We are delighted to announce our 2023 Byron Fellows!
This year, 18 emerging changemakers were selected from a competitive pool of global applicants based on their demonstrated leadership, commitment to their vision for change, and willingness to embark on a journey of personal transformation over five days of deep connection, clarity, and practice.
The 2023 Byron Fellowship cohort is composed of visionaries in the following disciplines: sacramental agriculture, cooperative interfaith community living, girls’ rights and empowerment, climate change, arts and engineering educative experiences for compassion and epistemic justice, global poverty alleviation, affordable home ownership and equitable development, sacred space and ritual facilitation, youth empowerment and responsible citizenship, issues impacting refugees, the intersectionality of race, gender, and religion, inclusive and reflective writing and directing for theater and film, human rights advocacy and prosecution of international war crimes, youth leadership and activism through spoken word artistry, shareholder activism, higher education and city planning for thriving communities, coastal and ocean resilience, executive spiritual leadership and purpose-driven community building, responsible mining, and minimizing food waste through composting,
Abigail Steinberg (she/her/hers): https://www.livelihoodimpactfund.org/who-we-are
Aonghus Kelly (he/him/his): https://ua.linkedin.com/in/aonghus-kelly-30b92515
Bree Jones (she/her/hers): www.parityhomes.com
Cristián Vargas-Ordóñez (he/él): https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristian-vargas-ordonez/
Felix Tabary (he/him/his): https://troop.com/
Gunil Chung (he/him/his): https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunilchung/
Heera Sharma (she/her/they): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharmaheera/ and www.golaadli.org
Isioma Nwayor (she/her/hers): https://www.linkedin.com/in/isioma-nwayor-321428188/
Jeffrey Stoike (he/him/his): https://www.blueactionlab.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-stoike-b707839/
Kelley Van Dilla (she/her/hers + they/them/theirs): www.vandilladirecting.com
Kyla Sokoll-Ward (she/her/hers): www.kylasw.com and https://www.linkedin.com/
Laura Lasuertmer (she/her/hers): https://commonhomefarm.org and www.womenwritingbloomington.org
Mahima Rai (she/her/hers): https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahima-rai-0991321a6/
Meaghan McSorley (she/her/hers): https://www.linkedin.com/in/meaghan-mcsorley/
Noah Marsh (he/him/his): https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-marsh-1a801936/
Paris Price (she/her/hers): https://www.harriettubmanmemorialamez.org/our-pastor
Rebecca Burton (she/her/hers): http://greenelbows.com and http://responsiblemining.net
Vanessa Chisakula (she/her/hers): https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-chisakula-27099312b/ and https://web.facebook.com/vanessachisakula1
The 2023 Byron Fellowship program will be hosted from August 20th-25th at The Uplands Center, a values-aligned retreat center built to support changemakers in the western Catskills of Upstate New York. Learn more: https://www.byronfellowship.org/program