(She/Her) If you ask where she’s from, Grace Beavin will tell you it’s complicated; but she lived a total of 13 years in Berea, Kentucky and is a member of Berea Friends Meeting. She graduated in May of 2019 from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana with a degree in Spanish and Hispanic Studies and Theatre Arts. At Earlham she was a member of the Quaker Fellows Program. She worked for West Richmond Friends Meeting as a First Day School teacher; she became a leader for the Lightseekers after school program; and her senior year, she was the Sound Board Operator and Sound Engineer for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. Spring Semester of 2017 she had the opportunity to study abroad for five months in Granada, Spain and in August of 2019 she went with members of the Earlham College Theatre Department to Edinburgh, Scotland to perform a new work, The Misadventures of Martin Hathaway, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Grace loves to sing and play the piano (Billy Joel’s her favorite), she devours fictions of all kinds, dabbles in creative writing, and is learning how to knit. As an autistic woman, she also has a vested interest in autistic self-advocacy, and disability advocacy in general. This year she is beyond thrilled to put her passions and creativity to good use at FriendshipWorks Inc. 

Miche McCall is ultimate frisbee-playing coffee-loving Portland, Ore native and a recent graduate from Oberlin College. They majored in Comparative American Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, with a concentration in education and a minor in English. At Oberlin, Miche lived and ate in co-ops, doing work ranging from building accessibility to building co-op work charts. They spent time studying the inequities in American public school systems and how English literature can be taught through the lens of reducing oppression and fostering meaningful conversation in the classroom. Miche was raised Methodist and is excited to explore the Quaker faith through its commitment to service and thoughtfulness. Miche is thrilled to be building an intentional community with QVS Boston and working to reduce the effect of climate change with Mass Climate Action Network this year.

Aldis Gamble was raised in small coastal town in southern Maine, and his love of the outdoors was born on the rocky beaches and in the coniferous forests of the region. His first introduction to Quaker values came during the formative summers he spent at the Farm and Wilderness summer camps, in Plymouth, VT, where he developed a deep and lasting appreciation in the value of intentional community building and social justice. Aldis returned to Farm and Wilderness as a counselor for three summers bridging the end of high school and early college, and after a few summers’ hiatus will return on staff for summer 2019 before beginning his year with QVS.

Aldis attended Haverford College, graduating in 2018 with a degree in Anthropology. During his senior year he wrote his thesis on the ways pro-choice and pro-life activists develop their moral and political beliefs about abortion over the course of their lifetimes. Outside of the classroom, Aldis was a member of the Men’s Varsity Fencing Team, worked in Haverford’s first year orientation program, and sang with a male-voiced a cappella group. Following graduation, Aldis moved to Cameroon, where he has worked for the past year as an intern at the American School of Yaoundé, teaching high school English and Social Studies.

Aldis is thrilled to be returning to New England and be a part of a community built around a shared commitment to social justice, and Quaker values. He is greatly looking forward bringing the passion he developed in Vermont and Cameroon for working with and empowering young people to Apprentice Learning, where he will be serving during the coming year.

Molly McGinty is a recent graduate of Salisbury University with a double major in Social Work and Gender & Sexuality Studies. She was raised in Catonsville, Maryland where she first gained a passion for social justice across all intersections. In the Salisbury community, Molly was an intern for the Eastern Shore Human Trafficking Task Force. In this internship, she held various leadership roles in order to advocate on the behalf of victims and survivors of human trafficking on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, including presenting her research related to the level of human trafficking awareness on the Eastern Shore of Maryland at various conferences. Additionally, she spent her senior year at Salisbury University as an Advocacy Corps Organizer with the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). Through this position she was able to lobby her Congress members to Co-Sponsor the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act and work with her community to increase civic engagement. Working with FCNL was Molly’s first introduction to Quakerism, and she is excited to continue this journey throughout her year with QVS. 

Molly is looking forward to being able to use the experiences she gained at Salisbury University to bring a multi-faceted approach during her time as a QVS Fellow with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

Chloe Halsted is a recent graduate of Earlham College with a degree in Music Studies. At Earlham, she was involved in many musical ensembles and a couple student-run cooperatives. One of her favorite on-campus experiences was the woodwind quintet she formed for her senior capstone project. She has also studied and engaged in a myriad of contemporary and historical musical traditions in Italy, Spain, Morocco, and France. Her favorite activities are kayaking, sailing, cooking, and (of course) music.

Earlham was Chloe’s first exposure to Quakerism. She has very much enjoyed learning more about Quaker principles and practices through her coursework, meetings for worship both on and off campus, as well as her engagement in an intentional living community with an interest in Quakerism. Chloe has grown to cherish her connections to Quakerism and she looks forward to continuing the learning process during her year with QVS.

For the past several years, Chloe has worked as a Medical Interpreter in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. She is passionate about providing marginalized and underserved communities in the United States with access to affordable, high-quality healthcare. She is thrilled to be working with the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center as a 2019-2020 QVS Fellow.

Gideon Nachman is from Brooklyn, New York, where he lived for 18 years before traveling north to Cambridge to attend Harvard University. He graduated from there in 2016 with a degree majoring in Literature and minoring in East Asian Studies. He also joined an improv troupe, the campus comedy magazine, the beekeeping society, and was a folk/blues DJ for the college radio station. Among other jobs, he has spent the past two years as a volunteer crisis counselor at the Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that provides free and confidential support to those in severe emotional, psychological, and mental stress.
After college, he attended his first Quaker meeting in the fall of 2016 at the Brooklyn Meeting House and has not stopped going since. He has tried to attend meetings wherever he’s lived post-graduation, including the Wandsworth Meeting in London and now the Friends Meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

He’s excited to orient his life further towards Quaker principles and to deepen his connection with the spiritual community already present in the Boston area. An avid WWOOFer, he can’t wait to continue the work he’s been doing on sustainability and environmental responsibility with the Better Future Project.

Bridget Blair isn’t the most obvious Texas-native, aside from her incessant “y’all’s” and love for breakfast tacos, but after leaving Texas to pursue a degree in Anthropology/Sociology from Rhodes College in Memphis she realized her passion for environmental justice and took up what she had always avoided: agriculture. Her studies in environmental sociology led her into organic farming, and for the last year she has worked with the only girl-run urban agriculture project in the nation to create a more equitable and just food system. This summer she is working on a farm in Upstate New York to strengthen her skills in sustainable agriculture and communal living, and hopes to take this experience into her work with Minnesotans as the 2019-20 TakeAction Minnesota Fellow.

Ellen Finn grew up in Davis, California and recently graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a degree in Communication Studies with minors in Music and Gender and Queer Studies. Upon her graduation she completed her thesis research on the cultural memory of the US AIDS crisis through the collection and archiving of oral histories. Along with public health and housing issues, Ellen is excited about the outdoors and has spent many of her summers doing conservation trail maintenance work. In her spare time, she loves to play the upright bass, dance, bike, and discuss gender and queer issues with her friends. Ellen is passionate about uncovering people’s personal stories in order to best serve and empower them, and is thrilled to work as a case manager for Our Saviour’s Housing this upcoming year.

Leanne Cheong grew up in Klang. Malaysia. She recently graduated from Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana with a degree in Sociology/Anthropology. At Earlham, she was involved with the International Student Coalition as well as Multicultural Resource Center that helped coordinate events that were focused on racial justice and intersectionality. During her last year, she was a co-convener of a newly formed house called Asian and Asian American Friendship House. She also wrote a thesis on how Asian identities are embodied by our physical bodies through non-belonging to the Asian identity itself. Earlham exposed her to a community where she learned to question, think, learn continuously through classes and the people she met. During her free time, she enjoys journaling, dancing and taking long walks. She is excited to navigate life and will continue to ponder about how simplicity intersects with the complexities of the world we live in. At the same time, she is also looking forward to the cold and working with Sweet Pea Montessori in Minneapolis this coming year.

Zephyr Sheedy grew up in a rural area of Leesburg, Virginia. She attended school in Richmond, Virginia where she earned a degree in Filmmaking at VCUarts. Zephyr grew up going to Goose Creek Friends Meeting and for the past few years she has worked as a counselor at Opequon Quaker Camp. These communities have had an large impact on her, establishing her connection to nature and passion for working with others. After spending her last four years in art school, Zephyr is excited for this very new year in Minneapolis where she will be working with NorthPoint Health and Wellness as a Community Health Navigator.

Miranda Dils grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts and graduated from Bowdoin College in southern Maine in May 2019, where she majored in Psychology and English. Her early experiences at her small congregational church and all-girls summer camp on the shores of Lake Champlain in Vermont helped to instill in her the value of community and the gift of spirituality. In college, she was deeply involved with the McKeen Center for the Common Good, which allowed her to form connections with older adults, individuals with disabilities, and local high school students with limited financial resources seeking higher education. During her junior spring at Bowdoin, she had a transformative semester in New Delhi, India, which culminated in an independent project exploring family and community responses to mental illness in Jamkhed, a rural town in the state of Maharashtra. As a senior, Miranda led a trip as part of her college’s Alternative Spring Break program; this involved educating students on the topics of disability and ableism in a seminar series and then traveling to upstate New York to live and work alongside young adults with developmental disabilities in their residential community. Along with disability justice and accessibility, Miranda is passionate about advocating for older adults, opening up dialogue around mental illness, and learning how disability and age intersect with other marginalized identities. She is also a fan of long drives with friends, homegrown food, listening to, reading, and writing her own and others’ stories, and believes in the healing power of daily laughter. Miranda is new to Quakerism and is looking forward to growing into her spirituality this coming year. She is thrilled about the opportunity to serve with Friends for a Nonviolent World.

Isabel Beck-Roe grew up in Chicago and graduated from Macalester College in 2018. While in college, she studied Geography, Music, and French, but channeled most of her energy into sketch comedy. She spends her summers at Quaker camp, where she has developed strong passions for youth empowerment, intentional community, and hoedowns. After spending the past year working in Los Angeles, Isabel is absolutely thrilled to be reentering both the non-profit world and a four-seasons climate through her work with Spark in Philadelphia!

Julian Layton grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts. He just graduated from Wesleyan University, where a longtime fascination with religions and religious life led him to major in Religious Studies. He also starred in several short films and theater productions during his time at the university. Julian loves to read and write, mostly about aliens, and his favorite poet is Jean Grae (the rapper, not the X-man). This year he will be working with the Philadelphia Health Access Network.

Paloma Collazo-Vargas is from strawberry-town, Watsonville, CA. Her parents immigrated from Mexico, but met here, in hopes of a better life—as the oldest of the family; she is the first for graduating high school and recently, graduated from Earlham College, IN, as a McNair Scholar. Paloma majored in International Studies with a concentration of Latin America in hopes of working in diplomacy.

At her time in Earlham, Paloma practically did everything such as learning an instrument and new languages, participating in multiple clubs, performed in plays, published art and poetry, and danced (she did not want to graduate with any regrets!). However, the biggest takeaway from her time at Earlham was learning to be independent and finding herself. Paloma learned to do things for herself from merely learning to cook or sew, but also more significant things like beginning to re-evaluate her identity as a queer woman of color. In her four years, she learned to be more spiritual, differentiating religion and spirituality, and to seek out mindfulness and practice self-love. Paloma is excited to work with Juntos and make a difference with the community that she is familiar with all to well.

Melissa McLaughlin grew up in Phoenixville, PA, and recently graduated from Haverford College near Philadelphia, PA. She majored in Biology and focused her studies on environmental science, studying abroad in Freiburg, Germany to learn about ecology and sustainability. In her senior year, Melissa conducted a research thesis on an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, that is changing below ground carbon sequestration dynamics. She grew up Quaker, and is a member of Radnor Meeting. At Haverford, she lived in a community-oriented house centered on Quaker values, and loved holding Quaker events and spending time with housemates. Melissa loves spending time outdoors, hiking, canoeing, and backpacking, and is slowly learning to play guitar. This year, she is excited to work with Bread and Roses Community Fund!

Madeline Dahlin grew up in Beverly, Massachusetts and moved to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania. While in undergrad, she worked at the Aquinas Center in South Philly, supporting immigrant youth as they engaged with issues of economic justice and youth-inclusive public space. After graduating, she spent a wonderful year working as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the School District of Philadelphia in the Office of Strategic Partnerships. Madeline is passionate about racial justice and, in her career, intends to explicitly address racial inequities institutionalized in many of our social, political, and economic systems. She is excited to spend the next year engaged in intentional conversations with her peers and to continue to develop personally. Madeline loves to swim in the ocean, play frisbee, and go on bike rides. She is also thinking about possibly adopting a dog in the near future. For her QVS year, Madeline is thrilled to be working at Nationalities Service Center as a Legal Assistant, supporting clients with applications for citizenship, green cards, and asylum.

Madison Wagner feels most at home in organized chaos, having grown up in the suburbs of Chicago sharing one shower with her five siblings. Since high school, she’s had the chance to live, work, and travel all over (including Colorado, Seattle, France, Tunisia, Vietnam, and Ecuador). Madison’s favorite things are exploring, dancing, and finding friends in unexpected places. At school (Scripps College in SoCal), she studied French and Africana Studies, disciplines which allowed her to engage with untold histories, Marxist political theories, issues around food justice and urbanism, gender theory, and film. Madison is always down to cook curry (spicy), chat about reproductive health, or support local artists, musicians, and comedians. She adores living in intentional communities, and can’t wait to deepen her experience in community organizing as a Fellow for the Bread & Roses Community Fund in Philly, where she’ll have the opportunity to gain exposure and insight into their thoughtful, democratic and grassroots work

Lydia Evans is from Ann Arbor, MI and recently graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, IN. While pursuing majors in Environmental Studies and Psychology she developed an interest in spiritual ecology and a passion for interconnections between people’s health and the earth. During her time at Earlham, she worked as an educator and marketing lead for the Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History. She was also active in the musical community, where she played flute, sang in a Women’s Chorus, and was a member of the contra dance band Squirrel Jive. In her free time, she can be found reading, running, roaming the woods, or dancing.

When at home, Lydia attends the Zen Buddhist Temple of Ann Ann Arbor and at Earlham, she lived in an intentional community focused on Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness. She also enjoyed Earlham’s College Meeting for Worship and she is excited to connect more deeply with the Quaker community this year. She is thrilled to join L’Arche Portland as an Activities Coordinator and to build a living community with the other Quaker Fellows.

Originally from the Miami, Florida area, Lydia Mansfield spent her childhood summers growing up at Opequon Quaker Camp. She is presently a member of the Tallahassee Friends Meeting and is so grateful for the support Tallahassee Friends have shown her as she’s embarked on this year of service. Lydia graduated from Florida State University with two Bachelors of Science degrees – one in Geography and one in International Affairs – and minors in Statistics, Arabic Studies, and Humanities. Interested in understanding the world experientially and empirically, Lydia also completed graduate coursework in Applied Demography where she did social research on the intergenerational impact of educational attainment on reproductive choice attitudes. She has spent the last few years working in the public sector as a GIS Analyst making maps to aid in planning, emergency management, and transportation demand management. Lydia is passionate about building strong communities and has worked as a community swim instructor, Guardian Ad Litem advocate, and political organizing fellow. Before embarking on a year of service with QVS, Lydia skated with the Tallahassee RollerGirls roller derby league and played a half-elf sorceress in Dungeons and Dragons. She enjoys coffee, piano, dance, and all the dogs. Lydia will be serving with Outside In’s Clinic as an Outreach & Enrollment Specialist.

Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, Meg Guzulescu has just graduated from Yale University with a degree in American Studies. Meg has spent college studying the transformative possibilities of public humanities and community-based care spaces and has explored related questions as a peer counselor, board member of their college’s Women’s Center, and public film programs co-curator. She loves when music, dancing, and breaking bread are a central part of what community looks/feels/tastes like, and is excited to learn about what fellow members of the PDX community imagine when they think about community. Throughout this year, Meg will be working at New Avenues for Youth.

Mariah Shriner grew up in Portland, Oregon. In May 2018, she graduated from Macalester College in Minnesota with a degree in Anthropology, minors in American Studies and History, and a concentration in Human Rights and Humanitarianism. While in college, Mariah spent five months in Nepal, learning Nepali language and culture, and completing research on earthquake response and preparedness, which formed the basis of her senior honors’ thesis. 

Having grown up hiking, camping, and exploring the natural world, it was perhaps inevitable that Mariah turned to environmental activism in college, organizing with Fossil Free Macalester and attending COP23 in Bonn, Germany in 2017. She currently serves as Co-Hub Coordinator for Sunrise PDX, a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement, and is passionate about building community for young people who are working to create a better future for everyone.

This past spring, Mariah interned in D.C. for Oregon’s Senator Merkley where she helped with constituent correspondence and policy work, and also learned a lot of fun facts about the Capitol building to share on tours. In her free time, Mariah loves to travel, bike, garden, and just generally get outside in any way possible. She is thrilled to be back in the Pacific Northwest and loves the glorious mountain views, how green everything is, and, yes, even the rain. 

Mariah is excited to continue her involvement with climate action and delve more deeply into organizing work and environmental justice this year through her placement with the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Maria Fernanda Landin was born in Mexico City. At the age of 17, she received a scholarship to study the International Baccalaureate at the United World College of the Adriatic, in Italy. When she was there, Maria engaged in different types of social service and became passionate about social change. She recently graduated from Earlham College with a double degree in Psychology and Sociology-Anthropology. Although Maria was raised in a Catholic family, it was at Earlham where she got to know about Quakerism and became interested in Quaker Voluntary Service. She will be serving with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility next year! 

Eust Eustis grew up in Medway, Massachusetts, and has spent the past three years living in Boston. They graduated from SImmons College in May of 2017, where they received a degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Sociology. At Simmons, they were Co-President of the Sexuality Women and Gender Center, wrote a thesis about plants that can absorb and clean up arsenic pollution, and discovered their passion for science, public health, social justice, and human rights work. Eust hopes to use the privileges they have been granted in this lifetime to work to dismantle systems of oppression and to return power and pay reparations to historically marginalized people. They are excited about the opportunity QVS offers to dedicate themself to this work, while also living in an intentional community and exploring their spirituality. They look forward to the transformative year ahead and all of the growth, learning, and unlearning they will do. They cannot wait to begin working with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in the fall.

Brenda Quintana grew up in Spanish Fork, UT, but was born in Toluca, Mexico. In May 2018, Brenda Graduated from Wesleyan University where they majored in American Studies and minored in Data Analysis. During their time at Wesleyan, Brenda was involved in various identity based student groups, such as the Latinx Student association, Ajua Campos, and the first generation and low income student group, First Class. Additionally, Brenda was extensively involved in the co-educated literary society, Alpha Delta Phi, and in their position as the society’s Chaplain and Adelphic Education Fund Chair, they worked towards facilitating conversations about inclusion and outreach to students typically excluded from historically white institutions. While at Wesleyan, they had the opportunity to study abroad in Madrid for a semester, as well as conduct a summer research fellowship through the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship at the University of Chicago. Having grown up around a dominant Mormon community, Brenda was primarily interested in researching the relationship Mormon’s had to the Mexican border and their ideological conceptualization of race and indigeneity during the latter part of the 19th century. Although Brenda has had limited experience with Quakerism, their background in religious studies has inspired a new interest in spirituality and Christianity that looks different than what they grew up with at home. The QVS year will provide an exciting and necessary opportunity to reexamine how they want to incorporate Quaker values into their life. Brenda is eager to join the QVS community and to do work they believe very much in for immigrant communities at Metrowest Worker Center.

Jeremy Graf Evans grew up in a mixture of Israel/Palestine (Birth->1 year), Baltimore (1-5), and Jakarta, Indonesia (5-9), with his family holding home for the past 13 years in a renovated barn in Glen Mills, PA – conveniently he can say he grew up in a barn. Given the somewhat nomadic nature of his childhood, he feels fortunate to call Westtown School (2014) and Haverford College (2018) part of his home as well. Although not a formal member, Jeremy has most often worshiped in Westtown Monthly Meeting and got his first introduction to Quakerism beginning in his Baltimore years at Stony Run Meeting and Catoctin Quaker Camp.

At Haverford, he spent his final three years living in the Quaker Community House and was a four-year member of the Men’s Basketball Team, and the Ford S-Chords A Cappella group spending the summers working with B Lab and DiverseCity. A Political Science Major, and Environmental Studies Minor who dabbled in Economics electives while diving into a wide array of liberal arts courses, Jeremy has a fascination with the intersection of how economics/finance, and social Justice play a role in promoting sustainable ecosystems that can support human life to the fullest. Fittingly, he is excited to get a broad based understanding of how we might reimagine economic and subsequently earthly and social relationships this year through working with the New Economy Coalition.

Sangeeta Subedi spent most of her childhood in the small town of Winchester, Virginia. She was raised with an eclectic mix of Hinduism and Quakerism, and has spent many hours dancing at Diwali celebrations, reflecting at Quaker meetings and retreats, and generally contemplating her spirituality. In May 2018, Sangeeta graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Psychology and Educational Studies. During her time at Swarthmore, she worked as a coordinator for the Writing Mentorship program, as a research assistant for a project on single-sex education for low-income boys of color, and as an intern at a therapeutic nursery for children experiencing trauma. She has become particularly interested in understanding and combating racial, class-based, and gender inequities across the lifespan. In her free time, Sangeeta also enjoys frolicking in the woods with friends, dancing tango, and playing board games. She is excited to continue building on her interests through social justice work with The Cambridge Friends’ School in the upcoming year.

Susan Kelly grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and is very excited to have the chance to live in Boston this year. She graduated from Haverford College in May of 2018 as a Spanish major and History of Art minor, and spent one semester abroad in Chile, which came to be the focus of her senior thesis. In this project she studied the historical importance and symbolism of the National Stadium in Santiago. Susan grew up involved with her home meeting, Lexington Friends, as well as the teen group of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting, of which she attributes much of her spiritual growth. She is looking forward to reconnecting with Quakerism in a more intentional way this year. At Haverford, Susan spent her time playing with Ultimate Frisbee team, working in the college library and as a Spanish teaching assistant, cooking meals with her apartment, collecting small rocks, and thinking about her dogs back at home. She is excited to be immersed in this intentional community and is looking forward to learning, growing, and working with the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

Emma Turcotte is a Chinese-American adoptee from Muncie, Indiana. She just graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana with a degree in Human Development and Social Relations and a minor in Religion. At Earlham, Emma served as a co-convener for both the Outdoors Club and Interfaith House and recently, has taken the lead on student organizing around gun control on campus. In addition to experiences on-campus, Emma has been able to travel off-campus to both New Zealand and, most recently, Spain while at Earlham. This past May she spent a month walking part of the Camino de Santiago, a religious pilgrimage in Northern Spain, and during the Spring of 2017 Emma spent a semester abroad in New Zealand. Though Emma spent four years at a Quaker institution, it wasn’t until she was able to live on a Quaker settlement during her study abroad experience that she became seriously interested in Quakerism and so she credits both Earlham and her global travels for introducing her to this exciting and enriching community.

When Emma is not in school, she likes to spend her time hiking, reading, and listening to music and, during the summer, she splits her time between working with kids and working at a local record store. As a die-hard Sox and Pats fan, Emma is very much looking forward to living in Boston this year and is hopeful that her co-workers at LEAF (Local Enterprise Assistance Fund) will share her enthusiasm for these teams!

Kateri Boucher grew up in a suburb of Rochester, NY, and is very excited to return to Boston, which was her city of birth. She graduated in May of 2017 from Hamilton College with an undergrad degree in Sociology and an unofficial Spanish minor. Throughout her time at Hamilton, she became more passionate about pursuing environmental justice, food justice, and anti-racism work. In her senior year, she started a group on campus that provided spaces for white students to examine their privilege and explore ways to better work towards racial justice. While at Hamilton, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Ecuador for a semester, and she also conducted a summer research fellowship focusing on urban farms in Detroit, Michigan and Portland, Oregon. In her free time, she loves to play ultimate frisbee and captained her college women’s team for the past 3 years. Although she doesn’t currently identify with a religious affiliation, she is still close with her home church community (Spiritus Christi Church in Rochester) and is ready to dive into Quakerism this year. She is thrilled to join the QVS community and start work as a community organizer with Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts.

Cary Anne Kane grew up in a Quaker family and community in Philadelphia. While attending a Meeting and a Friends school from nursery to high school, Cary Anne learned the importance of equality and community. Continuing her studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Cary Anne studied biology and chemistry and majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. She also volunteered as an EMT with the school’s Medical Emergency Response Team, serving both the Penn and surrounding West Philadelphia communities. During her four undergraduate years, she worked with Penn’s Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research on a number of studies that focused on understanding mental health and autism in the Philadelphia community. Through her Quaker upbringing, clinical experiences as an EMT, and research with CMHPSR, Cary Anne discovered her intense interest in healthcare inequality. She is very excited to put her combined love of the humanities and medicine to use as she works with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program this year.

Sara Dean grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and has attended Adelphi Friends Meeting for her whole life. In May 2017, Sara graduated from Wesleyan University where she double majored in American Studies and Psychology and minored in Education Studies. It was Sara’s own empowering experiences attending Quaker schools and being both a camper and counselor at Quaker camps that sparked her interest in childhood and the power of education for social justice, which was a focus of her studies in college. In her junior year of college, Sara studied abroad in Nicaragua, where she conducted an independent study about the evolution of childhood in a post-revolution community, and especially the impact of television on a child’s experience. She later wrote her Senior Honors Thesis on the ways that Sesame Street has changed since its inception in 1969 and the implications of those changes for the child viewer. Her other interests include singing with other people, being outside, and dogs. Sara is overjoyed to be returning to her Quaker roots through QVS and is excited to teach, learn, and grow during her year at The Cambridge Friends School.

MaryGrace Menner is a native New Englander and is excited to begin serving with QVS in Boston. She graduated in 2016 from Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, majoring in English and Spanish. It was as a Fordham retreat leader that MaryGrace began to cultivate a life of spiritual intentionality. Her studies also led her to backpack through Central America where she studied social justice, peace, and community engagement in a Latin American context. Following her graduation from Fordham, MaryGrace spent a year living in Immokalee, Florida, working as a legal assistant with the migrant worker population. While living in Florida she discovered Quakerism and began attending the Fort Myers Friends Meeting. She is thrilled to continue working for justice at Metrowest Worker Center this coming year.

Walter Edstrom enters QVS having just graduated from Carleton College with a major in American studies. He wrote his senior thesis on the Marfa Mystery Lights, collecting and interpreting various stories people tell about this unexplained West Texas phenomenon. While at school he also ran on the track and cross country teams and tried to live in harmony with others and the environment at the sustainable community interest house, AKA Farm House. During the summer of ‘16 he worked for a healthcare IT startup in Berkeley, CA, and the year before that he co-ran the Carleton Student Organic Farm. The winter in between he spent in Thailand and Laos where he farmed some more and bought a boat and took it down the Mekong without a map. His Christian identity, interest in Buddhist meditation, and love for the silence of long distance running led him to become acquainted with the Cannon Valley Friends Meeting of Northfield, MN during his senior year of college. This year he’s very happy to be exploring Quakerism more deeply while serving with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program.

Shaina Robinson was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a college town with a rich tradition of social justice engagement and community activism. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in May 2017 with a major in History and a minor in Creative Writing. While at Bryn Mawr, she was vice president of the Bryn Mawr Self-Government Association, the first and oldest self-governed student government in the country; founder and president of Bryn Mawr United Students Against Sweatshops; and a student coordinator for the College’s Leadership Empowerment and Advancement Program. During the fall semester of her junior year, Shaina studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark and was a part of the Danish Institute for Study Abroad’s Social Justice Living and Learning Community (LLC). The intent of the LLC was for American students to learn about Danish culture through the lens of social justice. Enjoying her experience as a part of a community dedicated to cultural immersion through experiential learning, Shaina decided that she wanted to be a part of more intentional learning communities and after some research discovered Quaker Voluntary Service (QVS). Shaina’s experience with Quakerism can be widely attributed to her time spent in academic institutions founded on Quaker principles and values. She is keen to spend her QVS year actively engaging in Quakerism and expanding her social justice framework in the process. During her free time, Shaina likes to read, write, partake in historical walking tours, and switch places with her twin sister. This year, Shaina will be working with Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF).

Cristina Eraso Cordoba grew up in Pasto, Colombia. She graduated from Mariana University, a Catholic school in the same city, in 2016 with degree in Law. She worked at a Quaker summer camp for 3 years in Vermont, which was where she found out about Quaker community. Coming from a traditional Colombian family and being interested in human rights and social justice, she decided to write her thesis about Indigenous Communities, which led her to learn lots of different and amazing things about these groups. She will be serving at Metrowest Worker Center-CASA, where she is going to learn and help in a meaningful way. She is also really excited to work in a multilingual and multiracial workplace. Also, her first language is Spanish and her year with QVS will be the first time that she spends more than three months away from home. She is very hopeful and happy for this year in Boston.

Libby Stillwell graduated from Guilford College in May 2016 with a BA in Psychology and Peace and Conflict Studies. Growing up, Libby attended New England Yearly Meeting, and Friends Camp. Throughout college, Libby served as the Conflict Resolution Resource Center Coordinator, a Teacher’s Assistant, a Resident Advisor, and a Tour Guide. During her time at Guilford, Libby also worked as an Assistant Archivist in the Friend’s Historical Collection, provided childcare to Friendship Friends Meeting, and was a Quaker Leadership Scholars Recipient. As an alumnus of The Meeting School, Westtown, and Guilford College, Libby values of the kind of transformative learning that a Quaker education supports and is extremely excited to join The Cambridge Friends’ School for their 2016-17 academic year in Boston.

Lily Hayward grew up in the Boston area and is very excited for the opportunity to live and work within this community after being away from home for the past few years. Lily was introduced to Quakerism while attending Guilford College, where she studied Sociology/Anthropology, Environmental Studies and Ceramics. At Guilford she explored courses focused on experiential learning where she developed a passion for finding connections between human health and environmental health while critically thinking about society. This led her to study abroad for a January Term in Rwanda centered on social and environmental justice. She participated in peace & community building workshops at the Quaker Peace House in Kigali and worked with local university students to generate a long term relationship between the two schools. In her downtime she loves cooking, playing ultimate frisbee, and being outdoors. She looks forward to intentional community living with the QVS Fellows and is ready to start working with Boston Health Care for the Homeless.

Zenaida Peterson is a queer, poet of color from Atlanta, Georgia who was raised Unitarian Universalist. She is the daughter of activists and the granddaughter of a Quaker. She graduated from Simmons College in May of 2015 with a majors in Political Science and Sociology and a minor in Public Policy. Since graduation she has been living in Madrid, Spain teaching English to hooligans whom she grew to love and traveling through parts of the world she never thought she would see. When people ask Zenaida why she is leaving the sunny, “no pasa nada” world of Spain, she tells them that she wants to stay but her life work is in the United States. She says that she needs to be dealing with issues of oppression with her feet in the soil of the country that has so much work to do. She is ecstatic about working towards anti-oppression and mindfulness service with VISIONS inc. in Boston this year.

Sarah Levy grew up in Maryland just outside of Washington DC, and attended a small Quaker school from age 5 to 18. Although she was a member of a Presbyterian church with her family, she came to deeply value the Quaker practice of meeting for worship, as well as the community’s focus on pursuing social and environmental justice. After high school, Sarah headed off to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where she majored in Latin American Studies with a focus on the intersections of race and gender. The summer after her sophomore year, she participated in an Anthropological field school program in Shiripuno, Ecuador, where she began to learn the indigenous language of the region, Kichwa, and interviewed the women of the community about the tourism business they had started. This experience inspired her to return the following summer to live in Shiripuno for a month in order to continue exploring the ways in which the women’s business had impacted gender roles in the community. While in college, Sarah was also heavily involved with the McKeen Center for the Common Good, engaging in leadership training, ESL tutoring and just hanging out and chatting with all of the thoughtful people there, reflecting on privilege and the problematic aspects of service work. Her other interests include cooking, eating, riding her bike, listening to music, and singing. Sarah will be serving with the Community Action Agency of Somerville in Boston this year.

Derek Blankenship is a native Californian and an aspiring renaissance man. He graduated from Whittier College in May 2016 with a B.A. in English literature and minors in Computer Science and Mandarin Chinese. He’s spent 3 months in a Chinese language immersion program in Beijing, 3 weeks at a youth technology camp at UCLA, 7 days at a Buddhist temple, and a few hours harvesting vegetables at an Eco-village in Southern Arizona. Derek appreciates the opportunity to have many diverse experiences such as these in order to expand his knowledge and understanding as much as possible. He first discovered Quakerism through the Journal of John Woolman, which he read from in a Whittier College course called Philosophy of Simplicity. He deeply admires this Quaker value, and strives to embody it as Woolman did. As part of that mission, Derek regularly attends Quaker meetings for worship at First Friends Church in Whittier, CA, and is always looking for ways to find the Spirit in everyday life. That search has led him to pursue service work, and he is much looking forward to working with the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program in the coming year.

Andrew Huff graduated from Goucher College with a degree in Political Science and independent research projects concerning healthy food access in Baltimore City as well as rapid-HIV testing in churches. Andrew has long been passionate about the intersection of identity politics and public health, specifically in regard to sexual health. He is also interested in social determinants of illness and the interdisciplinary approach to creating healthy communities. After graduating college, he began working as a book editor and ghostwriter, helping people find the right words to tell their stories. He is a member of his local Socrates Café and avidly enjoys philosophizing. Introspection, reflection, and questioning are what drew him to QVS and, although he is relatively new to Quakerism, he is eager to begin this journey. Andrew will be serving with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program this year.

Nina Allan was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, but grew up in Boulder, CO. She is a birthright Quaker, and graduated in 2015 from Haverford College with a degree in Biology and a senior thesis titled “Neuroprotective Effects of Estrogen In Vitro and In Vivo”. Nina was the first person under 18 to discuss her spiritual journey at Boulder Friends Meeting, which piqued her interest in exploring Quakerism. While at Haverford, she lived for two years in Quaker House, and enjoyed the opportunity to continue this exploration with her peers. Junior year, Nina spent a semester in Copenhagen, living with a host family, as part of a continuation of an international life that has taken her to Tanzania, China, Mexico, and Costa Rica. After this year, she plans to work in a lab before eventually going to graduate school for biology. Nina enjoys reading fantasy/science fiction novels and comics, as well as spending time with animals, particularly dogs. Nina will be serving withMetrowest Worker Center-Casa this year.

Daniel Parker grew up Unitarian Universalist in Binghamton, New York. A gap exchange year after high school in Cairo, Egypt, interrupted because of the 2011 revolution, opened his eyes to political awareness of oppressive violence. A music major and political science concentrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he has held the Emerson Fellowship in classical piano at MIT and in summer 2015 studied at the world-famous Aspen Music Festival. At MIT, he was deeply involved in cooperative living through the student intentional community “pika.” He took a year leave from MIT for intensive residential Soto Zen Buddhist practice at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center monastery and Green Gulch Farm temple of the San Francisco Zen Center. Afterward, he perceived a leading toward Quakerism, inspired by the way Friends integrate care of inner life with vital concern and action for justice in the material world. He is interested in meditative silence, time in nature, and bread baking, as well as in feminist and queer critical thought and issues in musicology, musical aesthetics, and philosophy of music. He hopes to live a life where he can combine creative expression as a classical pianist with a contemplative spiritual practice and activism for social justice. He will serve at the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.

Helen Carpenter hails from the Boston area. She grew up in Beacon Hill Monthly Meeting and was privileged to attend both Cambridge Friends School and Westtown School. More recently she has been attending Lesley University in Cambridge, MA to pursue a bachelor’s in Special Education and Global Studies. Last winter she took time off school in order to live and work in Europe as an au pair. Helen loves working outside as a pool manager at a city park and has found many different ways to work with children, including substitute teaching, summer camps, teaching swim lessons, and babysitting.In her spare time Helen enjoys biking, going to the beach, hiking, eating, and watching movies. Helen is SUPER excited to be involved in the inaugural year of QVS in Boston and looks for ways to further connect her calling to work with children and her Quaker faith. Helen will be serving with the Codman Academy Public Charter School this year.

Katherine Simon grew up just outside of Philadelphia in Berwyn, Pennsylvania and spent her childhood with the wonderful members of both Media and Providence Monthly Meetings. She graduated from Earlham College in May 2015 where she majored in Peace and Global Studies and minored in Music. While at Earlham, she participated in the Quaker Fellows Scholarship Program as a member of the founding cohort. Katherine was also heavily involved in the music department while at school. She participated in multiple choral ensembles both on campus and abroad in Jordan and Italy. Prior to her year with QVS, Katherine will be working with international high school students at Sandy Spring Friends School’s Summer Immersion Program based at the University of Maryland. She is incredibly excited to spend the next year in Boston continuing her exploration of how Quakerism and its principles can influence her life. Katherine will be serving with Public Conversations Project this year.

A spiritual enthusiast, DJ in the making, lover and student of love and life, Ben Trolio grew up in the small town of Ballston Lake in upstate New York. He adventured east for college, studying Environmental Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Before graduating in 2013, he spent two summers traveling by bike as a community organizer through New Hampshire, and a second summer from New Orleans to ExxonMobil’s headquarters. Taking his learnings onto campus, Ben helped found and lead a divestment campaign to get his college to stop investing fossil fuel companies. Passionate about solving climate change, Ben continued this kind of work professionally with a Massachusetts based nonprofit called Better Future Project between graduation and his decision to join QVS. A recent attender of Cambridge Friends Meeting, Ben has traveled a meandering spiritual path attending Catholic Church until age 18, attending a UU church in college and studying Buddhism in post-graduate life. He’s excited to explore Quaker traditions, reflect on mindfulness and the importance of community as part of the Boston QVS house. Ben will be serving with United for a Fair Economy.

Angelica Brown is recent graduate from Portland State University with a degree in English and a minor in writing, and recently completed the Independent Publishing Resource Center’s poetry certificate program. Angelica feels drawn, because of her Christian faith and Quaker practice, to find ways to participate in harm reduction and prison abolition efforts in her communities. She is coming to Quaker Voluntary Service after a year of working as a youth advocate for a drop in center for houseless young people, and a summer internship with the Catholic Workers in Los Angeles. An avid poet, pen pal, and soup maker, Angelica tries to spend her free time creating nice things for the people she cares about. Angelica alternates between worshiping with Multnomah Friends in Portland, Oregon and North Valley Friends in Newberg, Oregon. Angelica will be serving with Green Central Elementary School in Minneapolis this year.

Taylor Wicklund is a recent graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College with majors in Geography and Political Science and minors in Peace, Conflict, and Justice Studies and in Scandinavian Studies. As a proud critical geographer, Taylor credits the field for much of her focus on radical social justice and interest in intersectional community organizing and development. She believes one of the most important questions one might ask about a given policy, structure, or space is “for whom?” At Gustavus, Taylor advocated for a more just campus on its President’s Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Diversity Leadership Council; and Student Senate. She served off-campus as the Interim Outreach chair for the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign in Minnesota, and as a volunteer mapmaker for a local nonprofit. Taylor has spent her past year interviewing conventional farmers in Southern Minnesota for her thesis, which seeks to understand their perspectives on the impacts of economic transition within agriculture. She enjoys exploring new places, researching, knitting, reading, writing, practicing yoga, and most of all, singing. While Taylor didn’t know anything about Quakerism prior to discovering QVS, she is thankful that she stumbled upon the faith and is jazzed to spend the next year in the spiritual care of local Quakers. Having spent a portion of her high school years in the city, Taylor is excited to return to Minneapolis where she will be working with Friends for a NonViolent World.

KT Glusac grew up in Woodbridge, CT and is a recent graduate from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. She currently resides at Bread and Roses Collective: a low-income housing cooperative for activists in Syracuse, NY. She is a peacemaking facilitator for cases diverted out of the criminal justice system, a member of the Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network through the Worker’s Center of Central New York, and a volunteer of the Childcare Collective, a group that demonstrates solidarity with local activists by providing childcare. When she is not participating in community organizing or working in the collective garden, you can find her climbing the rock wall or meditating at the zen center. KT loves connecting with other beings and has an undying interest in intentional communities (researching and living within a Quaker IC called Quaker Intentional Village-Canaan in East Chatham, NY was her first exposure to Quakerism). KT is eagerly anticipating her position as a case manager with Our Saviour’s Housing.

Alina Yaman is a Turkish-German New Jerseyan who grew up moving back and forth across the Atlantic. They currently live in San Francisco with their beloved partner, and they are excited to start a new chapter in the Midwest! Alina graduated from Yale in 2017, where they spent most of their time studying linguistics, playing rugby, and organizing in the LGBTQ+ community. Alina’s spiritual journey has been a long and winding path, sparked in large part by their experience walking the Camino de Santiago when they were 18. Since then, Alina has found comfort and refuge in various churches, mosques, and interfaith spaces. Alina’s mystical leanings and open curiosity led them to the Quakers. In their QVS year, Alina will be working as an Environmental Justice Organizer for Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light.

Eli Phillips grew up in Columbia, Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington D.C. He grew up going to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, but felt that he truly connected with his spirituality at Opequon Quaker Camp. Eli attended Opequon, a camp affiliated with Baltimore Yearly Meeting, as a camper and would later return as a counselor. He attended Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina and graduated in 2018 with degrees in Music and East Asian Studies. While at Guilford, Eli had a radio show all four years while serving as the station’s general manager for three years. Additionally, Eli was in a campus band called Pickled Garlic which was a ton of fun. For his senior thesis, Eli wrote and recorded original music, the final product being an album called “Excerpts”.  Eli is incredibly excited to be working with Bridging in Minneapolis this year.

Luriel Balaurea grew up in Queens, NY. She is a recent graduate from the University of Richmond with a degree in English Literature and minors in Sociology and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies. Her passion for lifelong learning started at home learning to read with her mother, and her interest in intersectional feminism was kindled while studying WGSS in the WILL* Program during college. Through family, books and her studies, she has been able to give language to her experiences as a queer Latinx woman of mixed heritage, and has since found solidarity and strength in the stories of other writers, artists and peers who also exist at the intersections of various identities. Luriel enjoys using various artistic mediums to express herself, namely journaling, poetry, painting and embroidery. Now that she is no longer preoccupied with the demands of academia, she hopes to improve in each of those activities. During her year with QVS, Luriel will be work Spark Philadelphia, volunteering around Philadelphia, and exploring spirituality, gratitude and mindfulness.

Lucas Richie graduated from Haverford College in 2018 with a major in History, a minor in Astronomy, and concentrations in Africana Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. At Haverford, Lucas worked in the Quaker Affairs Office and the campus dining center, while also captaining the Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. Born and raised in Takoma Park, MD, Lucas attended Florida Avenue Meeting, Bethesda Friends Meeting, Catoctin Quaker Camp, Sidwell Friends School, and participated and led workcamps offered by the William Penn House on Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Paired with his investment in these Quaker communities has always been a consistent reflection on how Quakerism can become accessible and relatable to all people.

While at Haverford, he lived communally in on-campus apartments and explored the challenges and fulfillment of living and learning alongside his closest friends. In that setting, and in others, Lucas expressed himself through the relationships in his life, the vegetarian meals he cooked, frequent trips to the pine barrens and attempts to create a living space where people were understood and appreciated. After four years at Haverford full of world-shaping experiences, he is excited by the opportunity to step off the college campus and into the broader Philadelphia community through his work as a Program Assistance at Bread & Roses Community Fund.

Nicole Bañales was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, a border town with Ciudad Juárez, México and a predominantly Mexican-American community. She is a recent graduate from Swarthmore College where she majored in Sociology and minored in English Literature and Interpretation Theory. In the Spring of 2017, she studied abroad in Chile through the Middlebury College Human Rights Track, concentrating her semester in memory and gender studies and interning at Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos. Last year she served as Civic Engagement Intern for the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition in Philadelphia, assisting with voter registration for newly naturalized citizens. She will be working for Juntos next year and hopes to continue the fight for immigration rights back in her hometown after completing her year of service.

Liz Royer graduated from Haverford College with a major in English and a minor in Psychology. She grew up in the United Church of Christ and became interested in Quakerism during college, and she is excited to join an intentional Quaker community in the upcoming year. Her interests include educational justice, interfaith activism, and building connections through storytelling and creative expression. In her free time she loves reading science fiction and trying different types of coffee. Liz is thrilled to be working this year at the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia.

Trevor Centeno-Hall was raised in Managua, Nicaragua. He grew up seeing Nicaragua through the lens of a Quaker non-profit organization. From a young age he was acquainted with issues regarding women’s health, homelessness, and wealth inequality in Nicaragua. At age 16 he moved to Pennsylvania to attend a Quaker boarding school, George School. He then went on to Haverford College where he spent two years before transferring to the University of Arizona. He recently graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Philosophy. His areas of interest there included philosophy of language and philosophy of mind, especially the hard problem of consciousness. Trevor is excited to be of service the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia this year.

Emma Snope is a 23 year-old queer lady. She has just graduated from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, where she received a BA in Anthropology/Sociology with a Spanish minor. Warren Wilson provided Emma with amazing experiences combining work and community engagement with academics. She met an amazing community of creative learners there who she will miss dearly and is so grateful for. Emma grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts where she was an active participant in the local contra dance and traditional music communities. She play several instruments, sings, and teaches Latin Dance as well. Emma grew up going to a Quaker Camp where she is now a counselor (Camp Celo) and will use that foundation during her time at QVS. Emma is serving at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia this year.

Oneido Luis was born in Cuba and emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 3 years old. He was raised in Miami, Florida in a predominately Cuban-American community, and has lived there for about 18 years. Oneido graduated from Earlham College in May 2016 with a degree in Politics. He loves politics and is interested in issues such as income inequality, immigration reform, and education. His interests at Earlham included performing stand-up comedy and debating. For the past two summers Oneido worked at Farm and Wilderness summer camp, a Quaker summer camp in Vermont where he worked as a camp counselor. Oneido enjoys hiking, telling jokes, talking about current events and biking. He will be working for the Philadelphia Parks Alliance this year.

Sophie Samdperil grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts going to a reform Jewish youth group at Temple Israel Boston. This group approached religion as a question of discovering spirituality rather than following a regimented tradition. It asked questions of social justice and purpose, and its take on religion is largely what intrigued Sophie as she became familiar with QVS’ similar ethos. Sophie graduated from Bates College in May 2017 with majors Sociology and Spanish. Her senior thesis project in Sociology had to do with the American (and largely Western) cultural conception of romantic love as the epicenter of the gender binary/gender inequality, and her final Spanish project had to do with her experiences when she went abroad to Valparaíso, Chile her Junior year. Sophie will be serving with the Energy Coordinating Agency in Philadelphia next year.

Amirah Fadhlina was born in Aceh, Indonesia. At the age of 14, she received a full scholarship to attend an IB Diploma program at United World College of South East Asia in Singapore. In Singapore, Amirah began her interests and passions for social justice, diversity, and community work. She co-coordinated a project called Tsunami Education Fund, an education-based fundraising program for the 2004 Tsunami victims in Aceh, her hometown. Amirah also traveled to various countries to participate in volunteering programs and worked with local organizations. For instance, she took part in a local sanitation project in Pune, India and facilitated a youth conference on peace reconciliation in Dili, East Timor.

In 2013, Amirah moved to the United States and began her education at Earlham College. Amirah further strengthened her passion for diversity and intersectionality in college. She double-majored in Human Development & Social Relations, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her minor concentration was Middle Eastern Studies. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Amman, Jordan, where she explored her interests in Arabic Studies, Gender Studies, and the Politics of Development in the Middle East. In her last year, Amirah became one of Earlham College Students Against Racism steering committee members. In addition to her racial justice and diversity work on campus, Amirah dedicated a lot of her times playing music. She sang with two different acapella groups, co-led a Music-themed house, played in a funk and a Cumbia band, as well as performed independently in local venues. Growing up in a Muslim family, Amirah celebrates and practices Muslim holidays and traditions, and is deeply spiritual. Amirah learned about Quaker values for the first time at Earlham College, where she discovers how she shares many similar values to the ones found in Quakerism. Amirah enjoys coming to the Earlham College Meeting for Worship, as well as practices Quaker-based conflict resolution and self care methodologies. She is beyond excited to serve as the Ministry on Racism Support Specialist with Friends General Conference next year. She strives to continue educating herself and working for racial justice, equality for immigrants and religious minorities, and diversity as a whole.

Lexi McMenamin is a recent graduate of Fordham University, having double-majored in Political Science and English with a concentration in Creative Writing. Lexi served as a Social Justice Leader at Fordham’s Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice for every year of college; she co-founded and chaired an anti-sexual assault organization in her senior year; additionally, she was a leader in the university’s feminist club for three years, in addition to countless other organizations and campaigns. She has received multiple awards for her organizing: she was a 2015-2016 Davis-Putter Scholarship recipient for student activism, and was the first recipient of her university’s Dorothy Day Peacemaker Award for Social Action upon graduating in 2017. Lexi held a variety of positions throughout college, including working at the Urban Justice Center in Manhattan (serving New York City public housing tenants and public assistance recipients) and working on a successful progressive congressional campaign in 2016. Lexi attended Quaker schools for almost her entire life, an experience that she credits with cementing her firm dedication to and belief in social justice movement-building and organizing. Having worked in the tradition of Jesuit social teachings and Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement in college, Lexi is excited to bring her new experiences back to the faith tradition she is most at home with. Originally from Philadelphia, she is looking forward to returning to the city for her year of service and to build new community in her hometown. Lexi is ecstatic to serve as the Program Assistant at Bread & Roses Community Fund this year.

Walid Mosarsaa graduated from Guilford College in 2016. Since graduating, Walid has been volunteering and working with Every Campus a Refuge and is on the advisory board. He was born in Amman, Jordan, the grandson of Palestinian refugees fleeing Jerusalem in the 1948 War, and grew up in Ramallah, Palestine where he graduated from the Ramallah Friends Schools in 2012. Walid attended Friendship Friends Meeting in Greensboro, NC and worked extensively with refugees through both the Meetinghouse and Every Campus a Refuge while a student at Guilford and after. Walid loves to cook, and travel. He will be working with Friends Rehabilitation Center for his year of service at the Philadelphia site.

Nora Armijo Sinnett is from Michigan where she is a Member of Ann Arbor Monthly Meeting. She attended the University of Michigan and has worked with Michigan United to support grassroots efforts towards racial and economic justice. Nora hopes for a world where the bystander effect no longer exists and where collective action for the common good becomes the norm. She is drawn to concerns relating to immigration issues and is excited about spending a year with the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia as a QVS Fellow.

Maile Munro recently graduated with a degree in English and Political Science from Guilford College. She grew up Seattle and spent most of her time playing volleyball and soccer, skiing in the winter, or camping in the summer, and reading any short story collection she could get her hands on. Maile’s first exposure to Quakerism was at Guilford College, and she immediately felt blown away by a faith centered on treasuring all voices and experiences. Maile’s summer has been filled by an internship with SEIU Union Summer, a program that brings people into the labor movement to learn and get pumped about collective action. This year Maile is excited to be serving with Friends Rehabilitation Program in Philadelphia.

Vilma Gamarra Vilma Gamarra was born and raised in Queens, New York to Peruvian parents and goes to Peru to visit family as often as she can. Her passion for social equality led her to major in Peace Studies and minor in Philosophy at Goucher College. Coming from a culture in which stereotypical gender roles are seen as tradition, her first step towards becoming an activist was advocating for women equality. In high school, joining the YMCA’s leaders group and global teens program gave her a space in which her interest to become an active member for social change was nurtured and developed. Her path towards peace studies was cemented and focused on economic inequality, immigration, education inequality, race and ethnicity, ableism, and gender inequality. While at Goucher she was a leader for the Christian Fellowship and worked in the Futuro Latino Learning Center. She is excited to learn more about Quakerism and become a part of QVS. She will be working at the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia this year.

Krista Snyder was raised in a small, rural town in western Pennsylvania. She recently graduated from Ursinus College, where she majored in Philosophy and Neuroscience. An active member of Ursinus’ community, Krista enjoyed serving as a member of Ursinus College Student Government, working in the Berman Museum of Art, tutoring, and competing on Ursinus’ Track and Field and Cross Country teams. Entering her senior year, she completed summer research exploring the ethical implications of cognitive enhancing drugs. During her time at Ursinus, Krista’s passion for social justice and equal opportunity developed as she explored the disadvantages and injustices that people face due to various inequalities through her studies. She is looking forward to experiencing and embracing the Quaker faith for the first time with QVS. Krista will serve as the Sustainable Development Fellow for the Friends Rehabilitation Program in Philadelphia this year.

Emily Whitted was raised on a sheep farm in Burke’s Garden, VA. She recently graduated from the University of Richmond, majoring in English and minoring in Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and Education & Society. During her college years, she developed a serious passion for intersectional feminism and social justice through the WILL* Program. This led her to search for a fulfilling post-grad opportunity that could cultivate a community that cared deeply about inequality, and she was lucky to stumble upon QVS! Although never having any exposure to Quakerism before, she is very excited to learn more. As a bit of a return to her childhood experiences with organic farming, Emily will be serving at Fair Food this year.

Haley Castle-Miller grew up in Chalfont, Pennsylvania as a member of Doylestown Friends Meeting. She attended Buckingham Friends School and George School, a Quaker boarding school in Newtown, Pennsylvania. She graduated in May 2016 from Goucher College with a double major in Spanish and Peace Studies, a choice that reflected her desire to engage in a self-directed, in-depth, and powerful analysis of the foundations of conflict. Throughout her time at Goucher College, she taught ESL classes to adults in Baltimore through the Futuro Latino Learning Center. Her junior year she had the opportunity to study abroad in Argentina, where she lived with a host family and gained proficiency in the Spanish language. The following year she used her knowledge of Spanish to aid in consecutive interpretation at the World Plenary Meeting in Peru. While at the conference she felt able to reconnect to aspects of spirituality and Quakerism, which she seeks to explore further during her year in the Quaker Voluntary Service. Haley looks forward to a challenging year full of adventure, learning, and exploration of all kinds, and hopes to grow into a more compassionate, confident, and humble person as a result. She will be serving for the year at the Lutheran Settlement House in Philadelphia.

Christina Elcock graduated from Brunel University with a BA in English Literature & Creative Writing – and left with a desire to learn more about the world. She was born and bred in London and has spent the majority of her gap year travelling to places like Colombia to voluntarily assist in teaching English and to Vermont at a Quaker-based summer camp to nurture, teach and empower young girls. Although in these experiences she was the educator, Christina was also doing a lot of learning. These experiences were incredibly discerning for her and were a large part of her spiritual journey. It was what helped pave the way for this new chapter at QVS with Bread & Roses Community Fund, and she will be leaving a marketing role in the travel sector to make this possible. Christina is immensely excited to participate in something meaningful and much bigger than herself. She’s keen to continue to learn about their works, this journey she’s on and applying Quaker values to both her work and home life. Aside from this, Christina finds profound gratification in travel and writing and also administrate a digital poets’ & writers’ channel on Instagram. In addition to this, it’s books, arts & culture, the warm-hearted, occasional meditation and great food that are the secret ingredients that make for a contented self. Christina will be serving in Philadelphia this year.

Barbara Elizabeth Dale graduated in 2015 from Earlham College where she majored in Biology and minored in Museum Studies. A heartfelt passion for honeybees and ants led to a senior paper and presentation focusing on the decision-making processes of eusocial insects. Barbara was a member of the Bonner Scholar Program at Earlham, a service-based scholarship that was particularly influential in her college journey. During her four years as a Bonner she sought out site placements where she could combine her loves for science and storytelling, as well as social justice and community. This took her to a lot of different places, and ultimately culminated in long-term volunteering at an environmental education center and serving as a social media and community outreach intern for the Bonner Program. She also dedicated time to a small natural history museum on Earlham’s campus, the Joseph Moore Museum. There, she served as a host and general volunteer alongside QVS Fellow and friend Emily McGrew. Growing up, Barbara was largely uncooperative member of the Presbyterian Church she begrudgingly attended until the age of ten. As a more congenial college student she has returned to faith and spirituality in a slow and somewhat cautious manner, attending College Meeting for Worship at Earlham and taking time to learn about mindful practice through meditation and Buddhist principles. She is excited to take this year to fully embrace the Quaker faith, and looks forward to spiritual reflection and exploration with the support of a close-knit community. Barbara will serve as the sustainability intern for the Friends Rehabilitation Program this year.

Emily McGrew was raised in New Castle, Indiana, as a member of First Friends Meeting of New Castle. She attended Earlham College, where she graduated from in 2015 with a degree in Biology. She also spent many years playing flute and piano, and is interested in the connections between improvisatory music and empowerment for women and other silenced groups. She is excited to gain experience in a related field by working with thePhiladelphia Mural Arts Program as a QVS Fellow in the coming year.

Lena Glickman grew up in a small town in Southern Vermont. She recently graduated from Oberlin College where she studied history, focusing on race and class in America. In her junior year she studied abroad in Southern Africa, studying apartheid, the liberation struggle, globalization and contemporary political and economic injustice. In the winter of 2015 she interned with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington, DC, giving her a chance to explore her interest in criminal justice reform and prison abolition. At Oberlin she enjoyed tutoring and for the last few summers has worked at a therapeutic summer camp in Vermont. Quaker Voluntary Service will be Lena’s first experience with Quakerism, and she is looking forward to learning from this rich tradition of spirituality and activism, which she feels will blend well with her current beliefs and meditation practice. She is excited to be moving to a new city and thrilled to be organizing for Working Families this ​year.

Alice Gushue grew up in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC with her three sisters and brother. She was introduced to Quakerism at Guilford College, where she graduated in December 2014 with a major in music and minor in Spanish. Her attraction to Quakerism grew after traveling to Pascagoula, Mississippi on a Spring break work trip with Friends Disaster Service and taking a Quaker spirituality class. An 8 week trip to Nicaragua in high school sparked her interest in Spanish and in her junior year at Guilford she was able to study abroad in Seville, Spain. In the summer of 2014 she interned with DC Doors, an organization which serves immigrant latino families and single women facing housing crisis. She is very passionate about music and plays the upright bass. Other interests include reading poetry, running and cooking. Alice is looking forward to serving in the legal services division of the Nationalities Service Center.

Richie Schulz grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia where he was first exposed to Quakerism at the George School. He graduated in 2015 from Ursinus College, having double-majored in philosophy and applied ethics with a minor in politics. His senior thesis concerned the moral justification for coercive laws in democratic societies. Richie’s interest in applied ethics led him to a summer study abroad program in Japan where he co-authored a bioethics paper on moral repair in the context of human experimentation in WWII. It also led him to take a course on religion and the civil rights movement during which he had the opportunity to tour the Mississippi Delta. This cemented his commitment to social justice.  In his senior year he organized a student activist group called “We’re Just Saying”, which facilitated conversations about race and privilege on campus. With his free time, Richie enjoys perfecting his pasta cooking technique and bringing the dance floor to the everyday. This year Richie will be working with the Ministry on Racism at the Friends General Conference.

Emmy Morse is from Norfolk, Virginia and graduated in May, 2015 from the University of Richmond. In college, she was amazed by the things her sociology classes taught her, and she discovered that despite the sometimes daunting statistics, there are many ways to fight social inequity and make the world a better place. Though she is not religiously affiliated, Emmy is excited to learn more about the intersection of the Quaker faith and social justice during her QVS year. When she’s not QVS’ing, Emmy enjoys reading, drinking tea, the ocean, road trips, and live music. This year Emmy will be serving at Bread and Roses Community Fund.

Abigail Brown hails originally from the small town of Waterbury Center, Vermont. She graduated from Haverford College in May 2014 where she majored in History. Her senior thesis investigated expressions of inmate agency at the Eastern State Penitentiary and Graterford Prison in Pennsylvania between 1923 and 1935. During her sophomore year, Abigail participated in an Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshop at Haverford and first became interested in the relationship between Quaker spirituality and social justice. During a summer internship with AVP California she participated in AVP workshops in several California prisons and jails. She worked with students and administrators at Haverford and coordinators of AVP Philadelphia to organize and facilitate several workshops on campus. Through Haverford’s Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, Abigail spent the summer of 2013 in Northern Ireland, interning with Community Restorative Justice Ireland in Belfast. She is deeply committed to the cause of restorative justice and to issues of education and criminal justice. This year Abigail will be working at Germantown Friends School.

Mowie Freeman graduated in 2014 from Bryn Mawr College where she majored in Religion and minored in Creative Writing. Her interest in the intersection of faith and counseling informed her senior thesis—an ethnographic study exploring the effects of religious denomination on individual bereavement processes—which involved interviews with six Friends from a local Quaker Meeting. She is interested in and excited about intentional living and community building and has farmed, lived and worked in a number of intentional communities. She is also passionate about sustainability and during her time at Bryn Mawr lived in a vegan co-op on campus for her final two years. Mowie grew up with Quakerism, attending a Friends elementary school and later studying at Westtown School for high school. She is looking forward to exploring her own Quaker faith anew in the coming year in QVS. When not studying or working, Mowie loves playing guitar outside, small watercolor projects, impromptu dance parties and reading. Mowie will be serving at Nationalities Service Center.

Thomas Flaherty graduated from the College of William and Mary in the Spring of 2012. He majored in Public Policy and minored in Management. He also independently focused on Communications, performing individual studies investigating the ways leaders use rhetoric and the challenges of communicating on climate change. Outside class, he helped found as Treasurer and later ran the campus Interfaith group, I-Faith. After graduation, he tutored economics and attempted to join the Army. He was found medically ineligible, and has since worked his way into a retail management position. Thomas began his Quaker journey shortly after graduation, finally becoming a convinced Friend in early 2014. He has been honored to serve as Clerk of Religious Education for the Fort Myers Monthly Meeting, where he has moved the meeting towards the practice of regular Second Hour workshops revolving around rich literature and dialogue, drawing out the diverse and peculiar perspectives among Friends. He looks forward to continuing his work in creating, coordinating, and facilitating educational workshops when he begins his work for the Energy Coordinating Agency this fall. Thomas is also an avid runner, dancer, and martial artist.

Carol Anne Ferlauto graduated from Rowan University in 2009 with a BA in American Studies, a minor in Geography, and a concentration in International Studies. During her time at Rowan, she had the opportunity to take a summer course abroad in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. After spending several years working in the realm of corporate America, she is looking forward to the change of environment that will come with serving in the non-profit sector. Carol Anne began attending Chatham-Summit Quaker Meeting in January 2014, where she has found a spiritual home. Carol Anne will be serving at Bread and Roses Community Fund.

Christine Page grew up just outside of Philadelphia in Berwyn, Pennsylvania and spent her childhood with the wonderful members of both Media and Providence Monthly Meetings. She graduated from Earlham College in May 2015 where she majored in Peace and Global Studies and minored in Music. While at Earlham, she participated in the Quaker Fellows Scholarship Program as a member of the founding cohort. Katherine was also heavily involved in the music department while at school. She participated in multiple choral ensembles both on campus and abroad in Jordan and Italy. Prior to her year with QVS, Katherine will be working with international high school students at Sandy Spring Friends School’s Summer Immersion Program based at the University of Maryland. She is incredibly excited to spend the next year in Boston continuing her exploration of how Quakerism and its principles can influence her life. Katherine will be serving with Public Conversations Project this year.

Eppchez Nomi graduated from Wesleyan University In May 2014 with a BA in theater and writing. In college Eppchez helped organize contracted laborers on campus though work with their unions and the student group United Student and Labor Action Coalition. Eppchez has written four plays, which have been produced over the course of their time in college and over 30 songs, some of which were released in a self-produced song cycle in July 2013. Eppchez’s art is inextricably tied to their Quaker faith and to their seeking. A life long Friend, Eppchzgrew up in Western Massachusetts attending New England Yearly Meeting youth programs. Quaker programs have often been important places of growth for Eppchez. In the summer of 2008 they participated in a Quaker Youth Pilgrimage to England and Ireland, where they studied the History of early Quakers in 1652 country and conflict resolution in Belfast. In the spring of 2009, Eppchez attended The Woolman semester in Nevada City CA. Eppchez is so excited to be moving to the QVS house in Philadelphia. It has been too long since they were immersed in Quaker programming. Next year Eppchez is thrilled to be serving at Philly Fight Institute for Community Justice.

Elizabeth Duthinh graduated in 2012 from Brown University where she majored in Public Policy and American Institutions. While at Brown, Elizabeth taught ESOL classes for the MET Family Literacy Project and did communications work for US Congressman David Cicilline. As the chair of Brown’s transgender advocacy group, she spearheaded initiatives for inclusive healthcare and housing on campus. Elizabeth currently serves on the National Advisory Council of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). Elizabeth received the Lippett Prize for Public Service and the LGBTQ Senior Leadership Award upon graduation and took the opportunity to backpack Europe. As a former member of the Friends General Conference Youth Ministries Committee, she is excited to participate in QVS on her return to the US. Elizabeth will be serving at the Nationalities Services Center for her QVS year.

Fairleigh Barnes graduated from Haverford College in May 2013 where she majored in Psychology and minored in Chinese. She conducted her senior research thesis on the relationship between socioeconomic status and student identity. She is very interested in issues of access to education and child development. She has experience working with children in a variety of settings including as a practicum student on the Neurobehavioral Outpatient Unit at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and as a volunteer in the Child and Adolescent Day Hospital at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, MD. Living in community with other students in college taught her a lot about community living and she looks forward to sharing the experience with other QVS Fellows in the coming year. She was introduced to Quakerism at Haverford, and was inspired by the Quaker ideals and traditions over the course of her time there. She is glad to have the opportunity to learn more this year in QVS. Fairleigh will be serving at Germantown Friends School.

Talia Tiffany graduated in 2013 from Reed College in Portland, Oregon with a degree in Sociology. She is passionate about social and ecological justice, particularly in the food system. She has both studied and lived in intentional community and is fascinated by the social fabric. Talia’s mother is a Reform Rabbi and she grew up in Wilmington, Delaware in a Jewish household while attending Quaker school for much of her education. Both faith traditions have heavily influenced her own. Talia has worked as the Environmental Sustainability Student Coordinator at Reed, at farmer’s markets and farms across the country, and has studied writing and the visual arts. When not working, studying or reading Talia enjoys the sun, baking bread and exploring. Talia will be serving at the Mariposa Food Co-Op in West Philadelphia.

Madeline Smith-Gibbs hails from the Boston area. She grew up in Beacon Hill Monthly Meeting and was privileged to attend both Cambridge Friends School and Westtown School. More recently she has been attending Lesley University in Cambridge, MA to pursue a bachelor’s in Special Education and Global Studies. Last winter she took time off school in order to live and work in Europe as an au pair. Helen loves working outside as a pool manager at a city park and has found many different ways to work with children, including substitute teaching, summer camps, teaching swim lessons, and babysitting.In her spare time Helen enjoys biking, going to the beach, hiking, eating, and watching movies. Helen is SUPER excited to be involved in the inaugural year of QVS in Boston and looks for ways to further connect her calling to work with children and her Quaker faith. Helen will be serving with the Codman Academy Public Charter School this year.

Maire Elizabeth Moriarty graduated in May 2012 from Ursinus College, where she majored in Social Justice Studies and was a member of the Bonner Leaders Program. Her experience engaging in service learning at Ursinus and being raised in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania were strong contributors to her passion for addressing injustices in our society. She has spent the past year in Wilmington, Delaware with a service program, and is engaging in this year with QVS as a part of her continuing exploration of her Quaker heritage and the intersection of spirituality and social justice. Maire Elizabeth will be serving at Friends General Conference supporting their work for racial justice.

Malcolm Culleton grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and received twelve years of Quaker education at Buckingham Friends School and George School before attending Columbia University in New York City, where he studied Creative Writing and American History and became active in on-campus organizing for the rights of University employees and the student body. While in New York, he also volunteered with various worker and immigrants’ rights groups on the Upper West Side and in Lower Manhattan. He hopes to further his own skills as an organizer and as a supporter of community-based service and activism in Philadelphia. In his free time, Malcolm enjoys writing, reading, playing guitar, and traveling around the United States, sometimes by bicycle. He is interested not only in formal history but in American folk culture, stories, and roots music. He remains an enthusiastic Philadelphia sports fan, and particularly enjoys watching Phillies and Flyers games. Malcolm will serve at Bread and Roses Community Fund.

Madison Arnold-Scerbo was born and raised in York, Pennsylvania, spending most of her time in her parents pet shop. In 2018 she graduated from Haverford College. She studied History and Museum Studies, and developed a passion for library science and public history. At Haverford she also organized a meditation group that cultivated her interest in stillness and contemplation, two factors that drew her to Quakerism during her time in college. She dabbled a bit in Quakerism after arriving at Haverford, and is excited to continue to grow her relationship with Quakerism. Some of the causes that Madison feels strongly about are the protecting the environment, fostering access to education, and combating racism and white supremacy. She will incorporate those interests into her position as a program assistant at Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Jones Pitsker (she/her) grew up in sunny yet boring Santa Monica, eating ice cream and pretending she was a surfer boy before coming out as trans. A recent graduate of Oberlin College, she has spent the last four years delving deep into issues of systemic oppression through her classes and working toward mental health promotion at the Peer Support Center, a student-run counseling center that works in conjunction with the real counseling center. Jones is also one of the best paper marblers in the United States and sells her work on her moderately-successful Etsy page, TheMarbleMistress. She hopes to pursue a future in service work and finds incredible meaning working with young people and queer people in a helping setting. Because of this, she is super excited to be working at Outside In this service year!

Jessie Clingerman is a recent graduate from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She studied religion and German with a minor in Peace and Justice Studies. Her studies took her to Freiburg, Germany for 6 months where she improved her German and worked with refugees and migrants. She is passionate about inclusion, assisting people flourish, and a plant-based lifestyle. She is excited to be working with Outside In as the outreach and enrollment specialist this year.

MarieSchlagel (she/her or they/them) grew up in a military family and moved around the country. She spent most of her adolescence in Kansas but has most recently lived in Kansas City on the Missouri side. After graduating high school, she joined AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps where she developed a science curriculum for a summer camp designed for children who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, built and maintained trails in the Central California, taught English as a second language in Los Angeles, and worked in community gardens in western Idaho and eastern Washington. Shortly thereafter, she joined City Year Kansas City and worked in an urban school with the public school district. Marie has also interned at the Urban Farming Guys which is a Kansas City non-profit focused on community development through urban farming, after-school programming, and community organizing.

Outside of work, she is heavily involved in community organizing, open panels, protests, and other forms of activism that focus on women’s rights, LGBTQA+, racial justice, and immigration rights. Marie is a writer and a traveler. She loves exploring new places and attending local events in whatever new city she finds herself in. Her hobbies include reading, learning languages, and hiking.

Marie identifies as agnostic and regularly attends Unitarian Universalist services. She is thrilled to delve into Quakerism and complete another year of service with a new focus on spirituality and intentional community. She will be serving in Portland with Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Zoë Enciso Edmiston grew up in Ohio’s capital city, Columbus. Throughout childhood and into adulthood, Zoë was always moving and creating. She was a competitive Irish Step Dancer from age 5 to 21. She has continued playing piano throughout her life and recently started learning to play guitar. In 2016, she graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Linguistics, research distinction and two minors in French and Dance. In her studies of Dance at OSU, she discovered a deep passion for improvised movement, contact improvisation and contemporary dance. Language has always intrigued Zoë, so Linguistics was a fantastic way to learn about the elusive and mysterious threads that connect all of humanity. After graduation, Zoë discovered a volunteer based organization in Columbus called INCH (International Neighborhood Coffee Hour), where women from around the world gather each week to participate in English conversation tables.
Zoë works as a cook and a server at a vegan café that emphasizes health and environmental sustainability. She loves her job, her coworkers and the support of the vegan community, though she is vegetarian.
On Sundays, Zoë attends North Columbus Friends Meeting, where she has attended since she was a baby and where her parents were married in 1985. She provides childcare for the meeting, but if no children are present, she sits in silent worship with the other members of the meeting. Although she most most closely identifies with Quakerism as a religious practice, she is also drawn to other mind/body/spirit practices such as Polarity, Reiki, Yoga and Improvised Dance.
Zoë is humbled and invigorated to be joining QVS in Portland. She hopes to continue her exploration of mind/body/spirit alongside other dedicated, passionate people. Zoë is working with New Avenues for Youth this year.

Ira Berkley is a recent graduate of Oberlin College, where they studied English with a minor in Creative Writing. They hail originally from Louisville, Kentucky. They completed their capstone research on race and class in British Literature. On campus, they have been active in arts and activism and the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. Throughout college, they have worked with various LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and public interest law firms. In their free time, they enjoy writing and performing poetry, and music. They are looking forward to working with Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta in the upcoming year.

Sandra Kluivers has dual nationality, being a Dutch and Swiss national who has lived in five different countries within the last 22 years. She recently graduated from Earlham College, IN, with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Global Management. She was leader of the Model United Nations group on campus for two years and participated in the creation of two different social enterprises. She has been passionate about gender equality all her life, working with women from marginalized communities in Nepal and South Africa doing research on local gender issues. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, karate, and exploring new cities. Sandra’s extremely excited to be working with 9to5 throughout her year of service in Atlanta and hopes to continue to fight for a more equal and just world for all in the future.

Rachael Carter is from Philadelphia and went to school at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. She studied Politics and Peace and Social Justice with focuses in food justice, religion, and labor. While in school, she worked with several organizations in the greater Philadelphia area including, The Food Trust, Martha’s Choice Marketplace Norristown and Camp Hill Kimberton. All of these places taught her the importance of community organizing, faith and the role of food.

She spent two years working with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) both in Harrisburg and D.C. working on organizing and research. For three years, she participated as a Bonner Leader, working with other students to create community change and traveled to Beeston Spring Westmoreland Jamaica to participate in service and understand different faith backgrounds and the challenges that the community faces with short term service projects.

Ivie Osaghae grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and came of age in the great state of Georgia. Her formative years there opened her eyes to the different cultures and life paths of those around her. Ivie’s desire to explore the creation of cultures in her surroundings led her to major in anthropology and minor in African American studies at Georgia State University. During her time there, Ivie served as President of Black Student Alliance where she discovered her passion for social justice work and community education centered on race, gender and identity. She hopes her time at QVS will prepare her for a career in strategic communications centered on branding and messaging for issue-based advocacy groups and non-profit organizations. In her free time, Ivie likes to travel, hike, binge watch Netflix, and test new recipes. This year Ivie will serve as the QVS Fellow for the Racial Justice Action Center.

Julia Dailey is originally from Hastings on Hudson, New York and graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in Art History and French. In college she worked as a docent and educator at the college’s art museum, the Wellin. Julia also co-founded and facilitated a body image and eating disorder peer support group and led orientation trips for incoming freshmen. Julia went abroad to France where she studied art, art history, and literature. In her free time she likes to do art, rock climb, and play ultimate frisbee. Julia is incredibly excited to be working for Atlanta Habitat for Humanity in the coming year.

Eliza Stevenson was born in the mountains of Western North Carolina and grew up in Asheville. In May 2018, she graduated from Guilford College with degrees in Environmental Studies and Psychology, with minors in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Dance. Via the Bonner Scholars Program, Eliza worked as a coordinator for the YWCA’s Teen Parent Mentor Program for 3 years and helped to launch an after-school program at the YWCA’s emergency family shelter, as well as participated in the growing network of Food Justice efforts in Greensboro. In this realm, Eliza helped with the launch of Mobile Oasis, a mobile food market serving the many food deserts around Greensboro, and worked at the Guilford College Farm. During the summer of 2016, Eliza was an Environmental Educator at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, a renowned education center located within the National Park. During college, Eliza studied abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand, completed an internship in Manta, Ecuador, and wrote an interdisciplinary senior thesis on the intersection of identity factors and connection with the natural world. Typically, Eliza can be found reading, contemplating, playing music, or in the woods. Eliza is very excited to be working with the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter over the course of the next year.

Damon Motz-Storey grew up in the foothills near Denver, Colorado, where he loves to remodel houses with his dad, play with his 2-year-old niece, and cook and garden with friends. A barely birthright Friend (his parents were convinced shortly before he was born), Damon has strong bonds with Mountain View Friends Meeting in Denver and Inter-Mountain Yearly Meeting of Friends General Conference. He had his faith and spirituality shaken to the core when he attended the Friends World Committee on Consultation’s 6th World Gathering of Friends in Nakuru, Kenya, where a childhood love of social witness and ecojustice was affirmed in approving the Kabarak Call for Peace and Ecojustice. At Haverford College, Damon co-clerked the Quaker Community student group and helped revive the intentional living community of Quaker House. He studied mathematics, education, and music, He also sang a cappella and played Cricket. He has a deep love for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, serving as a member of its General and Nominating Committees and lobbying Colorado Congresspeople regularly. Long-term, Damon hopes to pursue nonprofit work and secondary mathematics education. He is thrilled to be serving with the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility in Portland, as a Program Assistant this year.

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Sophia Rice grew up with Jewish and Christian culture and tradition, supported to explore diverse ways to connect to the spiritual world. In May 2016 she graduated from Ursinus College in Pennsylvania where she majored in Peace and Social Justice and minored in Politics and Spanish. At school, she participated in the Bonner Leader Program, a national anti-poverty and leadership organization. As a Bonner Leader, Sophia directed an after-school tutoring program and organized Ursinus College’s Diversity Monologues and an anti-rape/female body objectification demonstration on campus. Through these activities, coursework, and several internships, Sophia has developed a deep value of interdisciplinary problem solving as it pertains to the various types of oppression in this world. In her free time, she enjoys playing her cello, doing yoga, hiking, and spending time with friends and family. This year Sophia will be working with L’Arche in Portland.

Kayla Schneider-Smith spent her childhood in Central Jersey, writing poetry, playing piano and guitar, analyzing personality types and exploring spirituality. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2016 with majors in Psychology and English. Raised in an open-minded and progressive Reform Jewish community, Kayla got involved in Interfaith work at Bryn Mawr where she was exposed to a plethora of faiths and spiritualities, including Quakerism. She interned at the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia and eventually served as one of Bryn Mawr College’s Interfaith Student Coordinators, where she helped lead and organize monthly Interfaith Council meetings and service-learning trips. Kayla is excited to continue exploring spirituality and activism throughout the QVS year and will be working with New City Initiative in Portland, an organization that aims to end homelessness through faith community involvement.

Lili Baldwin hails from Boston, MA and graduated from Oberlin College in 2016 where she majored in Religion and minored in Math. Growing up, Lili was reluctantly raised Catholic and attended a Sacred Heart school. As a college student she realized that those elements were surprisingly definitive and has returned to faith and spirituality in a slow and somewhat cautious manner, alongside an academic interest in medieval interpretations of the Virgin Mary and potential feminist readings articulated therein. Quaker Voluntary Service will be Lili’s first experience with Quakerism, and she is looking forward to learning from this rich tradition of spirituality and activism, which she feels will blend well with her current beliefs and reflective self-care practices, as well as add the much needed support of a close-knit faith community. She is excited to be moving to a new city and thrilled to be working for p:ear this year.

Adriana Cvitkovic was raised in Seattle, Washington and ventured off to the East coast to spend four years at Haverford College. She graduated in 2016 with a major in Geology, minor in Environmental Studies, and concentration in Peace, Justice, and Human Rights. In addition to identifying rocks, her time at college was spent playing frisbee, cooking in Ehaus (the on-campus co-op), leaf blowing on the Grounds Crew, attending Quaker Club events, and campaigning the school to serve more local, organically-grown, humane, and fair trade food. In between academic years, Adriana maintained trails as a Professional Crew Member with the Adirondack Mountain Club. Adriana’s life as a Quaker began at age 15 when she first attended University Friends Meeting in Seattle. Her interest in Quakerism and spirituality has continued to deepen, and she is excited to grow more in these areas during her year with QVS. Adriana is pleased to be serving with Impact NW as the AKA Science Program Specialist.

James Copp grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and has attended Quaker schools since Kindergarden. He went to high school at Westtown School in Westtown PA and attended Guilford College where he graduated from in December of 2014 with a geology degree. One of James’s most valued experiences during college was having the opportunity to visit the Palestinian Territories as well as parts of Israel with one of Guilford’s Quakerism professors, Max Carter. This trip helped inspire James to look at social injustices closer to his home while keeping the fundamental Quaker values in mind. This summer James will be leading canoe trips for a Quaker summer camp in Vermont before heading out to Portland in August. For the coming year James will be serving at Outside In.

Hannah Kunde was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and graduated in December of 2014 with a degree in Sociology and International Studies from George Fox University. For the past six months Hannah has been living and working with a Friends church in Mexico City. Hannah became acquainted with the Quaker tradition at George Fox and has since been attending a Friends Church. She is excited to pursue this year with QVS where she will learn more about what it looks like to live out Quaker values. Hannah is passionate about learning from and walking alongside marginalized people groups and hopes to lead a life that honors this passion. Dreams of hers include going back to school to study sustainable community development, returning to Mexico for an extended period of time, and living on a small-scale vegetable farm with goats and chickens. Some life-giving activities in Hannah’s life include gardening, playing music, baking bread, reading, and swimming. She will be serving with the Portland L’Arche community this year.

Mary Tierney was born and raised in southern West Virginia and graduated from Earlham College in May of 2015 with a B.A. degree in Human Development and Social Relations. While at Earlham, Mary was an active member of the Bonner Scholars Program where she cultivated her passion for nonprofit work and social justice issues such as sex education, mental health awareness, and mountaintop removal. Over the past four years she has engaged in service through work as a Case Manager Intern at a Youth Emergency Shelter, as a tutor and mentor for kids in various schools and summer programs, and as a member of WV Bully-Free. She plans to pursue a double Master’s in Social Work and Human Sexuality to become involved in counseling work and policy reformation. Mary is excited to be completing her QVS year at the YWCA of Greater Portland as their Social Justice Program Assistant.

Elijah Walker grew up in Northeast Arkansas. He studied art at Williams Baptist College before moving to Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in 2013 to intern and observe environmental sustainability and intentional community. After leaving the ecovillage, he served on the inaugural board for the first LGBTQ+ pride festival in his hometown. He has also served on the board for the Arkansas Trans Equality Coalition and helped form the first transgender support and community group in Northeast Arkansas. He began exploring faith at a young age, and although he has followed many different spiritual paths, he has recently found himself feeling most at home among Quakers. Elijah is eager to develop a deeper understanding of the Quaker Way and community while in Portland. He will be working with Habitat for Humanity.

Kathleen Burckhardt graduated from Lewis & Clark College in May 2014, with a B.A. in English Writing & Literature and a minor in Studio Art. She is an American citizen but grew up in Switzerland, Ireland, and Canada. While at Lewis & Clark, she worked for three campus offices doing a variety of work including interfaith programming for the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life where she founded a Quaker worship group and organized many on campus speakers and field trips to a number of Portland spiritual centers. Over the past seven years she has been engaging in service through the organization of numerous fundraisers for schools in Namibia and Nepal. These included a series of small film festivals in Canada and an auction and benefit concert in Portland. In addition, putting to use the cross-cultural experience she gained from being a Third Culture Kid, Kathleen has facilitated cultural awareness workshops, and trainings in compassionate listening, anti-discrimination, and the culture shock phenomena. This year she is thrilled to be working with the Portland YWCA as their Social Change Program Assistant.

Emily Comerford graduated from Guilford College in May 2014 where she majored in Psychology and Criminal Justice. While at Guilford, Emily was a member of the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program and the Guilford Women’s Soccer team. The past three summers she has interned for Mercer County Human Services in Trenton, New Jersey, where she has worked for Mental Health, Addiction Services, as well as the Nutrition Project for the Elderly. Emily is a lifelong Quaker and member of the Princeton Monthly Meeting in Princeton, New Jersey. Emily is interested in the mental health field and is excited to be completing her QVS year at Kinship House, outpatient mental health services for children and their families.

Carson Dietz Hartmann was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He is generally interested in education, housing justice and policy, community living, adventure, languages, art and exercising. In February 2013, Carson graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Geography. His major left him with the questions: Why is place important? Why do people live where they live (or why must they live there)? Carson also studied French and Arabic at Middlebury. This has led him to study, work and live abroad, most recently in Ramallah, Palestine, where he works as a 6th Grade English Teacher at the Ramallah Friends Girls School. Carson attended his first Quaker Meeting at Middlebury College, and has since attended a number of meetings across the US and now in Ramallah. Carson is excited to join QVS Portland next year, where he will work at The New City Initiative.

Ally Clendineng is a second year Master’s of Counseling Psychology and Master’s of Theology & Culture candidate at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She loves that she gets to play in the intersection of the soul and the psyche, and hopes to become a trauma and addictions therapist. She is a big fan of a books, coffee, and sunshine. Ally was a Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow in 2014-2015.

Hye Sung Gehring is from Nutley, New Jersey but has lived in Michigan and Memphis, TN the past two years studying at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, working, and living in intentional communities. Although he has had quite a variety of religious experiences in his past, he has had a long-held interest in the Quaker tradition. Recently he has been connected to the Friends of Jesus Fellowship, a Quaker-affiliated “network of communities and ministries gathered around a common experience of the living presence of Jesus in our midst.” Before he leaves for Portland, he will spend six weeks with the FoJF in Detroit as in intern, working with the meeting and the Ruth Ellis Center. In Portland, he will intern with American Friends Service Committee – supporting the Portland Peace Program and the Portland Project Voice program.

Siobhan McGowan graduated from the George Washington University in May 2013. She majored in Anthropology, minored in Theatre, and had a strong focus on Public Health and Women’s studies. At GWU, Siobhan was a brother of Alpha Phi Omega The National Community Service Fraternity and made service and issues of social justice in Washington DC a big part of her everyday life. She most enjoyed volunteering for local soup kitchens and working with local non-profits to fight hunger and homelessness. She most recently finished interning at IntraHealth International, where she worked on projects focused on Human Resources for Health and gender inequalities for men and women in the health workforce.

Anicka Meyers was born and raised in Goshen, Indiana with her parents and two older sisters. She lived in West Africa and as a young child and furthered her travel experiences throughout high school and college, most recently studying abroad in Tanzania and Kenya, East Africa. Anicka graduated from Earlham College in May 2013 with a degree in Neuroscience. She was also heavily involved in the Weaving department at Earlham. Anicka was a Bonner Scholar, and regularly volunteered in the community at organizations such as Richmond State Hospital and the Wayne County Health Clinic. She spent two summers in Denver, Colorado working for Denver Kids Inc., which is a non-profit organization that provides educational counseling and mentorship to kids in the Denver Public School system. Anicka grew up in a Mennonite community and values her Mennonite background. She currently attends Multnomah Monthly Meeting and serves as a coordinator for the high-school aged group. Anicka worked at Outside In, a medical clinical and homeless youth services agency, during her QVS year and was hired on as a Youth Engagement Specialist following QVS. Anicka currently attends Oregon Health and Science University working toward a doctorate degree as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

Giovanna Selvaggio graduated from Guilford College in May 2013 where she majored in Religious Studies and minored in Ceramics. Her honors thesis was entitled, “Spectral Geographies: Agents of Resistance in China’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.” While at Guilford, Giovanna was a member of the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program and the Greenleaf Coffee Cooperative, as well as serving as a community and college activist on issues of race, class, and gender. A lifelong Quaker, Giovanna has spent the last four summers as a counselor at Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Catoctin and Shiloh Quaker Camps. Giovanna is serving this year with CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Kids.

Willa Keegan-Rodewald graduated from Lewis & Clark College in May 2013 where she majored in Psychology and minored in English. While at Lewis & Clark, Willa planned and coordinated Interfaith discussions and faith community visits through her work with the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life. She also helped initiate a small Quaker Meeting on campus. Willa has volunteered with the Bay Area Rescue Mission and several social justice organizations around Portland. While studying abroad in London, she interned with 240 Project, a community and activity center for vulnerable and excluded people who have a history of homelessness. Willa was raised in Berkeley Friends Meeting and also attended St. Louis Friends Meeting. Willa is working this year at New City Initiative, which aims to engage faith communities in ending the cycle of homelessness by building supportive relationships.

Ira Berkley is a recent graduate of Oberlin College, where they studied English with a minor in Creative Writing. They hail originally from Louisville, Kentucky. They completed their capstone research on race and class in British Literature. On campus, they have been active in arts and activism and the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. Throughout college, they have worked with various LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and public interest law firms. In their free time, they enjoy writing and performing poetry, and music. They are looking forward to working with Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta in the upcoming year.

Sandra Kluivers has dual nationality, being a Dutch and Swiss national who has lived in five different countries within the last 22 years. She recently graduated from Earlham College, IN, with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Global Management. She was leader of the Model United Nations group on campus for two years and participated in the creation of two different social enterprises. She has been passionate about gender equality all her life, working with women from marginalized communities in Nepal and South Africa doing research on local gender issues. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, karate, and exploring new cities. Sandra’s extremely excited to be working with 9to5 throughout her year of service in Atlanta and hopes to continue to fight for a more equal and just world for all in the future.

Rachael Carter is from Philadelphia and went to school at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA. She studied Politics and Peace and Social Justice with focuses in food justice, religion, and labor. While in school, she worked with several organizations in the greater Philadelphia area including, The Food Trust, Martha’s Choice Marketplace Norristown and Camp Hill Kimberton. All of these places taught her the importance of community organizing, faith and the role of food.

She spent two years working with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) both in Harrisburg and D.C. working on organizing and research. For three years, she participated as a Bonner Leader, working with other students to create community change and traveled to Beeston Spring Westmoreland Jamaica to participate in service and understand different faith backgrounds and the challenges that the community faces with short term service projects.

Ivie Osaghae grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and came of age in the great state of Georgia. Her formative years there opened her eyes to the different cultures and life paths of those around her. Ivie’s desire to explore the creation of cultures in her surroundings led her to major in anthropology and minor in African American studies at Georgia State University. During her time there, Ivie served as President of Black Student Alliance where she discovered her passion for social justice work and community education centered on race, gender and identity. She hopes her time at QVS will prepare her for a career in strategic communications centered on branding and messaging for issue-based advocacy groups and non-profit organizations. In her free time, Ivie likes to travel, hike, binge watch Netflix, and test new recipes. This year Ivie will serve as the QVS Fellow for the Racial Justice Action Center.

Julia Dailey is originally from Hastings on Hudson, New York and graduated from Hamilton College with a degree in Art History and French. In college she worked as a docent and educator at the college’s art museum, the Wellin. Julia also co-founded and facilitated a body image and eating disorder peer support group and led orientation trips for incoming freshmen. Julia went abroad to France where she studied art, art history, and literature. In her free time she likes to do art, rock climb, and play ultimate frisbee. Julia is incredibly excited to be working for Atlanta Habitat for Humanity in the coming year.

Eliza Stevenson was born in the mountains of Western North Carolina and grew up in Asheville. In May 2018, she graduated from Guilford College with degrees in Environmental Studies and Psychology, with minors in Gender and Sexuality Studies and Dance. Via the Bonner Scholars Program, Eliza worked as a coordinator for the YWCA’s Teen Parent Mentor Program for 3 years and helped to launch an after-school program at the YWCA’s emergency family shelter, as well as participated in the growing network of Food Justice efforts in Greensboro. In this realm, Eliza helped with the launch of Mobile Oasis, a mobile food market serving the many food deserts around Greensboro, and worked at the Guilford College Farm. During the summer of 2016, Eliza was an Environmental Educator at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, a renowned education center located within the National Park. During college, Eliza studied abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand, completed an internship in Manta, Ecuador, and wrote an interdisciplinary senior thesis on the intersection of identity factors and connection with the natural world. Typically, Eliza can be found reading, contemplating, playing music, or in the woods. Eliza is very excited to be working with the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter over the course of the next year.

Nicolina Hansen-Neff grew up in Keizer, Oregon where she attended Salem Friends Meeting. She is a recent graduate of Earlham College, where she studied math, music, and Spanish. When she returned from a semester abroad in Spain, she spent the summer before her final year of undergrad as an intern at Amigos Latino Center in Richmond, Indiana. In her free time, she likes to sing, dance, play music, go backpacking, read, and have Good Conversations (and wholly appreciates the power of Good Silences, as well). She enjoys working with children and is looking forward to serving with Kindezi West Lake this year.

Claire Hannapel grew up in Durham, North Carolina where she attended Durham Friends Meeting. She graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2016. At Carolina, she was heavily involved with food justice and advocacy groups and led a campaign for more transparency and inclusive decision-making of institutional food sourcing and food accessibility.

During her first QVS year, Claire worked at the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless where she developed and managed the Identification Advocacy Program, assisting individuals facing homelessness with obtaining their birth certificates. This service helped remove one of many barriers to chronic homelessness, supporting individuals so that they could secure stable housing and employment, as well as apply for additional social assistance programs. Claire found that her work with the Law Center strengthened her advocacy skills and reaffirmed her Quaker values. Yet, witnessing the impacts of systems and institutions that still blatantly and subtly inflict violence upon the lives of people of color and those in poverty, the work was simultaneously complicating her understanding of social policy and legal protection.

This experience has compelled Claire to continuing to seek community in the southeast and engage in meaningful work to build structural change and inclusive policy that reaches those forced to the margins.

Claire is looking forward to serving as an Alumni Fellow at Quaker Voluntary Service itself, as Outreach and Development Coordinator.

Emily McGrew was born and raised in New Castle, Indiana and attended New Castle First Friends Meeting. She graduated from Earlham College in 2015 with a degree in Biology. Studying German language, playing flute and piano, and working at the Joseph Moore Museum for Natural History were formative experiences during school. Her first QVS year was spent at the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. She is excited to be serving a second year through QVS, this time with the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia.

Gage Beemish grew up in central Oregon where he developed a strong appreciation for the outdoors and a love of spending time outside. In central Oregon he attended a Quaker meeting, and has continually been involved in The North West Yearly Meeting of Friends in a variety of roles since then. After high school, Gage moved to the Portland area to attend George Fox University. After one semester of studying film production, Gage made the choice to explore life outside of University. This phase of life was the most formative and foundational time for him coming to learn about himself, and understanding his place in the world around him. While coming to learn more and more about the work his heart wants to be involved with, Gage still maintains the desire to artistically capture and tell stories through film. Aspiring to learn and encourage others in seeking to live in tune with our world and the people in it, Gage deeply cares for issues of non-violence, social justice, and social/environmental sustainability. His alignment to the heart of Quaker values has only increased his interest in this work. In May of 2015, Gage spent five weeks working at the Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank. In his brief time there, Gage helped with an English class, worked with photography around the school, helped on the playground as part of the school’s conflict resolution program, and aided in an English class designed for young business professionals. On a larger scale, Gage was there to explore two things: his heart for involvement in that particular conflict, and to explore how to come alongside and simply be with people who are living under oppression. As a first year QVS Fellow, Gage worked with the Energy Coordinating Agency, managing their public workshops program. He was thrilled to combine his heart for people and their quality of life, with his passion to work toward a healthy environment by promoting energy conservation. Gage looks forward to continuing his journey with QVS working with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting as a Program Associate for Community Engagement, Alumni Fellow. Community and Quaker values have been an instrumental part of Gage’s growth, and through his second year with QVS, he is looking forward to continual learning of how to integrate his values into his self, community, and work.

Lena GlickmanLena Glickman grew up in a small town in Southern Vermont. She graduated from Oberlin College where she majored in history, focusing on race and class in America. In her junior year she spent a semester in Southern Africa, studying apartheid, the liberation struggle and globalization. She spent her first QVS year with Pennsylvania Working Families, organizing for a livable minimum wage and building power around economic and racial justice in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Her first year with QVS gave her the opportunity to explore questions about creating change: how do we move ourselves and others toward action? How do we build–personally and politically–healthy, accountable, joyful and just communities? QVS was her first experience with Quakerism and she is looking forward to continuing to explore Quaker spirituality and practice. She is excited to spend her second year with QVS at Friends General Conference, working in their Ministry on Racism to address White Supremacy in the Religious Society of Friends.

Elijah Walker grew up in the cotton fields of Northeast Arkansas. He was heavily involved in the LGBTQ+ in the rural south, including his positions on the boards of directors for the Arkansas Trans Equality Coalition and the inaugural Northeast Arkansas Pride event. Elijah is a spoken word poet and amateur musician, and roborovski hamsters are his favorite animal. Elijah is still relatively new to the Friends community! Although there were no Friends meetings or churches near his home, Elijah felt a strong leading to experience the Quaker Way. In 2015, he moved to Portland, OR for his initial year of service with QVS, where he worked with West Hills Friends and Reedwood Friends Church. Elijah is eager to explore his call to pastoral ministry as he continues working at West Hills Friends during his year as an Alumni Fellow in Portland, OR. West Hills Friends.

Genevieve Beck-Roe grew up in West Rogers Park in Chicago. In May 2014 she graduated from Earlham College where she majored in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Genevieve attended Baltimore Yearly Meeting Camps as a child and was involved in BYM’s Young Friends and Young Adult Friends programs. While at Earlham, she spent two years living in Earlham’s Quaker House. Genevieve is excited for the opportunity to devote time to being intentional about exploring and expanding her Quakerism. In fall 2013 she participated in Earlham’s Border Studies Program based in Tucson, AZ, learning about the political economy of the US/Mexico border, grassroots activism in Mexico, and the humanitarian aid and sanctuary movements in the US. While in Tucson, she interned with Casa Mariposa, an ecumenical intentional community engaged in hospitality activism. In visiting immigration detention centers with Casa Mariposa, she became interested in the role community activism can play in the legal system. Genevieve will be serving at Southern Center for Human Rights.

Trevor Johnson graduated from Colorado College in May 2013 with a degree in Religion and Music and thesis project on the New Monastic communities of the Simply Way and Rutba House. While at CC, he worked with the Chaplains’ Office as an intern and organized interfaith discussions, established a chapter of Student Christian Movement (a progressive Christian organization), and helped lead worship in a diverse collection of traditions. Part of his work this last year included organizing the first year of the Liturgical Brewing Club. He took part in the Young Adult Leadership Development program at Pendle Hill Quaker Retreat Center in the summer of 2010. Trevor grew up in various Christian traditions and wishes to explore further before settling into a denomination. He also practices a variety of arts from spoken word, music, and theatre to painting and metalworking. Trevor will be serving at the De Paul Catholic School in Germantown.