# Voices ## expand\_more Fellows partner with Religion and Public Life to advance principles of religious literacy in their fields. Explore how the RPL experience has informed, transformed, and affirmed how our fellows connect to their work for a just world at peace. ## Key Takeaways from RPL Partners [### Education Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/education-fellow-2023-24) April 10, 2023 "How do we craft a classroom such that it is a place of dynamic intellectual vitality, where students and teachers experience intellectual awakenings, transformation, and development individually and collectively?" ![Sarabinh Levy-Brightman: RPL Education Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/sarabinh.jpg?h=3ad33cf2&itok=Uq8qclSF) [### Humanitarian Action Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/humanitarian-action-fellow-2023-24) April 10, 2023 "How can we bring change to the humanitarian sector that puts local leaders in the driver's seat, designing, implementing, and carrying out humanitarian response?" ![MIKE DELANEY: RPL Humanitarian Action Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/michael_delaney_square_crop.jpeg?h=f8cb9042&itok=Nt6BqBjj) [### Journalism Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/journalism-fellow-2023-24) April 10, 2023 "What can we learn about our society when we listen to people on the margins?" ![DEBORAH JIAN LEE: RPL Journalism Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/deborah_jian_lee_square_crop.jpg?h=05fb7f64&itok=ojpO4liT) [### Arts and Popular Culture Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/arts-and-popular-culture-fellow) April 10, 2023 "How do you convert a witness into withness? When you witness an injustice, how are you part of the storytelling?" ![MAYTHA ALHASSEN: RPL Media and Entertainment Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/maytha_alhassen_square_crop_0.jpg?h=131105d7&itok=pS3oF2_o) [### Government Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/government-fellow-2023-24) April 10, 2023 "How can the prophetic tools, practices, and forms of inquiry that we cultivate in religious communities be employed inside government structures?" ![Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, RPL Government Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/rev._naomi_washington-leapheart_rpl_government_fellow-crop.jpg?itok=foARkdW0) [### Native and Indigenous Rights Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/native-and-indigenous-rights-fellow) April 10, 2023 "The English language is a barrier to fully interpreting Indigenous ways of knowing and being. What are better words to use when you're talking about religious literacy?" ![CYNTHIA WILSON: RPL Native and Indigenous Rights Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/cynthia_wilson_square_crop.jpg?h=1e8f75a6&itok=IUVbZlQw) [### Community Organizing Fellow 2023-24 ](/news/2023/04/community-organizing-fellow-2023-24) April 10, 2023 "How can those of us who have privilege use that privilege for the benefit of those on the bottom, the marginalized, the dispossessed?" ![ÁLVARO HUERTA: RPL Organizing Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/dr_alvaro_huerta_square_crop.jpg?h=f7ed3f11&itok=n_JS6QJ7) [### Government Fellow 2021-22 ](/news/2022/04/government-fellow-2021-22) April 11, 2022 "How is it that collective memory can be used as a way to produce and expand the notion of future? How can we build multiple ideas about the future through listening to the stories of folks who are organizing for better tomorrows?" ![Karilyn Crockett: RPL Government Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/karilyn_crockett_square_crop.jpg?h=2ab2b4b6&itok=JhXJH0WG) [### Climate Justice Fellow 2021-23 ](/news/2022/04/climate-justice-fellow-2021-23) April 11, 2022 "How can we recognize fire as part of ourselves, as part of our landscapes, as part of our world? How can religion help us explore that question?" ![Teresa Cavazos Cohn: RPL Climate Change Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/tcohn.jpg?itok=ntLPb1g3) [### Racial Justice Fellow 2021-23 ](/news/2022/04/racial-justice-fellow-2021-23) April 11, 2022 "What can I do to ensure that there are more dynamic, more complex stories that center the experiences of Black women like me?" ![Rhon Manigault-Bryant: RPL Racial Justice Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/rhon_manigault-bryant_square_crop.jpg?h=1e24a9c7&itok=VChoCMkt) [### Immigrant Rights Fellow 2021-23 ](/news/2022/04/immigrant-rights-fellow-2021-23) April 11, 2022 "What value am I adding to a particular space? How can I help advance that notion of just peace there? How can I understand when to step back and to not take up space?" ![PHIL TORREY: RPL Immigration and Refugee Fellow](/sites/g/files/omnuum8216/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/rpl/files/phil_torrey_square_crop.jpg?h=1e8f75a6&itok=41LaAjUT) ### Religious Literacy for Social Justice **Greg Khalil** Co-founder and President of Telos Group Religious literacy is one of the “most urgent issues that anyone serious about social justice can undertake.” An RPL fellowship gave Greg Khalil the space to critically think about his work. [Khalil Interview Transcript](/what-we-do/voices/greg-khalil-transcript "Voices – Greg Khalil: Religious Literacy for Social Justice") Harvard Divinity School · Religious Literacy for Social Justice: Greg Khalil ### Frameworks of Inquiry: Monika Johnston **Monika Johnston** World History Educator, Packer Collegiate Institute, New York In times of conflict, assumptions about others can lead to even more conflict. Monika Johnston says RPL gave her students tools to assess their own frame of reference and a drive to actively listen to the perspective of another. [Johnston Interview Transcript](/what-we-do/voices/monika-johnston-interview "Voices - Monika Johnston: Frameworks of Inquiry") Harvard Divinity School · Frameworks of Inquiry: Monika Johnston ### Answering a Call for Change: Shaun Casey **Shaun Casey** Former Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State Students need institutions that aid them in their “vocational call to change the world.” HDS answers that call, Shaun Casey says, by training students to think in a “deeper, more sophisticated way.” [Casey Interview Transcript](/what-we-do/voices/shaun-casey-transcript "Voices - Shaun Casey: Answering a Call for Change") Harvard Divinity School · Answering a Call for Change: Shaun Casey ### Going Beyond the Textbook **John Camardella** World Religions Educator, Prospect High School, Illinois John Camardella’s students have learned how to go beyond the textbook and embrace the “complex ways that religions function in the human experience.” [Camardella Interview Transcript](/what-we-do/voices/john-camardella-transcript "Voices - John Camardella: Going Beyond the Textbook") Harvard Divinity School · Going Beyond the Textbook: John Camardella ### Partnerships in Humanitarian Action **Tara Gingerich** Senior Humanitarian Researcher, Oxfam America Talking with, and learning about, local religious leaders is a vital aspect of successful humanitarian efforts around the world according to Tara Gingerich. After a fellowship with RPL, she saw a fuller picture centered on religious literacy. [Gingerich Interview Transcript](/what-we-do/voices/tara-gingerich-transcript "Voices – Tara Gingerich: Partnerships in Humanitarian Action") Harvard Divinity School · Partnerships in Humanitarian Action: Tara Gingerich ### Advocating for Religious Literacy in Media **Mario Cader-Frech** Former SVP, Public Affairs and Social Responsibility, Viacom International “I only thought religion existed to be religious. Now I feel like I am this advocate in looking at how religion is everywhere.” [Cader-Frech Interview Transcript](/what-we-do/voices/mario-cader-frech-transcript "Voices – Mario Cader-Frech: Advocating for Religious Literacy in Media") Harvard Divinity School · Advocating for Religious Literacy in Media: Mario Cader-Frech