Youth Organizing Fellowship
The Youth Organizing Fellowship is a year-long leadership development program for a nation-wide cohort of young people (ages 18-25) to strengthen their organizing skills and lead the movement for separation of religion and government.
Fellows come from different backgrounds, work on a variety of issues that intersect with the separation of religion and government, and share values of religious freedom and equality. The cohort meets virtually throughout the year (and once in person) for ongoing training and support while organizing events and campaigns in their local communities.
Applications are now closed
The fellowship is a one-year program and applications for the 2024 cohort will be open in spring 2023.
Meet the 2022-2023 Fellows
Alexis Campbell is a junior at Spelman College studying history with a minor in writing. Alexis is passionate about protecting marginalized communities from harmful and oppressive policies. She hopes to help create a world where church-state separation is normalized, especially within the education system.
Camille Serrano is a queer Korean Filipina organizer from Buena Park, CA. After graduating from UCLA and Fullerton College, Camille has partnered with the University of Washington, Cal State San Marcos, UC Merced and Los Angeles Valley College to provide free programming centered around abortion access, educational accessibility and LGBTQIA rights.
Camille has collaborated with Blue Future, a national youth led PAC, to form a youth advisory council with the staff of senator Alex Padilla.
Dane Sherman is from Seattle, WA but currently lives in South Bend, IN. Dane is a junior at the University of Notre Dame doing organizing within faith communities, writing for the school newspaper, and working in South Bend. Dane will be planning community organizing activities at Notre Dame advocating for the Do No Harm Act, the Equality Act, and more!
Evelyn Boateng-Ade is a senior at The George Washington University double majoring in Public Health and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with a minor in Law & Society, Public Health and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with a minor in Law & Society, on the pre-law track.
Evelyn is from Newark, NJ, but her roots originate in Ghana. Evelyn is a champion for health equity and an activist for reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and racial equity in the United States and abroad.
Isaac James is a University of Texas at Austin graduate from Arlington, Texas. He is currently based in New York City as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. Growing up queer and interfaith inspires Isaac to work towards a future where religion and personal beliefs can co-exist with and uplift marginalized identities.
Katarina Sousa is a political science and economics undergraduate student at Simmons University in Boston. She is passionate about investigating the intersections of religious freedom and the criminal legal system.
Katherine Yordy (she/her) is a recent Economics, Russian Studies, and Political Science graduate from the College of Wooster living in Houston, TX. Growing up in the South, she witnessed firsthand the extensive, influential, and harmful reach of Christian nationalism in public schools, local government, and everyday life.
In addition to interfaith organizing, Katherine is passionate about criminal justice reform, racial justice, and equitable economic development.
Kendall Kalustyan (He/Him), Washington, DC, is a recent graduate of American University who specializes in advocacy for LGBTQ+ and transgender rights.
Kendall will be organizing to raise awareness for the impact religion has on anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the US Deep South.
Monica Smith from Jacksonville, FL: “I’m an undergraduate student at the University of South Florida double majoring in Political Science and History. I focus my advocacy on LGBTQ+ rights specifically within the state of Florida.
I want to bring awareness to the impact church state separation has on the protection of LGBTQ+ rights. Additionally, I want to help my community access the resources they have available to protect their rights.”
Riley Dolan (he/him) is from Onalaska, Washington. He graduated in 2019 from Pacific Lutheran University with a degree in Political Science and Hispanic Studies, and works now as a political communications consultant.
Riley is excited to use this fellowship to advocate for church-state separation in his hometown and inform students on their rights to religious freedom in school.
Sora Heo is from Chicago, IL and is an undergrad student at Boston University. As the proud product of immigrants, she is active in immigrant justice causes and promoting civic engagement in immigrant communities.
She is passionate about improving public understanding of church-state separation issues among immigrants as well as expanding support for religious and ethnic minorities through a foreign policy lens.
