Meet the 2025 Civic Season Design Fellows
In the summer of 2021, Civic Season launched as a new nationwide tradition. Now, in its 5th year, it has grown to include over 500 participating organizations across the country. Taking place between Juneteenth and July 4th, Civic Season offers a unique opportunity to explore personal stories and our shared history through events and activities in neighborhoods, museums, and community spaces.
In 2025, we’re proud to celebrate the 5th Annual Civic Season — a milestone in this growing national tradition. We’re also thrilled to welcome our fourth cohort of Design Fellows, whose creativity and collaboration will continue shaping how communities across the country connect with history and civic engagement.
The 2025 Civic Season Design Fellows
Our 2025 Civic Season Design Fellows consist of 10 fellows between ages 18 and 29, bringing a dynamic mix of perspectives, talents, and passions to the 5th Annual Civic Season. Selected from a highly competitive pool, they include artists, activists, educators, students, and community leaders from across 10 states, representing both rural and urban communities from Arizona to Georgia. They are pursuing diverse paths — teaching, launching initiatives, advancing careers, or deepening their studies. They are fans of film photography, hiking, and Hawaiian history. In short, as a group, they are multifaceted — much like Civic Season.
This year, our 2025 Fellows will partner with over 700 cultural institutions nationwide to shape Civic Season. Their work will focus on fostering community building within museums, creating programs and content that connect people to history and inspire civic action.
Read on to learn all about the 2025 Civic Season Design Fellows!
Scottie Vandy
Scottie Vandy is a student at Georgetown University double majoring in American Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies. Scottie calls London, Kentucky home and is a proud first-generation college student! He is also very interested in music, Pop Culture, and Appalachian history!
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I am excited to bring Appalachian history, Pop Culture knowledge, and general good vibes!!!
Brooke Tran
Brooke Tran is a Master of Public Policy (MPP ’25) student at the University of Michigan but hails from sunny Southern California. While her background centers higher education research, she is interested in continuous/process improvement and social policy broadly. Brooke holds a BA in English with minors in Data Science, Sociology, and Film Studies (for fun) from the University of the Pacific.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? Brooke is eager to leverage her experience in project management, strategic planning, and community engagement to design dynamic and accessible programming that encourages young people to connect with history and civic life. Her career interests are closely tied to urban planning and the concept of “third spaces” — places like museums that foster community connection. As rapid development and technological change reduce opportunities for casual visits to these spaces, she’s passionate about creating initiatives that give people the tools to foster their own development. She brings a multidisciplinary approach, a strong commitment to equity, and her positionality as the daughter of an immigrant and refugee couple from a Vietnamese enclave, where most families had limited cultural and socioeconomic capital.
Eliana Massey
Eliana Massey (Kanaka Maoli/Mexican-American/European-American) is studying museum studies, philosophy of science, community engagement, and Pacific Island studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Eliana loves learning to cook new recipes, trying new art mediums, and meeting new people.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I am most excited to bring my experience as a Native Hawaiian who grew up outside of Hawai’i. Sadly, the majority of Native Hawaiians live outside of Hawai’i. I think it is important to include the perspectives of Pacific Islanders in diaspora (and others in diaspora) in programming. I am also excited to bring my expertise in digital humanities, community engagement, and public history to this fellowship.
Keonte Wells
Keonte Wells is an accomplished elementary school teacher with experience teaching multiple subjects and grade levels. A multiple-time Teacher of the Month, he holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and is passionate about history and education, creating engaging lessons that connect the past to the present. Keonte is dedicated to fostering student success and collaborating with fellow educators to make a lasting impact.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I am most excited to bring my passion for history and education to this fellowship. As an elementary school teacher, I strive to make learning engaging and meaningful by connecting the past to the present.
Haoshu Sascha Deng
Haoshu Sascha Deng is a multimedia artist who is interested in exploring themes of memory, migration, isolation, and community in her work. Outside of her art, she is passionate about youth development and arts education. She is a 2024 Marwen Emerging Teaching Artist and a 2023 NU Public Interest Program Fellow.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I’m most excited to apply new skills and ideas in design, video, and coding that I have learned recently in work that can help raise more awareness for social change.
Erik Li
Erick Li is a finance major at Arizona State University with experience in financial modeling and investment research. He is passionate about using data-driven strategies to solve real-world problems, particularly in sustainability and business innovation. Erick has a strong interest in leveraging technology to create impactful solutions for global challenges.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I’m most excited about bringing my cultural knowledge and my soft skills to the table, as well as my positive attitude during the fellowship.
Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell is a Civic Engagement Specialist based in Georgia, with extensive experience in grassroots organizing and electoral mobilization. She has led initiatives to empower communities through advocacy campaigns focused on voter engagement, environmental justice and criminal justice reform. Maggie is passionate about fostering inclusive and impactful community programs that address systemic barriers in the South.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? As a political nerd and “wannabe” historian, I am excited to bring my understanding of civics, history and black culture to this Fellowship.
Amanda Morrison
As a born and raised Missourian and former English teacher in Spain who now lives in Philadelphia, Amanda has a breadth of lived experience across different communities that fuels her passion for public service. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Strategic Communications and Global Studies from Temple University and has worked in communications for over five years in both the education and nonprofit spaces.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I’ve lived in Missouri, Pennsylvania, the Netherlands, Ecuador, and Spain. This lived experience across diverse geographic regions, cultures, and communities gives me a unique understanding of how to bring people together across differences and bridge the gaps that otherwise prohibit effective civic discourse and social progress.
Vi Anderson
Vi Anderson is an artist and graphic designer. Vi makes art about identity using video, acrylic paint, photography, and other digital software as mediums.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? I’m just glad to be a part of something so positive. I am excited to learn how to use my skills to organize change.
Camille Serrano
With a background in advocacy and nonprofits, Camille has previously worked on political campaigns of Beto O’Rourke and Lina Hidalgo, and sits on the executive board of OutVote, a nonprofit centered on mobilizing young LGBTQIA+ voters. After completing her AA at Fullerton College, Camille transferred on a full ride to UCLA and is currently obtaining her masters in communication through Johns Hopkins. As a queer, second generation Korean Pilipina, Camille believes in amplifying youth voices in the collective vision of dismantling all systems of oppression.
What are you most excited about bringing to the Fellowship? Being born to immigrant parents, I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of community-driven efforts and how critical it is to amplify diverse perspectives. Civic Season is an opportunity to build lasting civic traditions, and I want to help shape an inclusive, impactful experience that energizes youth nationwide. As someone who values equitable civic spaces, I’m excited to co-design an initiative that empowers us to take ownership of our communities and futures.
