Vincent Rasso, Government Relations Director (Contact)
Vincent Rasso serves as UCSA’s Government Relations Director, where he oversees the state and federal policy agenda on behalf of UC students. By navigating legislative and budget advocacy, he works with student leaders, coalition partners, UC and state leaders to identify and advance policy priorities that center equity and support the accessibility, affordability and quality of current and future UC students. He manages programming for our Student Lobby Conference and Hill Day while supporting mentorship and leadership development for legislative directors at each UC campus. Vincent is a proud UC Riverside alumni with a bachelor’s in political science, the first in his family to earn a college degree. As the former Student Affairs Manager at the Campaign for College Opportunity, he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in higher education policy, public affairs and coalition-building, communications and research, statewide and regional student and community engagement, and policy advocacy.
Caroline Nguyen, Policy Director (Contact)
Caroline was born in Vietnam to a schoolteacher and civil service worker. Her family resettled in Little Saigon, Orange County when she was a toddler, whenceforth they grappled with economic insecurity, xenophobia, and the despair that compounded in its orbit.
While at UC Irvine as an undergraduate, Caroline founded and directed the statewide Reclaim Mental Health Conference and provided mentorship and guidance for student leaders at UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara to initiate similar efforts on their campuses as well. The Reclaim Mental Health Conference educates on mental health through a sociopolitical lens, centering the narratives of people of color, the working class, and other historically under-resourced communities. It aims to examine the disproportionate vulnerability to health dysregulation often found at the intersections of race and class —providing a platform for multidisciplinary discourse, community healing, and policy reform led by those impacted by American legacies of oppression and systems of inequity.
In her free time Caroline enjoys writing, and writes most frequently about grief & loss and racial justice.
Adrianni Silvano, Government Relations Associate (Contact)
Adrianni was born in the Philippines and moved to the US in 2012 at age 11, now residing in San Jose, CA. Growing up as a first-generation Filipino American, Adrianni encountered the challenges and resilience that often characterize immigrant communities, and these experiences have profoundly influenced his commitment to equity and inclusivity in public service.
While attending UC Riverside as an undergrad, Adrianni served as a Policy Intern at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington D.C. and supported Biden-Harris Administration policy initiatives that address global challenges in areas such as humanitarian assistance and sustainable development in underserved regions. After graduating, he served as a Ron Loveridge Fellow at the California State Assembly in Sacramento, where he conducted legislative analyses and engaged closely with community advocates. His insights and experience in these experiences translate into a goal of meaningful advocacy that shapes his work today.
Salih Muhammad, Executive Director (Contact)
As Executive Director, Salih leads our staff team and organizational strategy, keeps the UCSA office in operation, supports the Board and other student leaders, and fundraises to maximize the potential of our organization. Salih also oversees planning for UCSA’s annual statewide conferences.
Raised in Oakland, California, Salih Muhammad strives to embody the principles of service, sacrifice, and selflessness. For much of his life, he has been committed to living toward the liberation of Black people, at home and abroad.
In 2009, he continued the pursuit of knowledge at the University of California, Berkeley, where he excelled as a Black student and organizer on campus. His favorite quote is from Franz Fanon, who stated, “Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.”
