Carlos Guadamuz-Bielma

Carlos Guadamuz-Bielma grew up in Long Beach in a low-income household and spent part of his childhood in foster care. Today he is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley working to make education more equitable for students who face the same obstacles he once did. His story is a reminder that your background can become the engine behind your purpose.

Carlos is studying Business Administration at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business while also exploring rhetoric and public policy. At the Othering & Belonging Institute, he supports the team that builds relationships with foundations and community partners to fund equity work. He also leads data management and donor outreach at the Berkeley Student Cooperative, and he previously evaluated how grant money affected programs in Berkeley public schools. Across all of it, he is learning the mechanics of philanthropy — how money moves, who it reaches, and how to make it go further.

Carlos's path shows a practical playbook: connect your lived experience to a field where that knowledge actually matters, then build real skills there. If educational equity or philanthropy interests you, you can start the same way — look for student assistant or volunteer roles at nonprofits, community foundations, or university research centers. Many Houston-area institutions, including Houston ISD and local community foundations, welcome students and early-career volunteers who want hands-on experience in education funding and advocacy.

No fixed date

Not location-specific

Carlos's story connects to broader conversations about foster care policy, first-generation college access, and how philanthropy can be directed toward communities that are often overlooked. In Houston, organizations like Houston ISD's family support programs, the Houston area's network of community foundations, and university equity centers all do related work. If you are a first-generation student yourself, local nonprofits and college access programs can offer the kind of community and practical guidance that Carlos found at Berkeley.

Too many talented young people never get a fair shot at higher education because of money, housing instability, or being the first in their family to navigate college. Carlos's work at UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute — a research center focused on reducing inequality and building inclusive communities — puts him at the front lines of changing that. His goal is concrete: one day open a high school that gives first-generation and low-income students access to business education and early college courses.