By Mira Chawla
There is a Kurdish saying that has guided Lara Zangana throughout her life: “bas chaka chaka” (“only good is good”). For Zangana, a recently graduated Fung Fellow who studied Society & Environment and Conservation & Resource Studies at UC Berkeley, the phrase is less a motto than a practice. “It means that a person’s character is reflected in how they treat others and how they show up for their community,” she explains. “It’s the belief that there is little value in approaching life with anything less than good intentions, kindness, and integrity. This belief has shaped my commitment to public service and continues to guide my engagement with my community.”
It is also, she would say, an apt description of what the Fung Fellowship asked of her.
Zangana came into the Fellowship with a clear orientation: she is a proud daughter of refugees and she grew up watching how profoundly community shapes daily life, and conversely, how acutely its absence is felt. Her parents encouraged her, wherever she was, to lead with care and intention. At Berkeley, that translated into a double major in Society & Environment and Conservation & Resource Studies. She deliberately built an academic framework that she describes as an encompassing lens, one that taught her to see the environment around her not just as land or economy, but as the shared context in which all communities live, struggle, and thrive.
When she discovered the Fung Fellowship’s Conservation pathway, it was a natural fit. “Being an environmental major, I knew I wanted to focus on conservation,” she says. “And I’ve always had an interest in innovation — being able to partake in an impactful project drew me in.”
As Conservation Lead for her cohort, Zangana partnered with a nonprofit to develop environmental justice education resources and water conservation materials for students in South Africa. It required moving between research, design, and direct community engagement, drawing on the same interdisciplinary approach her education had cultivated. But the real work, Zangana says, happened before any resource was created. “When we met with the communities — the principals, the teachers — it was interesting to hear from them how we could be most helpful,” she reflects. They soon learned that many students were using water freely at school without realizing they had none at home. This knowledge reframed the entire project. The research had to follow the community, not precede it.
That propensity to listen before acting and to ask before assuming is central to how Zangana understands leadership and public service. “I don’t think I ever want to lead alone or make certain decisions on my own,” she says. “In public service, there is no hierarchy. We’re all working together to create a greater good.” The Fellowship reaffirmed this conviction. What it gave her, above all, was a room full of people from different majors, technical backgrounds, and lived experiences who shared the same belief. “I came with a strong policy background, and then we had students from more technical backgrounds, and bringing all of that together led to us being able to learn from each other. That was the best part.”
This is the kind of cross-disciplinary collaboration the Fung Institute is built around, and for Zangana, it maps directly onto what civic and environmental work most acutely needs. Too often, she observes, people working on shared problems remain siloed by discipline, location, or sector. The Fung framework pushes against that. “Some of the most meaningful solutions emerge when people from different disciplines, cultures, and lived experiences come together to tackle a common challenge. Across her time at Berkeley, she has worked alongside students, local residents, nonprofit organizations, educators, and government leaders at the local, state, and federal levels. She has analyzed policy, advocated for educational opportunity, advanced sustainable practices, and supported community health and equity initiatives.
This year, that body of work earned her the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Award for Civic Engagement, presented annually by the Chancellor to recognize undergraduate students for exceptional contributions to community and commitment to advancing social change through public service. For Zangana, the recognition reflects something larger and more profound than any single project. “The environment is the one thing we all really share,” she says. “And so it’s important that we’re advocating for policies that take care of our environment and everyone who lives here.” It is a belief that has been shaped by family, sharpened by the Fung Fellowship, and now recognized by one of Berkeley’s highest honors for public service.
Bas chaka chaka. Only good is good. For Lara Zangana, that has always been enough of a direction.