of internships, and unfortunately coming from a marginalized community, being first-gen and a student parent, those things were not feasible for me,” Bull said. “Transforming Futures allowed me to be a part of Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos. I was able to give my all for them, which I would not have been able to do if I was just interning with them for free.”

Transforming Futures is fully funded with philanthropic support from generous donors including the Nam-Macgill Family Fund, UCSC Merrill College, and the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board Opportunity Fund. The program removes critical financial barriers, unlocking pivotal, hands-on experiences that help students discover their purpose and drive meaningful change.

Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos is a grassroots organization committed to social justice, promoting peace and community empowerment through work that addresses systemic inequalities. 

Josh Patstone (Oakes ’23, sociology), who is now the director of development at Barrios Unidos, found Transforming Futures through UCSC’s Underground Scholars program, designed to aid students impacted by the carceral system. Patstone’s advisor, Josh Solis, introduced Patstone to Barrios Unidos director, Nane Alejandrez (Merrill ’81, community studies). Alejandrez is a pillar of activism and champion of nonviolence in Santa Cruz County and won the UCSC Ethos Alumni Award in 2025. 

Hitting it off immediately, Patstone asked Alejandrez if he could work with Barrios Unidos, and was welcomed with open arms. 

As swiftly as he submitted his application to the Transforming Futures program, he was accepted and started his time at Barrios Unidos as a prison project intern. 

Patstone used his $5,000 from Transforming Futures in conjunction with a housing stipend he received from UCSC’s Resilient Scholars program. Having both is what kept Patstone worry free while he spent his summer at Barrios Unidos reading through incarcerated prisoners’ letters, scanning their artwork, and finding ways to keep learning more about the community he was serving. 

Though the internship was only meant to last the summer, Patstone wanted to stay working with the organization. He went to Alejandrez, told him his scholarship and housing stipend were about to expire. Patstone was hired on full time, with his responsibilities growing day by day. Fast forward to now, Patstone finds himself working with students like Cherre Bull who came through the Transforming Scholars program just like him. 

Maya Mendoza (Kresge ’24, environmental studies) also came to Barrios Unidos through the Transforming Futures program. Mendoza was working on her thesis with Professor Ravi Rajan, who thought Mendoza would be a great candidate for the program. 

For Mendoza, it was an experience that contributed to so much learning and opened up career opportunities for her. 

“Working at Barrios was truly life changing, I got to be a part of the community in such a different way than I had been as a University student,” Mendoza said. “The work was vast and challenging but helped me understand my role in community organizations and challenged me to create new skills in communication, grant writing, event planning, curriculum building, program implementation, and so much more.” 

Mendoza continued to work at Barrios Unidos for an additional 2 years as an Elevate Youth Mentor, building programs for systems-impacted youth in the Pajaro Valley Union School District and Santa Cruz County Schools, writing grants, and planning community events. 

Cherre Bull is now taking over Mendoza’s role as the Elevate Youth Mentor. 

While she plans curriculum for students around Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, Bull finds her biggest inspiration to be her daughters. 

“Anything I consider while I was going through my education, I made sure to involve them,” Bull said. 

The scholarship gave Bull the ability to continue supporting her daughters while engaging in the experiential learning of working for a community organization dedicated to making systemic change. 

Just as Bull, Mendoza, and Patstone have benefited from learning through Barrios Unidos, the organization has transformed through their commitment and work. 

“We’ve reached thousands of people because we’re able to give to this organization. We have a reach and influence internationally. We’re a part of movements that advocate for peace and social justice all around the world,” Patstone said. “The entire organization supports the whole movement, which is trying to promote large-scale system changes. So it all starts with each and every person realizing there’s potential for them.”

In summer 2026 another student was selected through the Transforming Futures program to intern at Barrios Unidos, Camila Alvarez (’26, education, democracy and justice, Latin American and Latino studies, and legal studies). Alvarez supported the Prison Project’s letter correspondence program and the Youth Summer Leadership Cohort. Through this dual role, Alvarez helped bridge intergenerational leadership development, connecting youth programming with the lived experiences and advocacy efforts of the Prison Project. Alvarez was recently hired to be an Elevate Youth Peer Mentor and Immigrant Justice Coordinator at Barrios Unidos. 

For Bull, Mendoza, Patsone, and Alvarez, Transforming Futures served as the entry point to a career. What started as three months of funded fieldwork turned into full-time roles, years of program development, and a professional path directly serving the communities they set out to support after graduation.

“I feel like my internship hasn’t ended since taking part in Transforming Futures. It’s continued because this relationship with Barrios Unidos has continued,” Patstone said.