BRP Fellows

Elycia Knight (she/her), BRP Fellow

Master of Public Affairs, Candidate 2025

UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy

Project Title: Guidelines of Effective Harm Reports

• Project materials are forthcoming.

Elycia Knight, a native of Oakland, California, holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications with a focus on Public Relations and Marketing from California State University, Dominguez Hills. Growing up in Oakland, she experienced firsthand the juxtaposition of thriving neighborhoods and underserved areas, which fueled her passion for social justice and a commitment to advocating for equitable development.

Elycia is deeply dedicated to local economic and community development, delivering meaningful community benefits while encouraging collaboration between government agencies, community organizations, and private developers. Her goal is to create spaces that are both economically vibrant and culturally inclusive. She is committed to ensuring that as cities grow and evolve, they honor their cultural heritage, enhancing the diversity that defines them rather than diminishing it.

Elycia’s project, A Journey to Repair: Guidelines of Effective Harm Reports, aims to analyze reparations harm reports to develop and establish guidelines that outline and identify recommendations on how to structure trauma-informed harm report, particularly for anti-Black harms at municipal levels in Alameda County. This project was developed on behalf of her project sponsor the Alameda County Reparations Commission.

Shivangi Basu (she/her), BRP Fellow

Master of Political Science, Candidate 2025

College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Northeastern University

Project Title: A Roadmap for Reparative Justice: Assessing Community Priorities, Funding Strategies, and Program Effectiveness in the Berkeley Unified School District

• Project materials are forthcoming.

Shivangi is dedicated to advancing socio-economic equity and resilience in local and global governance through research and advocacy, with a strong emphasis on addressing systemic disparities and fostering community-driven solutions. As a Master’s candidate in Political Science at Northeastern University, specializing in International Relations, Shivangi pursues this passion combining academic rigor with practical experience in research and policy analysis. Previously, Shivangi has worked as a Research Assistant at the Black Reparations Project, contributing to background research for reparations policy development and historical preservation. Shivangi has also worked at the Global Resilience Institute, conducting stakeholder-centric community-oriented research on socio-economic policy and community resilience challenges in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and flood-risk communities in the US, for projects funded by USAID and NOAA.

Through her capstone project, Evaluating Allocation Strategies for Reparative Funds in the Berkeley Unified School District, Shivangi is conducting research to recommend strategies for reparative fund spending in alignment with community priorities and needs. The project will culminate in an advanced policy analysis paper encapsulating a thematic analysis of community survey responses and a comprehensive literature review of various economic mobility programs, to compare their return on investment (ROI). By conceptualizing “return” as encompassing wealth, health, stability, healing, and flourishing, her work aims to develop informed, impactful strategies for reparative funds allocation, ultimately fostering robust and resilient communities. By bridging the gap between community-driven insights and evidence-based research in her paper, Shivangi aspires to promote sustained, holistic development in systemically and historically marginalized communities.

Sean Crumplar (he/him), BRP Fellow

Master of Public Policy, Candidate 2025

UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy

Project Title: The Economic Landscape for Local Reparative Justice: Analyzing the Fiscal and Individual Impact of Tax Policy in Local Education Reparations Initiatives

• Project materials are forthcoming.

Sean Crumplar (he/him) is a policy analyst, activist, and Master of Public Policy candidate at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. His academic work focuses on wealth inequality, racial justice, and regulatory policy, drawing on a strong foundation in quantitative research methods, program evaluation, and cost-benefit analysis. While at Berkeley, Sean interned with BDO’s Industry Specialized Services Group, where he contributed to projects for nonprofit and public-sector clients, assisting in securing and managing federal funding. He holds a B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from the University of Colorado Denver.

Sean’s project, The Economic Landscape for Local Reparative Justice: Analyzing the Fiscal and Individual Impact of Tax Policy in Local Education Reparations Initiatives, examines the economic conditions shaping reparative efforts within Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD). By conducting a fiscal impact analysis of proposed tax policies and a micro-level assessment of the surrounding economic landscape, the project provides critical insights to support BUSD’s reparative initiative and establishes a framework for future local education-based reparations policies. This project is sponsored by the Berkeley Reparations Coalition and Healthy Black Families.

Sommer Iqbal (she/her), BRP Fellow

Master of Public Policy, 2024

UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy

Project Title: Local Reparations for a Just World: Case Studies and Recommendations for Local Governments Exploring Reparations

• Advanced Policy Analysis Paper
• Slide Deck
• Presentation Recording: State of Illinois African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission

Sommer is a policy analyst, researcher, and advocate committed to building a just, sustainable, and liberated economy for all. Her work centers on racial and economic justice, systems change, solidarity economics, and labor and immigrants’ rights. Striving to build community and leave spaces better than she found them, Sommer has been deeply involved in organizing and advocating for students of color on campus. At UC Berkeley, she serves as the advocacy liaison for Students of Color in Public Policy (SCiPP) as well as a union steward for UAW Local 2856, representing graduate student workers in labor grievances. Sommer has also worked as a graduate student researcher at the Othering and Belonging Institute and as the Racial Justice Editor for the Berkeley Public Policy Journal.

Before pursuing graduate studies, Sommer worked at the City of Dallas in various capacities related to legislative advocacy, equity, and inclusion. In her last position, she served as the interim Policy Manager of the Office of Equity and Inclusion, where she helped develop Dallas’s first Racial Equity Plan. Additionally, Sommer has completed internships with The Greenlining Institute, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under the Obama Administration. She holds a B.S. in International Political Economy from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Sommer’s project, Local Reparations for a Just World: Case Studies and Recommendations for Local Governments Exploring Black Reparations, provides case studies on recently successful local government-funded reparations policies and initiatives. Drawing from these case studies, Sommer makes recommendations for local and state governments wanting to pass reparations policies for the descendants of enslaved people. This project was developed on behalf of her client sponsors, Liberation Ventures and Osiris Professional Services, as a contribution to the Legislative Toolkit for Local Reparations.

Meklit Biliard (she/her), BRP Fellow

Master of Public Policy, 2023

UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy

Project Title: Everybody Eat$: An Engagement and Education Strategy for California Reparations Initiatives

• Advanced Policy Analysis Paper
• Slide Deck

Bio: Meklit Biliard (she, her) is a system-impacted Black womxn and a recent graduate of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy where she received her Master’s of Public Policy. Her desire to create a more equitable, loving, and accessible world for the most vulnerable populations remains at the heart of her academic and professional pursuits. Grounded in love and blue-sky thinking, she actively engages in policymaking that uplifts and supports the livelihoods of BIPOC youth, immigrant communities, and individuals of diverse abilities, sexualities, and gender identities. Having personally experienced the difficulties faced by African immigrant communities and witnessed the over-policing of Black youth, she brings a deep understanding of these challenges to her work. As a partner, advocate, lover, and friend, she is grateful for the opportunity to engage in life-affirming labor with marginalized groups, aiming to create everlasting wholesome change. In her free time, Meklit enjoys roller skating at Lake Merritt, shopping at antiques fairs and thrifting.

Meklit’s paper, Everybody Eats: An Engagement and Education Strategy for California Reparations Initiatives, delves into the crucial role of community engagement in driving meaningful and sustainable change within reparations initiatives, emphasizing the need for active participation and inclusion of affected communities in decision-making processes. Drawing on her personal experiences and academic background in public policy, Meklit explores innovative strategies for community engagement, such as participatory forums and collaborative partnerships that empower individuals to shape the direction and implementation of reparations programs. By highlighting the importance of centering the voices and lived experiences of marginalized communities, Meklit’s paper seeks to bridge the gap between policy design and community needs, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and equitable approach to reparations that uplifts and honors the diverse narratives and aspirations of those impacted by the legacy of slavery.

David Dixon (he/him), BRP Fellow

Master of Public Affairs, 2023

UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy

Project Title: Black Reparations Donor Engagement Strategies

Bio: A product of South and North Carolina, I carry the influence and prayers of my Ancestors, as well as their names. David Henry Francis Dixon, I was named after my father and both grandfathers, likely to celebrate the fact that I was not only the youngest grandchild but also the only boy in three generations. Growing up in a family filled with HBCU graduates and civil rights activists thoroughly shaped my childhood and the man I’ve grown to become today. I attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where I majored in History and Africana Studies.

My community organizing career began while in undergrad after witnessing the murders of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. I began using the network I built as a student leader to draw attention to the need for us as students to participate in the local political infrastructure. This increased student participation eventually led to the election of Charlotte’s first Black woman Mayor and a Black man as Sheriff. My policy focus areas have been centered around the truly equitable inclusion of marginalized populations into the participatory governance process and expansion of affordable housing options as well advocating for increased wages across all public industries and better worker protections. I’ve had the privilege of organizing across the South through a number of different organizations and campaigns. I bring with me to Berkeley, the stories and experiences of those who are truly on the frontlines feeling the daily effects of our racist, capitalist society. It is my goal to allow these new resources, ideas and experiences to flow through me and back into the communities that need them most.