MDes Student Association (MDSA) Alumni

The Berkeley Master of Design Student Association (MDSA) is the official organization representing students in the Master of Design (MDes) program at UC Berkeley. This page is an archive of the Master of Design Student Association boards of past years. For the current MDSA please visit MDes Student Association.

MDSA Executive Board 2021-2022 (Fall 2022)

The members of the MDSA Executive Board are dedicated to serving the MDes student community, advocating for them, and building an equitable and welcoming learning environment. Below is more information about the MDSA Executive Board, including their roles and contact information.

COHORT LEAD: Benal Johnson 

The Cohort Lead is the main spokesperson for their cohort when it comes to communication with the MDes administration, as well as during student activities.
benal_johnson@berkeley.edu

ACADEMIC OFFICER: Hannah Bartolomea

The Academic Officer organizes academic resources for the student body; they also convey suggestions, questions, and concerns related to academics from the MDes student body to the MDes administration and vice versa.
hannah_bartolomea@berkeley.edu

STUDIO OFFICER: Jessica Kim

The Studio Officer is responsible for fostering a culture of design inquiry, creativity, and making within the MDes student community. They also convey suggestions, questions, and concerns related to studio and maker resources from the MDes student body to the MDes administration and vice versa.
jes_kim81@berkeley.edu

COMMUNITY + CULTURE OFFICER: Emily Joens

The Community & Culture Officer is responsible for promoting wellness and morale in the MDes student body, beyond the classroom. They also convey suggestions, questions, and concerns related to community and culture from the MDes student body to the MDes administration and vice versa.
emilyjoens@berkeley.edu

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: Denise Heredia

The Administrative Officer is responsible for overseeing records, bylaws, and budget for the MDSA, ensuring smooth operation and maintaining institutional knowledge for the MDSA.
denise.heredia@berkeley.edu

CAREER + ALUMNI OFFICER: Kaila Lee Negron

The Career & Alumni Officer organizes career development resources for the student body; they also convey suggestions, questions, and concerns regarding career development from the MDes student body to the MDes administration and vice versa.
kailalee@berkeley.edu

ADMISSIONS OFFICER: Roland Saekow

The Admissions Officer coordinates with the MDes Administration to support events and activities for prospective students, and build ties between current students and incoming students following the admissions process.
saekow@berkeley.edu

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB) Lead: Celia Diaz

The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB) Lead promotes DEIB values within and beyond the MDes. They are a constant voice for ensuring that DEIB principles are factored in all areas of MDes student life and learning, an advocate and resource for their fellow students, and a primary student representative for conveying DEIB issues to the MDes Administration. They represent the needs and interests of all current and prospective MDes students, with particular attention to students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in higher education and the design field. celiamdiaz93@berkeley.edu

MDSA Executive Board 2021-2022 (Spring 2022)

The members of the MDSA Executive Board are dedicated to serving the MDes student community, advocating for them, and building an equitable and welcoming learning environment.

Below is more information about the MDSA Executive Board of the Spring 2022 cohort, the first cohort of Berkeley MDes. 

COHORT LEAD: Effie Jia

“It was an honor to serve as the first Cohort Lead of MDes. I had an amazing team of officers and it was such a fun and exciting experience to set the stage for the future of the program and shape student culture. We went through so many challenges as a cohort, from navigating the pandemic to co-designing curriculum to being together finally in-person. It has been a completely unique journey, and all worth the while.”
effiejia@berkeley.edu

ACADEMIC OFFICER: Jan-Simon Veicht (Jan)

STUDIO OFFICER: Georgios Grigoriadis

“It was my pleasure and privilege to serve as the first Studio Lead of the MDes program. Studio is perceived as a central and essential piece in the pedagogy of this program. As a Studio Officer, I was lucky enough to collaborate in this role with an extraordinary student cohort, MDSA board and MDes leadership. I believe we did a significant job setting up, shaping its culture and running the MDes studio in Jacobs Hall for the first time. I am grateful for the opportunity and the amazing experience.”
ggrigoriadis@berkeley.edu

COMMUNITY + CULTURE OFFICER: Abhijeet Ghavalkar (Abhi)

“My focus as Community & Culture Officer was to create a feeling of belonging within the cohort, where everyone could embrace their own personality and be as silly as they wanted to be. I was most proud of the Buddy Program that we launched during orientation for the incoming cohort since it helped break the ice between students from both cohorts. A few weeks later, we took over the Berkeley campus and dressed up some iconic bear statues with our Buddy groups which was incredibly fun!”
abhig@berkeley.edu

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: Titus Ebbecke

“Being able to shape a graduate program and especially the personal experiences of students was extremely fulfilling to me. A big part of MDes is understanding that there’s much more that you can design than apps and devices. Well, being part of the MDSA means being able to design MDes itself and I simply love designing stuff.”
titus@berkeley.edu

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, & BELONGING (DEIB) LEAD: Franklyn Bucknor

DECOLONIZE DESIGN.
DIVERSIFY DESIGN.
¡ VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN !
tiger@berkeley.edu

Active MDes Student Association

You can learn more about the current MDSA in the following link:

MDes Student Association