Jennifer Tran

Jennifer Tran is a UC Berkeley Class of 2026 student studying Education Sciences and Political Science and a co-founder and Board of Advisors member of the National Student Board Member Association. She previously served as the 2021–2022 Student Board Member for Garden Grove Unified School District, representing more than 40,000 students, and focuses on education policy, civic engagement, and student representation in school governance.

Civic Learning Is Career Preparation When Students Practice Agency

The Aspen Education & Society Program’s final Redefining Student Engagement session argued that civic learning and career readiness are not competing priorities but overlapping forms of preparation. Elizabeth Zamudio, Elizabeth Clay Roy, Jennifer Tran and Braden Chapman made the case that students develop the skills schools and employers say they value — communication, collaboration, problem-solving, perspective taking and civil disagreement — when they have real agency in schools, supported channels to influence decisions, and families and institutions that treat youth voice as part of civic life.

The Aspen InstituteMay 20, 202617 min read