2026 Napier Fellows
​​​​​​​​​Chidinma (Chi) Adi – Pitzer College
Chi intends to direct and produce an environmental humanities impact documentary short about Farm School NYC, a Black and Indigenous-led urban agriculture nonprofit based in New York City. Her short film aims to call attention to the cultural organizing work of urban farmers and inspire support for community-centered ecological interventions in the United States.
Anna Behuniak – Claremont McKenna College
Anna will create the Community Agroecological Development Initiative (IDAC) in Cusco, Peru. She plans to do this over a year’s period, collaborating with a local NGO, CEDEP Ayllu, working with rural communities. The goal is to relocalize food systems, strengthen community values, and slow agricultural ecosystem destruction.
Leilani Elkaslasy – Harvey Mudd College
Leilani will design and collaborate with a local business owner and Rotary Club of Cairo, Egypt, to create the Cairo Café Project—an accessible coffee shop in Cairo that can be fully operated by people with disabilities. Working with future employees, the project will identify physical and systemic barriers, prototype accessible tools and equipment, and design a sensory-friendly environment.
Daniel Fernández – Claremont McKenna College
Daniel’s project is called Civic Futures: Youth Leadership in San Juan Capistrano—a six-month civic engagement and leadership program, designed to empower a diverse group of high school students to understand their city’s history, government, and change. The goal is to promote civic awareness and leadership among youth who feel disconnected from local decisions.
Nathan Flores – Pomona College
Nathan will work with state and federal governments in Yucatán, Mexico to build a migrant children’s shelter named Casa U’ulab. This shelter will replace detention centers and the current cycles that criminalize immigrant children. His goal is to help build this shelter to become a community-based alternative to de facto detention by building child-centered programming and space.
Shengdi Ge – Claremont McKenna College
Shengdi will develop a program called “Home, Not Harm,” a three-month legal empowerment initiative designed for Asian American women who are victimized by domestic violence. The project includes 12 weekly workshops covering core areas: understanding domestic violence, immediate and short-term responses, and long-term legal remedies, including protection for undocumented women.
Esther Kang – Scripps College
Esther plans to sponsor health fairs and health education workshops to contribute to the humanitarian work of INSAN, an NGO serving underserved people in Southern California. INSAN provides food, health care, and education, and this project will expand their services and involve community volunteers in developing wider community support.
Mari Nishitani – Pomona College
Mari’s project will empower rural Nepali women in agricultural cooperatives through five-day experiential field trips to successful women-led cooperatives. The goal is to enhance the women’s inspiration and leadership capacity through digital literacy training, immersive learning of needed skills and knowledge, and space to explore the world outside their villages.
Anya Sharma – Pitzer College
Anya plans to develop a volunteer program to promote literacy among older women in the Achham area of Nepal. She will work with a local organization SAMABIKAS, dedicated to women’s empowerment and resistance to gender-based violence. The project would expand the current work by bringing women together in safe houses to build community and increase their capacities to read and write.
Zumaya Toussaind-Ferrell – Pomona College
Zumaya seeks to revitalize composting systems at Belmont Estate in Grenada. This is a CERES-certified organic farm, which is still recovering from Hurricane Beryl. Work will include a three-part workshop series with young people and farm staff, focusing on composting, sustainable farming, and ecological restoration. The work will also provide research data for future projects.
Madison Wilson – Pitzer College
Madison’s focus is women’s empowerment in Uganda. She will work with local leaders to build community through women’s work and girls’ education in Pandiga Village. Working with the Wameku Cingwa Bagdad Women’s Association, the project will support the expansion of a small sewing workshop into a sustainable enterprise. Madison’s role is to support planning, training, and documentation.