John Lam is a second-year Master of Public Policy student at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, with interests in criminal justice reform, higher education, housing, and policies affecting formerly incarcerated communities. He brings a combination of lived experience, policy research, nonprofit leadership, and community advocacy to his graduate studies and is committed to advancing policies that are informed by both rigorous research and the experiences of people most directly impacted by public systems.

Before beginning his MPP, Lam earned his B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley. His professional and public service experience includes work with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, UC Berkeley’s Possibility Lab, and Berkeley Underground Scholars. He has contributed to policy research and advocacy related to criminal justice, housing, reentry, and access to higher education. Lam is also a co-founder of Cre8Innovations, a nonprofit that develops housing and supportive services for formerly incarcerated and other system-impacted students pursuing higher education. His commitment to this work is deeply informed by his own experience with the criminal legal system, including spending more than 16 years incarcerated before returning home and continuing his education.

Lam joined the California Policy Lab Research Advisory Board to help ensure that research about incarceration, reentry, and economic mobility is shaped alongside the communities it seeks to understand. He is particularly committed to bridging the gap between researchers, policymakers, and people with lived experience, and to advancing evidence-based policies that translate research into meaningful improvements in people’s lives.