Year-long program convenes 25 thought leaders to develop content that amplifies youth
mental health research, supports youth-informed policy initiatives, and elevates diverse
innovators
SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Public Voices Fellowship on Youth Well-being and Power, a partnership of The OpEd Project and Hopelab, today announced its inaugural cohort of fellows. This year-long experience will convene a cohort of 25 thought leaders, with a focus on people with historically underrepresented backgrounds in the mainstream media. The fellowship will provide extraordinary support, leadership skills, and knowledge to ensure their ideas shape not only their fields but one of the most urgent conversations of our age. The fellowship is part of a broader initiative in partnership with The OpEd Project to change who writes history.
“I’ve always believed our world is stronger when diverse voices have a real platform,” said Jaspal Sandhu, Hopelab’s President and CEO. “Through The Public Voices Fellowship, we lift up experts whose wisdom and lived experiences can challenge our assumptions about youth mental health and well-being. This cohort brings together leaders at the forefront of Black youth mental health, purpose, responsible technology, advocacy, and innovation. Their voices deserve to be heard, and I believe they will shape a better future for young people.”
Katie Orenstein, Founder & CEO of The OpEd Project, added: “Through this fellowship, we are working with some of the best minds in the world — with experts across a wide range of fields and backgrounds who have knowledge that can help solve big problems, and drive great advances — not just for themselves, but for all of us. Imagine the return for society if we continue to invest in our collective intelligence this way.”
The curriculum explores leadership, power, and action for the public good. Fellows will explore how credibility works, how ideas spread, when and why minds change, and how ideas play out over time and space. The goal of this project is to bring new knowledge and expert voices into the national and global conversation, to create a more just, sustainable, and intelligent future. The program features workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions led by leading journalists and editors. All fellows commit to publishing at least two written pieces of thought leadership during their fellowship.
The Public Voices Fellows
The 2026 Fellows are working at the intersection of youth well-being and power, and include organization leaders, academic researchers, scientists, and mental health advocates. Each has a demonstrated desire and ability to contribute to public dialogue and thought leadership. Hopelab’s 2026 Public Voices Fellows are as follows (click here to see their bios):
Jorge Alvarez is a nationally recognized mental health advocate, social impact strategist, and creator redefining how young people lead across social movements and advocating that mental health be approached as a civic priority.
Dr. Davis Austria is an Assistant Professor of Health Informatics at Xavier University of Louisiana, specializing in the intersection of artificial intelligence, health care quality, and health equity.
Oritsegbubenmi Nere Ayu, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Howard University whose work lives at the intersection of teaching, research, and community impact.
Darren Bernall, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Howard University. He earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Miami and his master’s degree from the Catholic University of America.
Sneha Dave is the Founder and Executive Director of Generation Patient, an organization representing over 25 million young adults in the U.S. and abroad with chronic conditions.
Dr. Leonna M. Davis is an Assistant Professor in the Child Studies program at Bowie State University. She centers the voices of Black girls in her research on identity development, self-esteem, body image, and the impact of social media on mental health.
Roni Ellington, Ph.D., is a Professor of Mathematics Education at Morgan State University, owner of the Transforming STEM Network, LLC, and partner at Evoklife. Her transdisciplinary approach examines the experiences of high-achieving African-American STEM students.
TeRay Esquibel is the Founding Executive Director of Purpose Commons, a national initiative building the conditions for young people to cultivate purpose in their lives and communities.
Caroline Figueroa is an MD–PhD scientist and expert in artificial intelligence, digital health, and youth mental well-being. She is currently a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow at Stanford University and Hopelab.
Maddie Freeman is the Founder and CEO of NoSo, a digital well-being nonprofit, and is a youth fellow at McGill University’s Media, Technology, and Democracy Centre. She was recently listed on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 List in the Education category.
Alyssa Garza, MS, PLPC, is a Mexican American mental health therapist committed to promoting accessible, compassionate, and culturally competent mental health care.
Bruny Kenou is a mental health activist and medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she serves as Class Council President-elect and leads the Health Policy Scholarly Concentration.
Joshua Lavra is Principal, Youth-Led Innovation, at Hopelab. He works at the intersection of mental health and social impact, designing solutions with young people to tackle complex challenges.
Arletha Lizana is a public health scientist, health equity innovator, and community-rooted wellness advocate with more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of research, technology, and culturally grounded care.
Asli McCullers MPH, is a current Ph.D. student studying Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Research Specialist at the MedStar Health Center for Health Equity Research.
Sofia Ong’ele is a developer, creator, and organizer. Both independently and as Director of Strategy at Gen-Z for Change, she creates tools alongside grassroots organizers to cause good trouble on the internet.
Mike Parent, Ph.D., MBA, is a Principal Researcher at Hopelab. Passionate about youth mental health, his work focuses on building and maintaining research partnerships, facilitating and leading research projects, and contributing to cross-functional teamwork.
Trisha Prabhu is a 25-year-old Indian-American innovator, global advocate, and anti-hate activist, and the founder of ReThink, a technology that aims to proactively stop cyberbullying.
Sparkle Rainey is a Washington, DC-based communications strategist with a track record of building advocacy-driven narratives across nonprofit, political, and grassroots spaces. She currently serves as Communications Director at the Young People’s Alliance.
Jackie Rotman is Founder/President of Center for Intimacy Justice, where she leads global investigations into Big Tech’s systemic suppression of sexual and reproductive health information online, including its impact on youth.
Katie Salen is Professor and Vice Chair for Graduate Affairs in the Department of Informatics at UC Irvine, a member of the Connected Learning Lab, and Executive Director and co-founder of Connected Camps.
Ema Sol is Co-Founder of Future Incubator, an independent 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsorship organization dedicated to helping youth-led initiatives turn their bold ideas into long-lasting impact.
Trace Terrell is a public mental health advocate and Kessler Scholar at Johns Hopkins University, where he studies public health and plans to pursue a career in mental health policy.
Julie Tinker is a Principal at Hopelab and a creative leader in design, social impact, and health equity. Her work has spanned digital health product development, storytelling through animation, to using design and co-creation to build fellowship programs to planting community gardens.
Leo Wu is a social technologist interested in the way AI is shaping the experience of being alive. He co-founded and helps lead AI Consensus, a youth-led organization that nurtures agency in the age of AI.
The Public Voices Fellowship has a proven track record of achieving outstanding results, generating personal, professional, and public outcomes with far-reaching implications. Learn more about The OpEd Project’s Public Voices Fellowship here.
About Hopelab
Hopelab envisions a future where young people have equitable opportunities to live joyful and purposeful lives. As a researcher, investor, and convener, Hopelab is dedicated to fostering greater mental health and well-being outcomes for Brown, Black, and Queer young people. Learn more at hopelab.org.
About The OpEd Project
The OpEd Project was founded to increase the range of voices and quality of ideas we hear in the world. We are a community of journalists and thought leaders who actively share our skills, resources, and connections across color, creed, class, and gender lines. We train underrepresented experts (especially women) to take thought leadership positions in their fields; we match them with high-level journalist mentors; and we channel the best new ideas and experts to media gatekeepers who need them, across all platforms. We have been featured in most major media. We envision a world where the best ideas, regardless of where they come from, will have a chance to be heard and to shape society and the world.
SOURCE Hopelab