University-Community Links (UC Links)
UC Links Statewide Office, Berkeley School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-1670
About
University-Community Links (UC Links) offers after-school learning activities that use digital and hands-on resources to create innovative learning activities for local young people. At UC Links sites, P-12 youth and university students take part in guided activities that engage their minds and connect them to each other, their communities, and the world around them.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
Since 1996, UC Links has worked as a collaborative community-university network to sustain quality after-school programs, growing from 14 sites in 1996–97 to over 30 sites in 2024–25. UC Links is a network of university and community partners, and each site is a collaboration among local community, school, and university partners. It has been part of the University of California's Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships (SAPEP) programs since 2005 and implements SAPEP's program impact and accountability guidelines as mandated by the State of California and the UC Office of the President. UC Links has engaged over 23,000 undergraduate and graduate students and over 70,000 young people throughout California, and the UC Links Office sponsors regular international conferences that bring together program partners from across the globe.
UC Links sites bring historically underserved P-12 youth from historically under-resourced communities together with university students in guided activities. University students take practicum coursework that links their classroom learning with real world experience in community settings. The UC Links Office coordinates and facilitates the work of UC Links program sites in California and works to promote cross-site collaboration among programs throughout California, the United States, and in other nations.
Mara Welsh Mahmood is the Executive Director of UC Links and is a developmental psychologist (Ph.D., UC Riverside). John Cano is the Associate Director and is an educational technology scholar (Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara). The leadership team also includes Marisa Buenrostro (Student Assistant), Jennifer Martinez (Student Assistant), Wesley Veiga (Former Student Assistant), Karla Trujillo (Student Affiliate, Ph.D. Student — University of Colorado Boulder), and Charles Underwood (Executive Director Emeritus). A former UC Links P-12 participant in San Diego, now a college graduate, stated, “Interacting with university students made me feel that I could become like them one day.”
Last updated June 15, 2026.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
Since 1996, UC Links has worked as a collaborative community-university network to sustain quality after-school programs, growing from 14 sites in 1996–97 to over 30 sites in 2024–25. UC Links is a network of university and community partners, and each site is a collaboration among local community, school, and university partners. It has been part of the University of California's Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships (SAPEP) programs since 2005 and implements SAPEP's program impact and accountability guidelines as mandated by the State of California and the UC Office of the President. UC Links has engaged over 23,000 undergraduate and graduate students and over 70,000 young people throughout California, and the UC Links Office sponsors regular international conferences that bring together program partners from across the globe.
UC Links sites bring historically underserved P-12 youth from historically under-resourced communities together with university students in guided activities. University students take practicum coursework that links their classroom learning with real world experience in community settings. The UC Links Office coordinates and facilitates the work of UC Links program sites in California and works to promote cross-site collaboration among programs throughout California, the United States, and in other nations.
Mara Welsh Mahmood is the Executive Director of UC Links and is a developmental psychologist (Ph.D., UC Riverside). John Cano is the Associate Director and is an educational technology scholar (Ph.D., UC Santa Barbara). The leadership team also includes Marisa Buenrostro (Student Assistant), Jennifer Martinez (Student Assistant), Wesley Veiga (Former Student Assistant), Karla Trujillo (Student Affiliate, Ph.D. Student — University of Colorado Boulder), and Charles Underwood (Executive Director Emeritus). A former UC Links P-12 participant in San Diego, now a college graduate, stated, “Interacting with university students made me feel that I could become like them one day.”
Last updated June 15, 2026.
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