We are excited to announce Gretchen Wang and Daniel Willis as our Summer 2025 interns. Gretchen and Daniel join us from the Social Justice strand of Brandeis University's World of Work (WOW) internship program.

They will be gathering data for a round of updates to UFE's Popular Economics Education workshops, and writing blogs to share UFE's impactful program work. Please join us in welcoming them!

Daniel Willis

Hi everyone! My name is Daniel Willis (he/him). I grew up in Needham, MA, and I am a rising junior at Brandeis University. I am majoring in economics and am also interested in political science, history, and social policy. I am excited and honored to work with United For a Fair Economy this summer!

I am passionate about limiting the inequalities, specifically regarding wealth and income, that have rapidly increased in the past few decades. I am intrigued and disappointed by the breakdown of certain government institutions that protect against inequality, as well as the persistence of systemic factors that limit social mobility for many groups. I am an advocate for a higher minimum wage, higher union membership, and better conditions and protections in general for low and middle-class workers. 

I am also passionate about increasing awareness of the systemic problems that cause inequalities. I believe the first step to changing the system is to educate as many people as possible about the long-term problems. This is why UFE’s work with community building and organizing resonates so strongly with me. Bringing people together is an excellent way to make people feel heard and to validate their feelings and ideas.

Outside of academics, I like to run, read, explore new places, spend time at the beach, kayak on occasion, and hang out with friends and family. I also have a part-time job at the Brandeis International Business School as a Business School Captain. 

Social justice has always been a value ingrained in me from my parents and mentors, but only recently have I realized how possible it is for me to make a difference. At UFE, I hope to learn as much as I can about the deeper, systemic issues that plague our society. I also hope to hear as many people’s stories as I can. Listening to others’ perspectives can change how we see the world, and I hope these conversations will help me better understand the realities people face—and how I can be part of creating change.

Gretchen Wang

Hello everyone! My name is Gretchen Wang and I am a rising senior at Brandeis University, studying English, Creative Writing, Legal Studies, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies. I grew up in Taiwan in a middle-class family and moved to the US for college. I’m honored to be working with United for a Fair Economy this summer!

I am passionate about reducing economic inequalities and making financial information more accessible for everyone, especially traditionally underrepresented and marginalized communities such as POC and first-generation immigrants. As the child of Taiwanese immigrants who lived in the US for nearly nine years in the early 2000s, I’m acutely aware of how confusing and difficult economic and financial information in the US can be, especially for immigrants and children of immigrants, who are given few resources to understand the marginalization and systemic exploitation of their economic disadvantages in this foreign environment. As such, I’m happy to be supporting UFE’s workshops this summer and bringing accessible and easy-to-digest information to communities. 

As an aspiring law student, I hope to use my interest in policy and my passion for advocating for underrepresented communities to help raise awareness of the systemic inequalities prevalent in our economy and support people to begin making changes for themselves. I believe that change starts at the individual level and that, by educating people about the inequalities that impact them and how they can circumvent these barriers, we can work together to make a long-standing difference and shape the future.