NSBMA Student Panel
Current and past student board members from California
Anika Yu is a student passionate about increasing educational opportunity access and equity in K-12 public education. She served as the student board member of Dublin Unified School District in Northern California from 2023 to 2024. During her term, she wrote, advocated for, and passed equitable educational policies in areas like grading, menstrual equity, and compensation. Knowing that community action is collective power, she worked to ensure student stakeholders were consulted at every stage of the district’s decision-making processes. She is a firm believer in the strong connection between student belonging and student achievement.
Anika is currently a first year at UC Berkeley studying Political Economy on a pre-law track, hoping to utilize law and policy to uplift marginalized communities.
Jimena Mendez is the first student to ever be elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Education (LACOE), the largest regional education agency in the country, with a total enrollment of 1.3 million students. As a student leader at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), she has been deeply involved in student government, film, and also serves on the ACLU’s Youth Liberty Program, which engages high school students as leaders and organizers on civil rights and civil liberties.
With her time serving as a Student Board Member, she advocates for youth engagement within school boards, politics, and worldwide issues. She also has worked on expanding diversity within Specialized schools based in Los Angeles. In the future, Jimena hopes to work in Congress in order to help improve the educational system for students, improve the immigration system, and provide more opportunity and equality to everyone in the United States.
This is Jimena’s third term on the County Board and she hopes to continue improving the wellbeing of those around her through her advocacy.
