Bismark Asare is an international
social activist pursuing a degree in organizational leadership. He is the
founder of the GodAsares foundation in Ghana, which provides sanctuary for
people living with HIV/AIDS, and he has worked to empower children and women
in the northern and southern rural regions of Ghana through talk shows,
festivals, press releases, and street performances. He is also the founder
of ChopnBite, a fast food restaurant in Ghana, which provides quality,
healthy food and has the mission of empowering young people by creating jobs
and supporting the local market women. In 2010, he won the Los Angeles Music
Award for his song “Revolution (It’s a Ghetto),” which the Nigerian Chamber
of Commerce-USA declared a “masterpiece” in its focus on bringing awareness
to sexual abuse. Bismark says his commitment to social justice and women’s
empowerment was originally fostered by sad events he witnessed in his home
community which were shared by his mother. He has come to believe that we
need to learn to intuit the needs of others and abide by a code of loving
thy neighbor as one would thyself. Bismark’s current goal is to expand his
community-building skills to include developing strategic approaches to
resolving conflicts and cultivating positive organizational cultures and
ethics.

As early as Erika Torres could
remember, she was busy volunteering in her community, attempting to make
strides toward positive social change. Most of her teenage years were filled
with weekends of volunteer work, and she was not what most people would
think of as a typical teenager. When career opportunities presented
themselves, Erika started working for the County of Los Angeles in the
Department of Public Social Services, work that gives focus to her passion
for contributing to the community. More recently, Erika returned to school
at NU to get a bachelor’s degree in public administration so she could apply
what she is learning in the workplace. As a member of the Honors Fellows for
Social Change, she has been honing her passions and finding creative ways to
apply social change to her everyday actions. With a longtime commitment to
community building, Erika takes inspiration from a line in the novel “The
Next Person You Meet in Heaven:” “No story sits by itself. Our lives connect
like threads on a loom, interwoven in ways we never realize.”

Tesla Holman is completing her
degree in the mathematical sciences, a degree she plans to use in the fight
against climate change. Tesla is also a mother and an adventurer who spends
her free time reading books and learning new things, whether scientific,
mathematical, philosophical, or artistic. Tesla’s social change project is
to learn to use quantitative communication to educate people on how the meat
and dairy industries affect climate change. She is currently working on a
predictive model that can display her research in an effective way that
illustrates for people how these large-scale industries’ harmful effects are
expected to grow over time. Her hope is to increase awareness of the
industry’s role in the climate crisis and to propose some possible
solutions. After completing her degree, Tesla plans to pursue a second
bachelor’s degree in physics and then, ultimately, go on to complete a PhD
in that field.

Jenica Salvador has always known
that she was destined to work in the health care field. Currently, she works
as a certified nurse assistant at a Level II trauma, medical-surgical
hospital in San Diego, California, while she is pursuing her Bachelor of
Science in Nursing. In both her employment and schooling, Jenica places a
high importance on empowerment and education as a means to social change.
She believes the injustices and the evils of the world are perpetuated
mostly through ignorance of social issues, and she aims to utilize her
degree to spread awareness and to advocate for disadvantaged populations.
Her current research project focuses on mitigating racial inequalities in
nursing through the exploration of implicit bias, a pervasive issue that is
highly relevant yet lacks the institutional commitments needed to improve
it. One of the most important values for Jenica is the multi-facetedness
women can bring to making a difference in the world, and she embraces the
notion that women have many different sides to themselves and need not
choose to be one thing or another, like the generations that came before us.
Jenica attributes her own success to an inspiring mother who has been an ICU
nurse for over 15 years and who taught her to break out of the boxes she is
put in. In reflecting on her mother, she is reminded of Newton, who once
wrote, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of
giants.”

Tyler Tamai is pursuing his BS in
Nursing while busily balancing work, family, and the honors program. His
educational journey has spanned two decades with numerous areas of focus,
including the problems of homelessness, poverty, and mental health
disorders. With experience working in the mental health field, Tyler has
provided care for several diverse populations, including those that find
themselves homeless and those struggling with substance abuse disorders.
Although Tyler’s current educational pursuits focus more specifically on
professional health care in a hospital setting, he remains passionate about
working broadly with those that are disadvantaged and underserved. Being an
Honors Fellow has given him the opportunity, he says, to learn how to
conduct professional research and to design projects that will serve as the
steppingstones toward the sort of change he hopes to see and be in the
world. Tyler claims that one of the biggest rewards of his current work is
to be able to turn to members of his Honors cohort as resources both for
educational and professional networking.

Alexandra Avalon Cohen has spent all
21 years of her life so far in San Diego, California, where she takes
advantage of the beautiful weather and wonderful sights. She has been a
student at National University since 2019 working toward her BA in
Management with a minor in Psychology. She works outside of school as the
executive assistant for Accomplishment Coaching and as the producer of guest
and artist relations for its media company, Accomplishment Media, and The
Coaching Show Podcast. After graduating, her plan is to go through
Accomplishment Coaching’s yearlong training program while preparing for
graduate school. She expects to continue her education by pursuing an MA in
Human Rights to support her goal of making the world a better place both
today and for future generations. Alexandra is passionate about a multitude
of social issues and intends to use the combination of her educational,
professional, and personal experiences to build a career which allows her to
promote positive social change.

Keith Fricke has built his life to
embody the phrase: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Whether as
a Marine Officer for the past 23 years, a loving husband, a dad to two huge
boisterous dogs and three lazy cats (all of whom are shelter rescues), or as
an openly gay cisgender man in the military, Keith has had the honor to be
an agent for incredible change throughout his 42 years. One of the things he
is most proud of is not only his service to “Country and Corps,” but also
his service to the undervalued among us. He is resolute in the belief that
every human has value and that a good leader (and person) is one who strives
to get to know someone for who they are and what they can contribute, not
just for how they are different and, therefore, “other.” Whether in the
military or any other occupation in the world, Keith has come to understand
that “people do not leave bad companies, they leave bad managers,” and that
is why he chose business administration with an emphasis in project
management as his degree path. Keith says that his own strengths lay in
taking a team, finding its strengths, building an atmosphere of trust and
collaboration, and then coming together to exceed expectations and that he
believes that any organization that undervalues its personnel is squandering
its most important resource: its people. The world might not perfect, but
Keith believes we should challenge ourselves to implement our ideals every
day.

Sarah Murray’s path to her degree in
pre-law was not straightforward. She graduated from high school in 2004 and
started taking courses at the local community college in Folsom Lake,
California, hoping to pursue a career in literature while also working as
the layout editor at California’s oldest newspaper, “The Mountain Democrat.”
She then decided to set aside academics to start a family. With the shift in
focus, Sarah started on her path to advocating for people’s rights when her
daughter was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. For several years, she
conducted research on mental health and on the mental health care system,
which translated into her current goal of attaining a law degree so that she
can work effectively with underrepresented communities in navigating
California’s legal system. Currently, she lives in a small northern
California town with her fiancé and four children, playing an active role in
her community by frequently volunteering at her children’s school, fostering
animals from the local animal shelter, and by participating with the Junior
Achievement program at National University. Her life mission is to advocate
for human rights in both private and public life and to protect those that
most need help through constitutional law.

Tyler Salyer serves in the U.S.
Marine Corps as a tuba instrumentalist stationed on Oahu. For most of his
career, Tyler has been devoted to the arts and to the advancement of music
education in civic and military life, which has given him a unique ability
to connect music to diverse audiences and diverse groups of people. Since
beginning his BA program in political science, Tyler has increasingly become
invested in progressive social movements that are fighting for civil and
economic equality for everyone, regardless of race, gender, class, or
religion. He is specifically interested in voting rights and activist work
like Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative. He believes that every
American deserves the right to have their voice heard and that until
citizens are guaranteed equal access in the electoral process, free from
suppression, the United States’ democratic system will remain flawed and
ineffective. His investment in the Honors Fellows program stems from his
desire to ensure that every American has a life of dignity and to address an
unequal world where poverty, unlivable wages, and the stratification of
wealth undermine the American ideal.

Kris Sharpe, a political science
major, is very passionate about many different social issues that need
rectifying in the U.S. She plans to become a political consultant and to
help get progressive candidates who are committed to passing progressive
legislation into office. She is committed to improving the quality of life
for disadvantaged communities and is invested in, among other issues,
immigration reform, the wealth gap, environmental protection, and racial and
LGBTQ+ justice. After finishing her BA, she intends to get a Juris Doctor so
she can acquire the legal skills to advance civil rights protections for
marginalized communities throughout the country. She is determined to cross
paths with like-minded individuals who want to help make real meaningful
change, and she looks to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
as a role model. She says that on her deathbed she wants to be like
Ginsberg, knowing that she did everything that she could to bring equality
to our nation.

As the eldest second-generation
child in her family, Leslie Torres felt the pressure from a young age to
help her parents become successful here in the United States. The only way
that she thought that she could do that is to make sure she received a
college education. While her family back in Mexico was thriving, her family
in the United States, which started when her dad became the only one of his
siblings to migrate, had struggled after immigration. Leslie wanted to make
sure that she got a college education to make her parents proud, and she
says that even though her parents didn’t pursue their own education, her dad
always instilled in her and her siblings the value of school. From a young
age, Leslie wanted to give back to her family and felt the need to help out
in every way that she could. After school, she took care of her little
sister, teaching her to read even before she started kindergarten. In fact,
she still remembers how proud she felt when her sister’s teachers
congratulated her family on how good a job they believed her mom had done
with her. The pride she felt in that moment is what led her to decide to
pursue a career in the field of education, which she is already doing as a
special education paraprofessional at the elementary level. Her ultimate
goal is to become an elementary teacher and to work to ensure every child
gets an equitable education regardless of their demographic. She hopes to
motivate children to become critical thinkers and instill in them the desire
to learn about the issues that plague our society so that they can be agents
of change in their communities.

Books have always been a part of
Cole Vitolano’s life. From as early as they can remember, they spent
countless hours reading — first with their mother and then by themselves.
Through books, Cole discovered an endless supply of experiences and
perspectives which taught them the value of sharing our stories, whether
fiction or non-fiction. In addition to reading, they also took to writing
their own creative pieces and have spent most of their life learning to hone
their craft by building an appreciation for both the art and the skill of
writing. Outside of school, they dedicated themselves to showing how words
construct an altruistic world by applying their talents to writing for
progressive political candidates and volunteering them for grassroot
campaigns, local projects, and emerging charities. They most recently worked
as Communication Director for a nonprofit devoted to peace. Cole is
currently a freelance writer, living in Los Gatos, California, with their
American Staffordshire terrier and best friend, Sophie. They are completing
their BA in English Literature at NU, with plans to achieve their PhD. In
between reading, writing, and listening to Simon and Garfunkel obsessively,
Cole strives to promote the creative arts in American society in the hopes
that it will foster a holistic healing of injustice across the nation and
encourage a cultural commitment to humanitarianism.

Candice Wagenleitner is enrolled in
the nursing program in Fresno, California. She is married with six children,
three of whom were adopted internationally from South Korea and Ethiopia.
She has been a mother for 25 years. After losing her oldest son, she made
the commitment to give something back to the international community where
she sees a huge need for simple things that Americans take for granted, such
as access to clean water and basic medical care. She is currently focused on
attaining her BA degree to become a registered nurse so as to be able to
bring her skills in health care back to Ethiopia and other developing
countries one day. To date, she has worked as a certified nursing assistant
and in a memory care facility, and she previously started and ran a
nonprofit organization called Hope Authentic which opened up her church to
public conversations about mental illness. She has led successful mental
health conferences, started multiple support groups, and shared her own
personal story of overcoming illness with hundreds of people.

Karyn Wells-Leigh has a passion for
working with the Deaf community and American Sign Language. This passion
began back in high school, and she wanted to become a speech pathologist for
the deaf but soon discovered that the words pathology and deafness do not
belong in the same sentence, so she changed focus by earning an AA in Sign
Language Interpreting from Front Range Community College. She sees that
society has a long way to go to allow deaf individuals to truly have their
“voice be heard.” Karyn has had a rich set of life experiences that includes
working as an educational and freelance interpreter in Denver, then after
having three children and moving to Portland, Oregon, she became a certified
childbirth educator and labor and delivery doula. She published a prenatal
children’s book entitled, “The Miracle of You;” owned and operated a
mother/baby wellness center; and co-hosted the “Pregnancy Place Radio” show.
For another change of pace, she and her family moved to a 680-acre farm.
Aptly titled, “Mother Hen,” she managed a start-up, growing certified
organic pasture-raised eggs. Today, Karyn is back to ASL interpreting work
for multiple colleges and communities in northern California while pursuing
a double major in integrative psychology and sociology with the intent of
continuing on for her PhD.