Rachel Raiyani
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Life Beyond the Redwoods: Allysa Kazhe at Apple
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Allysa Kazhe(John R. Lewis ’25, electrical engineering) is an engineering program manager at Apple.
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Life Beyond the Redwoods 2025: Jennie Lin at Google
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Jennie Lin (Crown ’25, computer science) is a software engineer at Google.
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Life Beyond the Redwoods: Serena Ramirez at Pivotal and Northeastern University
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Serena Ramirez is a development associate for Pivotal, fundraising to bring educational and career opportunities to foster youth, and is pursuing her Master’s in public administration from Northeastern University.
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Life Beyond the Redwoods: Max Deneroff at Kansas City University, College of Osteopathic Medicine
One year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Max Deneroff is a medical student at Kansas City University, College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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Alumna María Ramos Bracamontes champions indigenous farmworker health and justice
María Ascención Ramos Bracamontes (Merrill ’02, language studies and Latino American and Latino studies) is a certified midwife, community activist, and founder of mutual aid organization Campesina Womb Justice, advocating and supporting farmworker women’s health.
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On the rise: Alumna August Lee Stevens makes her way in the Bay Area music scene
August Lee Stevens’s music career has taken off since her time at UC Santa Cruz. Stevens wrote her first single in her dorm at UCSC and has gone on to perform at a Warriors playoff game, open for Smokey Robinson, and hold a residency at the SF Jazz Festival.
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UCSC alumna Quressa Robinson expands representation in publishing
As a literary agent, Quressa Robinson (Oakes ‘03, literature) uses her influence to bring diverse, nuanced stories to young adult readers.
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Engineered imagination
UC Santa Cruz alumna Lisa Winter (Porter ’09, art) brings an artist’s eye to the arena of combat robotics—evolving from childhood Robot Wars competitor to BattleBots judge and robotics entrepreneur.
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The creation of the Cigarette Surfboard
Alumnus Ben Judkins’s (Kresge ’17, film and digital media) award-winning documentary follows the creation of the Cigarette Surfboard: A surfboard created by friend Taylor Lane from 10,000+ cigarette butts collected off beaches. Judkins’s documentary has helped influence legislation in Santa Cruz County, and will be screened at UC Santa Cruz on March 8.
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Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship supports veteran students for over 16 years
The Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship, named after late veteran and former UC Santa Cruz staff member Bruce Lane, supports veteran students at UC Santa Cruz.
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Breaking barriers and guiding others
As an outreach specialist with UC Santa Cruz’s Underground Scholars Program, Sammy Chavez (Rachel Carson ’25, Latin American and Latino studies and sociology) supports students navigating complex challenges in higher education. While completing his own degree, he was recognized with the Silver Slug Scholarship as a staff member pursuing his studies.
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Rooted in community
Alumna Dora Maria Beyer (Merrill ’09, Latin American & Latino studies, politics) was recently named one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 for her work assisting low-income communities as director of community development with Excite Credit Union.