School of Humanities and Sciences
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David Sengthay
Master of Arts Student in Public Policy, admitted Spring 2024
BioDavid Sengthay is a community and electoral organizer from Stockton, California, committed to building power in underrepresented communities and advancing civic engagement at the local level. His work focuses on making local government more transparent, inclusive, and accountable through voter outreach, digital advocacy, and public demonstrations.
He has managed electoral campaigns in Stockton, including a City Council race that mobilized over 5,000 households in low-income neighborhoods of color. He has organized demonstrations supporting public education, LGBTQ+ rights, and immigrant justice, and built youth coalitions focused on reproductive wellness and culturally responsive mental health services. As a youth organizer, David centers the leadership and lived experiences of queer, Southeast Asian, and BIPOC communities—communities to which he belongs and remains deeply accountable.
At Stanford University, David serves as Chair of the Undergraduate Senate and previously led the Appropriations Committee, overseeing the allocation of over $6 million in student group funding. He also serves as Marketing Lead at the First-Generation and/or Low-Income Student Success Center and coordinates new student programming for incoming FLI undergraduates. Across these roles, he works to ensure that students historically excluded from institutional decision-making are represented and empowered.
David is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with Honors (B.A.H.) in Urban Studies and a Master’s in Public Policy at Stanford University. Supported by Stanford’s VPUE Major Grant, he is conducting IRB-approved fieldwork in Stockton in partnership with Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities (EMAC). His honors thesis investigates restorative justice and the criminalization of Cambodian-American youth through a case study of Southeast Asian youth organizing. After graduation, David plans to return home to serve in local government—first as a Program Manager in Stockton’s Office of Economic Development, and eventually as an elected official. His long-term goal is to craft policy solutions that expand opportunity, counter disinformation, and restore trust between communities and the institutions meant to serve them.
