Thriving at UC Berkeley
The Thriving Initiatives continue to cultivate opportunities and resources to transform UC Berkeley into a place where every member of our community feels a deep sense of belonging. Thriving requires the active interruption of inequity and harm at all levels and in all corners of the university. This work includes reconfiguring structures, processes, and policies to be more holistic, equitable, and liberatory.
The ability to thrive is a shared responsibility of all members of our campus community. This year, we have strengthened partnerships, launched new programs, and elevated voices from every corner of Berkeley to ensure our collective momentum continues.
What are UC Berkeley's Thriving Initiatives? Campus leaders explain
Thriving North Star & Core Priorities
Transformative change is our Thriving North Star—driving intentional and sustainable action to ensure every member of the Cal community thrives.
1. Prioritize improved enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of first generation, low income, and/or historically underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students
2. Make UC Berkeley people (student, staff, faculty, community) ready
3. Champion community-centered, liberatory, and engaged research and pedagogy
Achievements and Ongoing Efforts — 2025 Highlights
In 2025, the Latinx Thriving Initiatives (LTI) advanced its commitment to centering student leadership and community celebration. Two inaugural LTI Student Fellows were welcomed through the Transcending Beyond Berkeley Fellowship Program, embedding student perspectives into the heart of initiative planning and implementation.
Alongside this, both the LTI Advisory Board and a Student Advisory Board were established, creating structured channels for collaborative decision-making. Both Boards became well-versed in servingness as a construct and were provided with a theoretical foundation for our transformation work on campus. As the Board deepened its understanding of both the historical foundations and ongoing challenges of advancing the Latinx Thriving Initiatives, members gained a clearer view of the extensive efforts that have shaped this work, recognizing the legacy of work at UC Berkeley and how engagement, transparency, and strategic collaboration are essential for continued progress.
On the research side, Faculty Director of LTI Dr. Gina Garcia launched the Higher Education Action Research for Transformation (HEART) Lab in order to conduct high-impact research that is translatable to practice and policy. The Lab serves as a hub for knowledge creation, community action, and praxis through partnerships and coalition-building with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) in California and will be a space for developing a research agenda that informs thriving efforts on campus. Moreover, Dr. Garcia was awarded a $100,000 competitive grant from the Center for Economic Justice and Action to implement the project titled, “Indicators of Thriving for Latinx Students at an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution: Meeting their Essential Needs.” The grant proposal was submitted in collaboration with partners across campus. Finally, Dr. Garcia engaged 25 undergraduate students enrolled in EDUC 167 Higher Education Policy in a Participatory Action Research project where they explored what it means for UC Berkeley to become an HSI, AANAPISI, and Black Serving Institution. Learn more about the outcomes of the project.
On the systemwide level, LTI champions participated in the UC HSI Congress & Retreat and began planning for a series of LTI Community Forums & Convivencias to be held throughout the 2025-26 academic year.
The African American Thriving Initiatives (AATI) built momentum with the launch of The Village, a comprehensive support model designed to create a network of resources and care for Black students. This year also saw the relaunch of the HBCU Exchange Program with Spelman and Morehouse Colleges, strengthening academic and cultural exchange opportunities. A partnership with Berkeley High BSU expanded the K–12 pipeline and secured a $17,000 grant from the Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund. The 4th Annual Black Homecoming drew record-breaking attendance across six major events, while the Black Public Arts Plan laid the groundwork for future creative engagement and representation.
The Native American Thriving Initiatives (NATI) focused on infrastructure and visibility in this last year. Building on the NATI framework: Knowing (Acknowledge, Assess), Visioning (Improve, Imagine), Relating (Redress, Trust) and Acting (Build, Sustain), assessing and visioning were abundant, including coordinating an the first annual cycle of the Chancellor’s Native American Advisory Council (CNAAC) meetings giving campus its first set of CNAAC recommendations for institutional change.
In the spring, NATI co-sponsored a follow up event to the 2020 UC Land Grab symposium, with the second installation, The University of California Land Grab: Accounting for the Past and Actions Towards Justice, hosted at UC Davis. There was also progress in the development of place-based public education projects that center on East Bay Ohlone history, language and cultural knowledge through the continued partnership with the ‘ottoy Initiative, including a campus walking tour centering on East Bay Ohlone landscapes and the ‘ullashtak project (translates to the garden place in the Chochenyo language) at the Oxford Tract.
This year, NATI partnered to expand graduate student support by creating a dedicated graduate student writing space in partnership with the Graduate Diversity and the American Indian Graduate Program.
The Asian American & Pacific Islander (AA & PI) Thriving Initiatives focused on building academic, cultural, and leadership infrastructures across campus, engaging over 75 stakeholders. Signature events such as the “Building AA & PI Futures at Berkeley” Homecoming panel with Chancellor Lyons also drew strong engagement from students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
National visibility about our efforts to serve our AANHPI students was expanded through participation in the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), as well as the UC Office of the President Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) Initiative. Through a federal AANAPISI grant (the first in the UC system), the UC Berkeley AANAPISI collaborative offered leadership development opportunities alongside the creation of undergraduate and graduate student fellowships and a vibrant visiting artists and scholars series focused on growing Critical Pacific Islander and Critical Southeast Asian Studies at Cal.
Campus visibility and partnerships also grew through participation in the hiring processes of several key leadership roles dedicated to serving AANHPI undergraduate and graduate students, including the Asian American and Pacific Islander Transpacific Futures cluster hire (Fall 2024-Spring 2025), as well as the Office of Undergraduate Admissions API Liaison and bridges Assistant Director searches in Spring 2025.
Get Involved, Stay Connected
For those inspired to get involved with any of the Thriving Initiatives, we invite you to reach out to connect with us regarding how your own work can support these initiatives.
Contact the Directors
- Dr. Elisa Diana Huerta | Associate Vice Chancellor, Community Engagement & Transformative Care, thriving@berkeley.edu
- Phenocia Bauerle | Director of Thriving, Native American Thriving Initiatives (NATI): nathriving@berkeley.edu
- Takiyah Jackson | Director of Thriving, African American Thriving Initiatives (AATI): aati@berkeley.edu
This report was developed by Elisa Diana Huerta, Takiyah Jackson, Lisa S. Hirai Tsuchitani, Liliana Iglesias, Phenocia Bauerle with editing support by Monica Garcia and design support by Ashley Villanueva. Photos by Brandon Sanchez Mejia, Jonathan Hale, Lu Martinez, Brittany Hosea-Small, and Keegan Houser.
Credits:
UC Berkeley's Division of Equity and Inclusion