Four GW Students Earn Knapp Fellowships

A quartet of civic minded students at the George Washington University earned the prestigious Steven and Diane Robinson Knapp Fellowship for Entrepreneurial Service-Learning, which recognizes and supports students who transform academic knowledge into tangible, community-centered action.

Recipients Katie Anderson, Rebecca Burns, Alex Glade and Sofiia Khugaeva will each embark on or continue projects that address social issues with discipline-based rigor, experiential learning and community collaboration.

Established through an endowment created by Steven and Diane Robinson Knapp during his presidency at GW, the Knapp Fellowship was envisioned as a catalyst for student-driven civic innovation. Now starting its 15th year, the fellowship continues to fund and empower undergraduate and graduate students who develop entrepreneurial service-learning initiatives.

"These students' projects are outstanding and bring theory and research to bear on local issues in order to deliver significant outcomes for communities," said Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service Amy Cohen. "The Knapp Fellowship highlights the best of GW."

One or more awards, ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 per project, are offered annually to support ambitious, year-long, service-learning ventures. Projects begin in the summer or fall and conclude no later than June 30 of the following academic year. The deadline for 2026 is May 22.

Each fellow works closely with the Nashman Center and a faculty adviser. Together, they co-design, implement and assess projects in collaboration with students and community partners ensuring deep, sustained civic engagement.

Anderson, a doctoral candidate of counseling education and supervision in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD), will work on a project called "The Calm After the Storm Kit" that will provide mental health support for displaced and climate-affected families. She will collaborate with AsylumWorks, a D.C.-based nonprofit that supports displaced families. She will also involve parents and caregivers in the design and feedback process to ensure that the kits are practical, developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive.

Burns, a doctoral candidate of human and organizational learning at GSEHD, will continue work on a project already launched, "Run the World-Appalachia: Empowering Future Women Leaders of West Virginia." The project develops a leadership development program for low-income, first-generation young women from West Virginia, combining a week-long institute with sustained mentorship and peer support to foster enduring leadership identity and skills.

Glade, also a doctoral candidate of human and organizational learning at GSEHD, will use transformative learning theory to promote youth health advocacy and preventative health education for colorectal cancer through her project, "Empowering Advocates as Learning Facilitators: Incorporating Transformative Learning Approaches." Through storytelling, reflective activities and advocacy training, the program aims to help participants develop emotional resilience, a strong sense of identity and the tools to become future advocates for health policy.

Khugaeva is a senior biomedical engineering and health equity major at the School of Engineering and Applied Science whose project, "From Test to Care: A Community-Guided Model for HIV Care Continuity," looks at HIV prevention and equitable access to healthcare in underserved communities in partnership with One Tent Health. Her project aims to develop tools, resources and strategies to ensure that individuals who test at mobile sites are effectively connected to long-term care and services.

The 2024-2025 fellows selected for funding were Riley Lima, Anh Nguyen and Kristen Rodrigues, as each applied their academic expertise to address disparities across diverse communities, with lasting impact for the communities they partnered with.