In 2016, Danny Muñoz was at a crossroads that few survive. After being shot five times, he spent his recovery in deep reflection. He had lived a life on the margins: navigating poverty, addiction, and cycles of incarceration since he was a juvenile. In that moment of survival, he found a new drive. “I decided to come back to school and put myself in a position that would help deter young people from communities like mine from similar outcomes, or worse,” Danny says. Initially, Danny thought he would become a social worker or a life coach. But a conversation with a mentor from Berkeley Underground Scholars changed everything. “I started to learn that even though I wanted to support young people, I would just be a ‘band-aid’ to the problem,” Danny explains. “Policy showed me how I could attack the root of the problem through legislation.” “At Berkeley,” he says simply, “I found purpose.” As a Double Bear (Sociology/Public Policy ’23, MPP ’25), Danny utilized programs like BerkeleyUn...