As a Valley Girl, I’ve gotten so much more out of my experience with CAPS than just another internship. It’s transformed the way I see the world around me—from recognizing the types of lights in a room to changing my habits to reduce my energy consumption. It’s also changed my perspective, not just on climate action, but on the potential of what I can do as an engineer in my community and beyond.

With student-guided projects focused on energy use, waste management, and air quality, CAPS is partnering with Modesto City Schools and Petaluma City Schools to create a more sustainable future. To support this work, CAPS recently added Juli Miller to the team as the Program Manager for Northern California school districts.

CAPS has welcomed its first-ever Alumnx Board Members, who will help bring student voices to CAPS’s leadership. In this Q&A, former interns Raymond Wang and Taylor Simonich share their insights on how they envision working with other Board Members to amplify CAPS’s mission, their goals for expanding the program’s reach, and their advice for current CAPS interns aspiring to leadership roles.