Cohort 2

Amy Fraler (she/her)

Amy Fraler is pursuing 2 degrees with the purpose of creating religious education programs inspired by the example of Holocaust Rescuers.

Since August of 2019, she has been in formation to become a Third Order Franciscan (Ordo Franciscus Saecularis). While not directly relevant, she has independently done extensive reading on the background and psychology of Holocaust rescuers, seeking to understand what separated them from the bystanders and perpetrators and how she can instill those values and courage in her family.

Anu Gorukanti (she/her)

Anu Gorukanti, MD is a pediatrician, public health practitioner, and co-founder of Introspective Spaces, an organization committed to building reflective communities for women in healthcare. She cares deeply in the power of reflective and contemplative practice as tools for strengthening our relationships with each other and working towards a world of compassion, equity, and justice. In her free time, she loves to read Agatha Christie novels, photograph landscapes, practice her Spanish, and pretend she can dance.

Aron Halevi (he/him)

Aron Halevi is a multi-award winning musician and creative social innovator living near Cape Town, South Africa. For over 20 years, he has dedicated his life and work to harnessing collaborative creativity in order to maximize positive change across South Africa and the African continent.

Carrie Symons (she/her)

Dr. Carrie Symons holds a BFA in Theatre (University of Colorado, Boulder), a MA in Education: Curriculum and Instruction (University of Colorado, Boulder), and a PhD in Educational Studies: Literacy, Language, and Culture (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor). Formerly an elementary classroom teacher of 10 years in Colorado and California, Carrie is the Executive Director of Teaching and Learning at Summers-Knoll School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As a teacher-educator, certified yoga instructor, and community-engaged scholar, her research explores voice, representation, and storytelling with multilingual, refugee-background youth in spaces for learning in and out of schools. Her work has been published in journals such as Pedagogies: An International Journal, English Journal, Linguistics and Education, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, and Learning and Instruction and has been featured in MSU’s Engaged Scholar E-Newsletter and MSU Today: Voices and Viewpoints.

Chris Roney (he/him)

Chris Roney is an award-winning journalist and editor with bylines in POPSUGAR, PAPER, InStyle, and HuffPost, among others. In 2021, POPSUGAR named him as its first-ever Standards and Ethics Editor. In his role, he directs DEI initiatives across all content in the US and UK. He also trains all editorial staff and contributes to the evolution and training of standards across Group Nine Media (POPSUGAR, NowThis, Thrillist, Seeker, and The Dodo).

In 2021, he was an organizer of Queer Liberation March in New York City and a juror of the 2021 San Francisco Latino Film Festival. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Ellie MacPherson (she/her)

Ellie MacPherson is an NYC-based Comedian, Actress and US History nerd. She is the creator and star of “Happy Birthday Mr. President!” a musical comedy cabaret about the US Presidents and also appears in the long running off-Broadway “The Play That Goes Wrong”.

Kate Loewald (she/her)

Kate is the Founding Producer of PlayCo, a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to producing new work that reflects and responds to our New York City home and today’s interconnected world. She is a faculty member of the Columbia University School of the Arts.

Lorka Scher (she/her)

Lorka is a musician, dancer and educator working with themes of somatic memory and intergenerational healing. She joins the cohort with a background in neuroscience, somatic education and inquiry based learning. In addition to her work as an artist, she teaches graduate courses in global health and the psychology of connection. To hear her music visit titlewillcome.com.

Nejra Kravić (she/her)

Nejra Kravić is a recent Scripps College graduate currently working as a Peace and Security Fellow at ReThink Media. Originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nejra now spends her time in Franklin Village in Los Angeles.

Zolani Mahola (she/her)

Zolani Mahola (AKA The One Who Sings) is a South African singer, storyteller and actress. She uses her voice to highlight our connection to Nature and to elevate the sanctity of the time of childhood. She currently resides in Cape Town, South Africa.