This summer, SPUR is hosting a talented group of policy and engagement fellows through partnerships with programs at high schools, colleges, and graduate programs. Learn more about the work they’re doing with SPUR and where they’re headed after collaborating with us.
Alay Delgado is a summer fellow working with SPUR’s engagement team to support event management, event collateral, and day-of logistics. She was introduced to SPUR through an internship with one of our partners, Enterprise for Youth, and previously interned with the San Francisco Planning Department. She is entering her third year at the University of San Francisco, where she majors in design, with a double minor in public policy and environmental studies.
Leila Forbord is a rising senior at Wesleyan University, majoring in the College of Social Studies with a minor in Data Analysis. Originally from Oakland, she hopes to pursue a career in urban planning and local governance to advance equity, sustainability, and community well-being in cities. This summer, she is supporting SPUR's research on affordable housing policy and voter education. Her research examines the fiscal impacts of proposed legislation that waives development fees for housing and how those changes affect city revenue and public services. She is also researching local and regional ballot measures for the November SPUR Voter Guide to help provide clear, nonpartisan information to Bay Area voters.
Alyssa Goldfield is working with SPUR's Transportation Policy team to contribute to projects researching autonomous vehicles and congestion pricing in Massachusetts and New York City, respectively. She is comparing the autonomous vehicles policy framework in Massachusetts to California's policies to evaluate the success of each state and whether their policy structure helps achieve their desired goals. Alyssa is a senior at UC Davis studying environmental policy analysis and planning (B.S) and economics (B.A) with an emphasis in energy and transportation planning. She also conducts research for the Institute of Transportation Studies on the road usage charge.
Sabia Lewis is a rising sophomore at Pomona College studying media studies and politics. This summer, she’s working with SPUR Senior Advisor Nicole Neditch as a summer research fellow on the November 2026 SPUR Voter Guide. She’s researching various state, county, and city ballot measures impacting the Bay Area to evaluate their fiscal and equity impacts, as well as their place within SPUR’s mission.
Hannah Merickel is a senior at Middlebury College, studying environmental policy and justice, and a summer fellow on SPUR's Sustainability and Resilience team. She is supporting Colleen Corrigan and Sarah Atkinson on home hardening wildfire research with a focus on state financing bills, work that will culminate in an article. She is also researching several ballot measures that will appear in the November 2026 SPUR Voter Guide. Alongside this work, she supports the Peninsula Accountability for Contamination Team, participating in discussions with the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the California Environmental Protection Agency on CalEnviroScreen and contributing to community engagement efforts.
Roya Safaeinili is a Master's student in urban planning at UC Berkeley. With a background in mathematics, ecology, and public health, she studies climate adaptation strategies that help communities build resilience to climate risks and create opportunities for a more collaborative and connected urban ecosystem. Prior to grad school, Roya was a project manager at Clarity Movement, an air quality monitoring start-up. This summer at SPUR, she is working with the Sustainability and Resilience team on advancing the Bay Area Air District's zero-emission water heating rule (Rule 9-6), writing articles on tenant rights related to electrification and strategies to bring down costs for electrification of homes. She is also researching workforce development strategies for home hardening to support community-scale wildfire resilience initiatives.
Abigail Weiss is a part of the Coro Exploring Leadership Program this summer and is spending part of her internship working with SPUR’s Sustainability and Resilience team. She is working with Sarah Atkinson, SPUR’s Sustainability and Resilience Director, to learn more about polluter pay policies in California. Abigail is gathering data from previous efforts to pass these policies in California and looking at other states to evaluate their success with similar policies.