First-year student Sunnie Liu received the 2026 Foundations for Change Thomas I. Yamashita Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding emerging social change activist in California, at a ceremony April 15. An artist, community organizer, narrative strategist, and Berkeley Law Public Interest Scholar, Liu was born in China. The child of Chinatown workers, she has worked to improve conditions in prisons and public defense, fought against the displacement of Manhattan’s Chinatown, co-founded an organization that counters mis/disinformation about the Chinese diaspora, and produced award-winning political research. Working across sculpture, installation, video, and performance art, Liu has also been an artist-in-residence with several groups and a fellow with art, international, and law school organizations.