Editor’s Note: Each issue, Assistant Editor Liz Hayes is interviewing people in the church-state separation movement. This month she sat down with Rani Balakrishna, a participant in AU’s Youth Organizing Fellowship program. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Why were you interested in participating in AU’s Youth Organizing Fellowship Program?
Balakrishna: I always love to stay busy, but more than that, I’ve always wanted to help people, and I’m really interested in policy and government. I graduated in May 2025 from Brandeis University. In college I was bouncing around so much. I was running around every corner of campus, and I love that, and I love the community I found. So, as I navigate a post-grad life, I have looked for more ways to build on my skills, learn about new topics, find more community. The Fellowship kind of fell into my lap because my mom forwarded it to me from her friend, and it fit my interests and my time constraints. I thought it would be a really great way to learn more about church-state separation.
What has been your favorite part of the Youth Organizing Fellowship so far?
Balakrishna: Probably when we all convened together [in person] in the fall. It was a crash course in getting to know everyone. I was born and raised in Brookline, Mass., and I didn’t go far for [college at] Brandeis, so I’m used to Massachusetts and I recognize that it’s a blue bubble. I was really eager to meet people from Kentucky and Iowa and Texas and from all over, to expand my perspective on things because I know that Massachusetts is one microcosm of the United States, and it’s a pretty niche one at that. At the convening, it was just such a great balance. I think Alicia [Johnson, AU’s youth organizer and programs senior manager] did a great job of [offering] a lot of learning and giving us tools, and also getting to know each other and having fun. That was a really great mix of things.
What I’m looking to do, one day way, way, way off in the future, is hopefully run for office. And I don’t know what that will look like right now, but as someone who’s young and just getting started, I just want to learn as much as I can. So I loved the convening because I just felt like a sponge trying to soak up as much of the knowledge in front of us as possible.
Are there any particular issues or projects that you were interested in working on through the Fellowship?
Balakrishna: When I first heard that the Fellowship’s expectation is to put on two events in my community, doing a movie screening came to mind because the Coolidge Corner Theatre right here in Brookline is a cornerstone of our community. I thought that it would be a really great way to engage people from all walks of life. I worked with Alicia to find a documentary and I was really excited when we found “Under G-d” [a short documentary film that highlights efforts to challenge abortion bans on religious-freedom grounds].
I’m really proud about how it turned out. I had gone back and forth with the theater, rented it out with the funds from AU, and then also talked to our point of contact for AU’s Massachusetts Chapter. Then I had been talking to several different folks, especially the Brookline Interfaith Clergy Association, and they were eager to be panelists for the event, which I was very excited about.
One thing that’s been central in my mind as I started the Fellowship is that I think people in Massachusetts might get sort of complacent, being a historically blue state. One thing I learned in the convening especially is that church-state separation and Christian Nationalism, they are not ideas that know state borders. They’re really complex and they end up manifesting themselves even in these corners of the blue bubble. And so, that’s something I emphasized in my event.
There’s an AU case in Quincy, Mass., which is about 45 minutes outside of Boston, with the mayor of Quincy trying to use taxpayer money to erect two religious statues of Catholic saints outside the police and fire department buildings. And now it’s going to the Supreme Judicial Court. I talked to one of the AU lawyers involved to get more of a perspective on what the case was about. It really helped me to hammer home the point that this is still happening in our backyard. People are still trying to encroach on that enshrined right of church-state separation, and so it’s something we have to be vigilant about.
Can you talk about one thing that you’ve learned through the Fellowship so far?
Balakrishna: Going into this, I thought that AU was a well-known organization and a large one, but I thought the issue of church-state separation was something that people might not say, “That’s a priority for me,” because it’s not the first [concern] that comes to mind. You know, the first thing that comes to mind is prices, the economy. I’m living with my parents, I can’t afford to do anything else.
At the convening, and then throughout all of the Fellowship meetings, all these different ways [the undermining of] church-state separation has manifested itself into everyday issues was really crucial to my understanding that it is an everyday issue. It’s blocking abortion rights. It’s blocking unbiased education. It’s forcing religion upon us. I think that was something that stuck out to me, that made me appreciate what AU does even more, and what the Fellowship is doing.
Going into the Fellowship, I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t associate my generation, or people that look like me, leading this particular fight. I just imagined it to be a different demographic of people, and so that’s why I think the Fellowship has taught me so much about the power of organizing across all groups, and going back to what I said about being multifaceted and just having a hand in everything. This was actually a perfect fit for me, because church-state separation is everywhere that we look.
How do you personally connect with church-state separation?
Balakrishna: I’m a religious minority — I’m Hindu — and my grandparents immigrated here, so I’m second generation. My paternal grandfather, he helped to build a Hindu temple in Albany, N.Y. I think of him as a great community leader, but also someone who I felt a little alienated from because he’s a pretty traditional man. His faith is really important to him. My faith is also important to me, but I practice my religion in a different way than he does. He’s more steeped in it every day, whereas I’m a not-as-everyday religious observer.
I saw what my family did, what my grandfather did, how he fought for a space for our community, and how my parents have practiced their faith, and then also how my mom’s parents have. I’ve taken all of that and combined it into something of my own. I felt alienated also because when I first came out [as gay] to my paternal grandfather, he was not the most understanding at first. I think I’ve found much more of a groove, and that’s all because of church-state separation. I’ve felt the freedom to explore my faith in this way. I wouldn’t have been able to have these discussions with my grandparents, and my grandparents wouldn’t have been able to have found the community that is now thriving today, without church-state separation.
Church-state separation makes America better. I see how it’s like a seed that you plant, and then it grows. And especially in the case of my grandparents in Albany, their community there has become so vibrant. They go to the temple almost every day. My grandfather’s still the chairperson and he’s very well-respected within the community. And he’s come around, he’s now understanding that his granddaughter’s not a heteronormative Hindu, and I think it all blends together. If church-state separation weren’t a thing, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I’m grateful, very grateful, for this blend of experiences, and grateful that there’s the freedom to choose my own path.
A lot of folks are in a dark place right now. What brings you joy?
Balakrishna: My dog, honestly. I love her, even though she’s barking in the background! We adopted her in December. Her name’s Peanut, but she’s a German Shepherd, so she doesn’t really look like a peanut. She’s really cuddly and sweet, and she’s just perfect. I love spending time with her because it also means moving my body and getting outside. And eating mini M&Ms. That brings me a lot of joy, too. I love mini M&Ms.
Americans United is accepting applications for the 2026-27 Youth Organizing Fellowship program; deadline to apply is June 1, 2026. Learn more at au.org/youthfellows.