HUNTER COLLEGE

Irene (she/her) is pursuing a Master of Social Work at Hunter College, with a concentration in the Clinical Practice Method. Her past experiences working as a campaign field organizer, in affordable housing, as an art teacher and, most recently, in a spiritual life role led to her desire to combine her passion for social justice with clinical, individual care. Outside of work and school, she loves spending time with friends and family, reading, creating art, and being outdoors.

Irene's spiritual values are grounded in social action teachings that hold each person as inherently worthy. She is excited to continue learning from different faith and wisdom traditions.

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

Harper Chapman is an incoming student at Fordham University, where she plans to study Economics on a pre-law track. A graduate of Annandale High School in Virginia and an International Baccalaureate Diploma candidate, Harper is passionate about service, leadership, and community.

Her commitment to service grew through experiences that challenged her perspective, including moving between Virginia and Maine during high school. Inspired by a belief that small actions can create meaningful change, she founded her school’s chapter of FLO, a menstrual equity organization focused on increasing access to hygiene products and supporting food pantries.

Throughout high school, Harper served as president of the Math Honor Society, secretary of her school’s chorus program, captain of her swim team, and a member of National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, and English Honor Society. She was also selected as the sole representative from her school to attend Virginia Girls State, where she was elected Secretary of Education and developed an appreciation for public service and civic leadership.

Harper is interested in how economics, law, public policy, and community engagement can work together to expand opportunity and strengthen communities. Outside of academics, she enjoys swimming, singing, spending time outdoors, and attending Broadway shows.

BROWN UNIVERSITY

Kadence is a fourth year student at Brown University studying Environmental Science with a focus on Conservation and Natural Systems. Originally from Baltimore, MD, she is passionate about integrating community-oriented approaches to freshwater and wetland ecology. At Brown, she is actively involved with initiatives that integrate community engagement and cultural competence with all aspects of her academic journey. She is most proud of her opportunity to conduct a freshwater research project while studying abroad in New Zealand where she collaborated with local scientists and community members to integrate mainstream science with Matauranga Māori to approach watershed maintenance. In Rhode Island, she is a volunteer intern with the African Alliance of Rhode Island and on campus, she is a part of the leadership team of multiple identity-based student groups. Kadence stands firm in her commitment to an altruistic and holistic approach to both her professional and personal life and is extremely grateful to the Roothbert Fund for the spiritual and financial support!

YALE DIVINITY SCHOOL / FULLER SEMINARY

Christopher Fatherley lives in Connecticut with his wife, two teenage children, and family dog (who is very much a person). He is currently enrolled in the Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree program, with a chaplaincy concentration, at Fuller Theological Seminary. He graduated from Yale Divinity School in 2023 with a Master of Arts in Religion (MAR) degree. Christopher serves as a hospital chaplain with Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut. He also actively preaches with United Church of Christ (Congregational) churches in the Fairfield County, Connecticut area. He is seeking ordination as a Member in Discernment (MID) in the same denominational setting. Christopher was raised in the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) tradition. Prior to his call to pastoral ministry, Christopher was a research analyst with a degree in Library Science. His undergraduate degree was in woven textile design. He is a continuous learner, appreciates music of all kinds, and supports his children’s team sports ambitions.

KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

Philadelphia born and Bucks County raised, Lily is in her third year of undergraduate studies at Kutztown University. She is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Special Education with a concentration in Visual Impairment and a minor in Social Work. She is excited to work with a wide variety of students with different visual needs and takes pride in her ability to serve others like herself.

When she is not studying, she enjoys hiking, biking, rock climbing, and especially reading, as words carry the power to change your soul. She notes that being within nature is the closest thing to truly being at peace with one’s universe, and she enjoys helping her students and others find peace in all their endeavors.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Dilshod Hamroboev is an education leader and social entrepreneur from Tajikistan currently pursuing his Master’s in Education Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work focuses on expanding access to education for students from under-resourced communities.

He has developed and led a range of education and youth initiatives focused on improving access to academic guidance, strengthening leadership skills, and supporting students in navigating higher education pathways. He has also worked with education-based organizations in Central Asia and the United States, contributing to leadership development, communications, and youth programming.

As a Roothbert Fellow, Dilshod is honored to join a community rooted in idealism, service, and social betterment. This recognition deeply validates his mission and reinforces his commitment to creating meaningful change through education and leadership.

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Marya Khan has always known what she was put here to do. Raised Pashtun in Doha, Qatar and one of the first women in her family to pursue higher education, she has spent her life working toward a single question: whose life gets to matter, and what does it take to change that? Her faith has never been separate from that question. She believes that God does not open doors arbitrarily; that every opportunity is grace, and grace creates obligation.

That obligation has taken concrete form at every stage of her career. As an undergraduate at Georgetown University, she conducted original fieldwork with drone warfare survivors in Pakistan's tribal regions, producing an honors thesis that examined how international legal frameworks enable rather than constrain state violence against marginalized communities. She organized an international symposium on Afghanistan that drew policymakers from across the world. At the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha, she worked consular cases for vulnerable Afghan women and contributed to human rights advocacy for communities with no other voice. At the U.S. Embassy, she supported the relocation of Afghan refugees. Alongside all of it, she has been teaching girls in Kandahar remotely since the Taliban banned their education in 2021.

She is now an M.A. candidate in International Relations at Johns Hopkins SAIS, where she is a Public Service Fellow concentrating in international law, human rights, and conflict management. SAIS is where she is building the legal and analytical tools to make her field experience into something systemic, frameworks and mechanisms that reach the communities who need them most, designed with those communities rather than for them.

Marya is a Sufi Muslim who finds God in many rooms. She believes that the Roothbert community, where faith and service are understood as inseparable, is exactly where she belongs. She joins it with gratitude, with purpose, and with a great deal still left to do.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Annie Maxwell (she/they) is a second-year Masters of Theological studies and Masters of Social Work candidate at Boston University. She worked in clinical research for 8 years before deciding to pursue her dream of entering divinity school. She is hoping to use her degree to learn the theoretical and practical elements of meaning-making as it relates to individuals and communities across faith and non-faith traditions.

Annie also has a keen interest in ecotheology, and the importance of relationship to environment on personal and collective identity and well-being. Annie is currently pursuing chaplaincy and a certificate in environmental justice with the future goal of becoming a counselor with a spiritual foundation; they hope to incorporate nature into their therapeutic practice. In her free time she enjoys being outside, writing songs, trying new recipes, and talking to trees. Annie is delighted to be a part of the Roothbert community and to learn and grow with others dedicated to living in deeper connection and purpose.

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

Sean is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student at Villanova University, where he is studying Philosophy and Cultural Studies.

A deep concern for ongoing struggles for justice motivates his engagement with a variety of academic disciplines, including history, sociology, anthropology, and political economy. Through many frameworks developed in those fields, he hopes to gain a clearer understanding of how social structures such as capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism have emerged and maintained themselves. Since those structures so thoroughly shape our current world, he believes that attempts to implement and sustain improvements to our communities must seek to contest and overcome those structures.

Sean also works with fellow students to organize around local issues, as well as to build solidarity with people's movements around the world through mutual aid and education initiatives. Beyond these efforts, Sean enjoys playing and making music with his friends. He is honored to join the community of Roothbert Fellows, whose diverse experiences, perspectives, and commitment to causes beyond themselves is inspiring.

DUKE UNIVERSITY

Julius is a Tanzanian physician and global health researcher pursuing a Master of Science in Global Health at Duke University. His work centers on bridging the gap between the burden of mental illness and the care available to meet it. At Duke, his research focuses on psychiatric care delivery in sub-Saharan Africa, exploring how inpatient mental health services are utilized and how evidence-based treatments can be extended to underserved communities. Julius is also a photographer and visual storyteller who believes that how we see mental illness shapes how we respond to it. He is working towards using documentary photography and film to humanize psychiatric care, challenge stigma, and give voice to patients and families whose stories rarely reach the public conversation. For him, a camera is not separate from clinical work but an extension of it, another way of advocating for people who deserve to be seen. As a Roothbert Fellow, Julius is grateful to be part of a community that values the whole person and recognizes that meaningful service grows from something deeper than credentials alone. His long-term goal is to become a clinician-scientist who integrates research, training, and visual storytelling to strengthen mental health systems across East Africa.

DREXEL UNIVERSITY

Chibuzor Dominic Nwaeme was born in Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria, and raised in a family of eight. In the Igbo language, his name means “God is the way.” He was raised in a Catholic home and serves as an altar server at his local parish, St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Chester.

From an early age, Chibuzor developed a passion for reading and soccer. He is currently pursuing his Associate’s Degree in Engineering at Delaware County Community College and will continue his education at Drexel University in Fall 2026, where he will pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

In his free time, Chibuzor volunteers at the St. Katharine Drexel Food Pantry in Chester and works with the Vagabond Missionaries, an organization dedicated to helping inner-city youth in Philadelphia develop positive habits and life skills. He also enjoys cycling, basketball and taking walks.

Today, Chibuzor values family, friendship, faith, and perseverance, all of which align with the founding principles of Albert and Toni Roothbert. He hopes that through his education, he will be able to radiate those values to the people around him and to the wider world.

He believes that success is measured by how many people you treat kindly each day. Above all, he is someone who keeps trying.

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

Ishani Ray is an incoming MD/PhD candidate. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry and did a post-baccalaureate research position at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Her prior research experience spans neuroscience, oncology, and cancer biology, with a focus on disease mechanisms, translational research, and the intersection of immunology and cancer. She has contributed to projects exploring tumor biology and immune system interactions in disease contexts. Ishani is very interested in bridging basic science and clinical medicine to better understand complex diseases and improve patient outcomes.

Outside of academics, she enjoys kayaking, running, reading, and spending time with her cats. She also fosters cats and has two kittens, Cicada and Cadydid.

HUNTER COLLEGE

Alante (John Richards) is a Master of Social Work candidate in the Clinical Practice track at Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work, where his work bridges clinical care, education, and community building. He is the Founder of JAR of Hearts Inc., providing coaching and capacity building services to individuals, groups and companies. Alante also serves as the Program Coordinator for Brothers for Excellence, the Black Male Initiative at Hunter College, CUNY. A Roothbert Fellow and Blanton-Peale BIPOC Fellow, he brings a Guyanese heritage that shapes his creative work and his philosophy of community as a place of mutual liberation.

Beyond his clinical and administrative roles, John is a writer co-authoring a children’s book series rooted in Guyanese folklore and a forthcoming book on the first-generation graduate student experience. Drawn to asset-based practice and the integration of cultural memory into healing, he approaches his work with a balance of literary seriousness, humor, and care. He is based in Brooklyn, New York.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Cristobal Ayala is a creative consultant and designer committed to building futures with meaning — exploring the intersection between systems of thought, spirituality, and human-centered design. Born and raised in Mexico, his practice is shaped by a multicultural perspective that has guided more than 115 companies in launching or scaling their ventures across health, finance, and education.

He is the Creative Director and founding partner of Sin Tesis Studio, a branding and innovation consultancy based in Mexico City. A graduate of Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, his work has been recognized with awards from D&AD, the Latin American Design Awards, and Awwwards.

His practice spans strategy, digital innovation, branding, and product development — always in pursuit of systems that are not merely functional, but equitable, sustainable, and deeply human. Cristobal is currently a Master in Design Engineering candidate at Harvard University, a joint program between the Graduate School of Design and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he continues to explore design as a vehicle for systemic and spiritual transformation.

EDGEWOOD UNIVERSITY

Jeremy uses any pronouns and is a hospice chaplain, theologian, and 2026 Roothbert Fellow whose work lives at the intersection of queer theology, thanatology, and the sacred knowledge produced at the margins.

Jeremy's theology is largely shaped by lived experiences of remaining through experiences of death, sexual and interpersonal violence, suicidality, addiction, and illness. Jeremy's previous graduate theological education at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and Boston University School of Theology explored the complexity of the spiritual lives of and providing spiritual care to, queer survivors of partner abuse and sexual assault.

Today, Jeremy explores expressions of the Sacred through the transgression of cultural and social taboos, particularly decisions that deliberately draw one nearer to death, in order to better understand ways of living (and dying) in the world. To this end, Jeremy will be pursuing a Master of Science in Thanatology at Edgewood University.

Jeremy was drawn to the Roothbert Fellowship for its rare commitment to bringing together scholars whose spiritual lives and vocational work are inseparable, and whose faith asks something difficult of them. Jeremy believes the sacred persists in the most unexpected places and has spent a lifetime learning to recognize it there.

SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL HORTICULTURE

Nathan Tucker is a horticulturist currently studying at the School of Professional Horticulture at The New York Botanical Garden. He was born and raised in south Louisiana where the land’s boundaryless relationship with water informed his worldview. After moving to New York in 2023, he realized how much these greenspaces were vital to communities. He committed to learning the new land(scape) by jumping headfirst into horticulturism. Prior to this, he spent ten years as a freelance photographer and writer where he honed his craft in visual storytelling and which continues to influence how he approaches greenspaces.

His goal as a horticulturist is to engage communities with the natural world. Not only scientific names, but also traditional names, learning folkloric practices associated with them and how people traditionally utilized various plants in their lives.

He hopes to highlight native plants in the future, as well as collections of plants that can be remembered by diasporic people who can share their stories with plants of their homeland.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Waverly is currently a Doctorate of Physical Therapy student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and is from Maryland. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at Hampton University in 2026. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as hiking and the outdoors. She aspires to be a pediatric or neurological physical therapist.

HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL

Shira Wolkenfeld is an MDiv student at Harvard Divinity School, where she explores community organizing as a spiritual practice. She is committed to building Jewish community that is traditional, robust, and accessible, and that orients us toward the world as it should be.

Shira has worked to support leadership development and collaboration among Jewish social justice organizations across the United States. She has organized national gatherings for Jewish organizers, taught Jewish ritual and text, and led communal prayer in a variety of settings. Before moving to Boston, she spent four years living in Jerusalem, where she engaged in Palestinian solidarity work and helped build grassroots organizing networks. She holds a B.A. in Middle East Studies from the George Washington University and is an alum of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the Conservative Yeshiva, and Yeshivat Hadar.