The Current Fellows
The 2025 Maharam Fellows are working in arenas not typically associated with art and design students. They have the opportunity to effect real change in sustainability and social justice through internships with local and global organizations and communities. As part of the program, fellows blog about their experiences throughout the summer and make a final report to Maharam about what they discovered through their internships.
Areeha Ahmad | Labour Education Foundation
MA 2026 | Global Arts & Culture
Areeha Ahmad is a Global Arts and Culture graduate student at RISD whose work bridges academic theory with grassroots activism. Born and raised in Pakistan, she earned her degree with distinction in Cultural Studies from the National College of Arts, Lahore, where her research critically examined women’s agency beyond secular-liberal frameworks. Through the Maharam Fellowship, Areeha will collaborate with the Labour Education Foundation (LEF) in Lahore, immersing herself in Pakistan’s labor rights movement. Her project involves two interconnected elements: unearthing the often-overlooked history of Pakistan’s labor movements through archival research, and developing a transformative “manual for resistance” that amplifies workers’ voices, particularly women laborers. Working alongside LEF’s dedicated team, she will facilitate vocational workshops and participate in door-to-door advocacy campaigns. Through this fellowship, Areeha seeks to forge genuine connections with community members, preserve powerful untold stories, and translate her passion into meaningful change by bridging the gap between academic understanding and tangible action in workers’ lives.
MA 2026 | Global Arts & Culture
Areeha Ahmad is a Global Arts and Culture graduate student at RISD whose work bridges academic theory with grassroots activism. Born and raised in Pakistan, she earned her degree with distinction in Cultural Studies from the National College of Arts, Lahore, where her research critically examined women’s agency beyond secular-liberal frameworks. Through the Maharam Fellowship, Areeha will collaborate with the Labour Education Foundation (LEF) in Lahore, immersing herself in Pakistan’s labor rights movement. Her project involves two interconnected elements: unearthing the often-overlooked history of Pakistan’s labor movements through archival research, and developing a transformative “manual for resistance” that amplifies workers’ voices, particularly women laborers. Working alongside LEF’s dedicated team, she will facilitate vocational workshops and participate in door-to-door advocacy campaigns. Through this fellowship, Areeha seeks to forge genuine connections with community members, preserve powerful untold stories, and translate her passion into meaningful change by bridging the gap between academic understanding and tangible action in workers’ lives.
Avrie Allen | The Visiting Room Project
MFA 2026 | Graphic Design
Avrie Allen is a graphic designer and artist from Columbus, Indiana. She is a Graphic Design MFA student at RISD. Her current practice focuses on political imagination, the “end of history”, and cultivating agency; she is interested in collaborative and counter knowledge production, collective subjectivities, and utilizing feminist methods in design. Avrie will be working with The Visiting Room Project (TVRP) this summer, a non-profit archive in New Orleans supporting individuals who are facing or have faced life-without-parole in Louisiana’s prison system. She will be working with TVRP staff to plan and conduct a zine-making workshop for women and gender nonconforming people to talk about their experiences and desires for the communities they live in. She will also work with TVRP to create a trauma-informed narration handbook for future interviews conducted around sensitive topics. Within this fellowship, Avrie is excited to bridge her academic work with feminist, abolitionist praxis, and to explore how creative rigor and community organizing can work together in the pursuit of collective change..
MFA 2026 | Graphic Design
Avrie Allen is a graphic designer and artist from Columbus, Indiana. She is a Graphic Design MFA student at RISD. Her current practice focuses on political imagination, the “end of history”, and cultivating agency; she is interested in collaborative and counter knowledge production, collective subjectivities, and utilizing feminist methods in design. Avrie will be working with The Visiting Room Project (TVRP) this summer, a non-profit archive in New Orleans supporting individuals who are facing or have faced life-without-parole in Louisiana’s prison system. She will be working with TVRP staff to plan and conduct a zine-making workshop for women and gender nonconforming people to talk about their experiences and desires for the communities they live in. She will also work with TVRP to create a trauma-informed narration handbook for future interviews conducted around sensitive topics. Within this fellowship, Avrie is excited to bridge her academic work with feminist, abolitionist praxis, and to explore how creative rigor and community organizing can work together in the pursuit of collective change..
Quillen Domingue | The Waipa Foundation
BFA 2027 | Industrial Design
Quillen Domingue is a multidisciplinary designer born and raised in Santa Monica, California. Growing up on the west coast, he developed an early appreciation for being outside, which has fueled his interest in place-based education and its role in fostering environmental stewardship. As a concentrator in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies at RISD, he is fascinated by how human relationships with nature have shaped food systems, tools, art, objects, and architecture. This summer, Quillen will be working with the Waipā Foundation on Kaua’i, an organization dedicated to mālama ‘āina (caring for the land) through community-based stewardship, cultural education, and sustainable agriculture. He is eager to learn from Native Hawaiian knowledge systems and explore the reciprocal relationships that have sustained communities and landscapes for generations. Ultimately, Quillen sees design as a tool for education, sustainability, and cultural resilience. Through this Fellowship, he hopes to gain insights that will inform his future work including reimagining educational systems that are rooted in place, while also leveraging the hands-on skills taught through a design based curriculum.
BFA 2027 | Industrial Design
Quillen Domingue is a multidisciplinary designer born and raised in Santa Monica, California. Growing up on the west coast, he developed an early appreciation for being outside, which has fueled his interest in place-based education and its role in fostering environmental stewardship. As a concentrator in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies at RISD, he is fascinated by how human relationships with nature have shaped food systems, tools, art, objects, and architecture. This summer, Quillen will be working with the Waipā Foundation on Kaua’i, an organization dedicated to mālama ‘āina (caring for the land) through community-based stewardship, cultural education, and sustainable agriculture. He is eager to learn from Native Hawaiian knowledge systems and explore the reciprocal relationships that have sustained communities and landscapes for generations. Ultimately, Quillen sees design as a tool for education, sustainability, and cultural resilience. Through this Fellowship, he hopes to gain insights that will inform his future work including reimagining educational systems that are rooted in place, while also leveraging the hands-on skills taught through a design based curriculum.
Sophia Francesco | Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center
BARC 2025 | Architecture
Sophia Francesco is an Indigenous (Tacaute/Mixteca) interdisciplinary designer, advocate, and activist raised in Pennsylvania with ancestral roots in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has worked with organizations such as the Navajo Nation Department of Community Development, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and the James A. Michener Museum that focus on community-based frameworks. With a studio practice based on community engagement, involvement, and participation, she is deeply committed to working with individuals addressing the complexities of the world around them. This summer, Sophia will be working with the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center to continue to bring the story of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to life. She will partner with the Public Programs Department, Collections/Archives Department, and the Executive Offices to learn directly from community members and navigate relationships rooted in reciprocity, mutual exchange, and collaboration.
BARC 2025 | Architecture
Sophia Francesco is an Indigenous (Tacaute/Mixteca) interdisciplinary designer, advocate, and activist raised in Pennsylvania with ancestral roots in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has worked with organizations such as the Navajo Nation Department of Community Development, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and the James A. Michener Museum that focus on community-based frameworks. With a studio practice based on community engagement, involvement, and participation, she is deeply committed to working with individuals addressing the complexities of the world around them. This summer, Sophia will be working with the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center to continue to bring the story of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to life. She will partner with the Public Programs Department, Collections/Archives Department, and the Executive Offices to learn directly from community members and navigate relationships rooted in reciprocity, mutual exchange, and collaboration.
Ellen Fritz | Digital Writing Environments, Location, & Localization (DWELL) Lab
BFA 2025 | Painting
Ellen creates intricate worlds using physical mediums and digital tools—paint, 3D rendering software, and code. Her artistic practice uses data projections and ecological research as input to inform speculative outputs, dissolving boundaries between scientific evidence and mythological storytelling. Through internship experiences as an environmental journalism fellow, educational game developer, and organic material researcher, Ellen has formed a creative methodology that integrates the logic of research into her fabricated fantasy environments. This summer, Ellen will partner with the DWELL Lab and BEAM Ecological Laboratory to create a virtual reality experience visualizing the climatic future of southern Rhode Island in the year 2100. This project focuses on how coastal communities relying on the Blue Economy—fishermen, aquaculturists, wind farmers—will adapt to rising sea levels, diminishing marshlands, and extreme weather patterns. Centered around a sealife harvest festival, this VR world depicts a future where mutualist ecological and technological systems build resilience rather than assuming geographic displacement. Ellen aims to visualize realistic adaptation strategies to mitigate the fear of an uncertain climatic future, realizing the idea that you can only build a future you can imagine.
BFA 2025 | Painting
Ellen creates intricate worlds using physical mediums and digital tools—paint, 3D rendering software, and code. Her artistic practice uses data projections and ecological research as input to inform speculative outputs, dissolving boundaries between scientific evidence and mythological storytelling. Through internship experiences as an environmental journalism fellow, educational game developer, and organic material researcher, Ellen has formed a creative methodology that integrates the logic of research into her fabricated fantasy environments. This summer, Ellen will partner with the DWELL Lab and BEAM Ecological Laboratory to create a virtual reality experience visualizing the climatic future of southern Rhode Island in the year 2100. This project focuses on how coastal communities relying on the Blue Economy—fishermen, aquaculturists, wind farmers—will adapt to rising sea levels, diminishing marshlands, and extreme weather patterns. Centered around a sealife harvest festival, this VR world depicts a future where mutualist ecological and technological systems build resilience rather than assuming geographic displacement. Ellen aims to visualize realistic adaptation strategies to mitigate the fear of an uncertain climatic future, realizing the idea that you can only build a future you can imagine.
Jules Ho | Farglory Foundation
BRDD 2027 | Illustration / Environmental Science and Studies, Conservation & Natural Systems
Jules Ho is a storyteller fascinated by ecology, biology, and environmental science. As a Brown|RISD Dual Degree student studying Illustration and Environmental Conservation, she explores the ability of visual narratives to inform and inspire conservation knowledge and action. On the constant hunt for “storytelling ingredients,” Jules has conducted research on wastewater treatment at the National Taiwan University, forever chemicals in fish at the University of Buffalo, and is currently engrossed in the complexity of sloth diets, nutrition, and microbiome diversity at the Kartzinel Lab at Brown University. This summer, Jules will work with Farglory Foundation on the education initiative An Ecological Venture, which introduces Taiwan’s endemic endangered species and their conservation to elementary school students. Jules and Farglory Foundation will develop a unique plot-based education curriculum that integrates “species characters” and their stories to foster curiosity and empathy essential in inspiring environmental stewardship. Jules will explore the effectiveness of illustration in translating scientific knowledge into accessible and engaging narratives and gain insight into curriculum development through this experience.
BRDD 2027 | Illustration / Environmental Science and Studies, Conservation & Natural Systems
Jules Ho is a storyteller fascinated by ecology, biology, and environmental science. As a Brown|RISD Dual Degree student studying Illustration and Environmental Conservation, she explores the ability of visual narratives to inform and inspire conservation knowledge and action. On the constant hunt for “storytelling ingredients,” Jules has conducted research on wastewater treatment at the National Taiwan University, forever chemicals in fish at the University of Buffalo, and is currently engrossed in the complexity of sloth diets, nutrition, and microbiome diversity at the Kartzinel Lab at Brown University. This summer, Jules will work with Farglory Foundation on the education initiative An Ecological Venture, which introduces Taiwan’s endemic endangered species and their conservation to elementary school students. Jules and Farglory Foundation will develop a unique plot-based education curriculum that integrates “species characters” and their stories to foster curiosity and empathy essential in inspiring environmental stewardship. Jules will explore the effectiveness of illustration in translating scientific knowledge into accessible and engaging narratives and gain insight into curriculum development through this experience.
Kylee Hong | Provincetown Housing Office and Community Development Department
BFA 2026 | Interior Architecture
Kylee is a multidisciplinary scholar and designer passionate about housing, community development, and the role of the built environment in advancing social justice. As a student in the Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program, she is pursuing degrees in Urban Studies at Brown University and Interior Architecture + Adaptive Reuse at RISD, with a focus on housing. Bridging design and policy, she examines how spatial decisions and urban systems shape individuals and their communities at multiple scales. This summer, Kylee will be working with the Provincetown, MA Housing Office and Community Development Department to support the town’s efforts to address housing needs in the face of mounting affordability challenges. Kylee’s work will focus on community engagement for the future development of town-owned parcels and contributing to a form-based rezoning of a key corridor. Through this fellowship, she hopes to support the town’s housing initiatives while gaining insight into how municipal governments can advance housing solutions and community stability through planning, design, and policy.
BFA 2026 | Interior Architecture
Kylee is a multidisciplinary scholar and designer passionate about housing, community development, and the role of the built environment in advancing social justice. As a student in the Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program, she is pursuing degrees in Urban Studies at Brown University and Interior Architecture + Adaptive Reuse at RISD, with a focus on housing. Bridging design and policy, she examines how spatial decisions and urban systems shape individuals and their communities at multiple scales. This summer, Kylee will be working with the Provincetown, MA Housing Office and Community Development Department to support the town’s efforts to address housing needs in the face of mounting affordability challenges. Kylee’s work will focus on community engagement for the future development of town-owned parcels and contributing to a form-based rezoning of a key corridor. Through this fellowship, she hopes to support the town’s housing initiatives while gaining insight into how municipal governments can advance housing solutions and community stability through planning, design, and policy.
Tanmayee More | Hui O Wa’a Kaulua
MLA 2026 | Landscape Architecture
Tanmayee grew up across coastal spaces in India, developing a passion for the ocean and sailing. Becoming a designer, she was confronted with profound issues of materiality and social justice surrounding artifacts produced across unequal people and places. This Summer she will join Hui O Wa’a Kaulua, one of the earliest organizations associated with the revival Polynesian navigation and voyaging canoes, in Hawai’i. Through this experience, she seeks to understand the Canoe’s vitality, which is constituted by a rootedness to island ecologies, as well as routedness creating mobility in the Pacific– to paraphrase the scholar Vincente M. Diaz. Tanmayee will assist in the organization’s workshops teaching non-instrument navigation, Kilo forecasting, and island stewardship. She will also be involved in a sail around Maui, aiming to simulate food self-sufficiency in Hawai’i. She seeks to visualize Hui O Wa’a’s operations from “Mauka to the Makai”– mountain to the sea– in the vein of the methodologies learned across the Nature lab, Landscape Architecture, and material experimentation, adding to the organization’s toolkit, while expanding the design canon.
MLA 2026 | Landscape Architecture
Tanmayee grew up across coastal spaces in India, developing a passion for the ocean and sailing. Becoming a designer, she was confronted with profound issues of materiality and social justice surrounding artifacts produced across unequal people and places. This Summer she will join Hui O Wa’a Kaulua, one of the earliest organizations associated with the revival Polynesian navigation and voyaging canoes, in Hawai’i. Through this experience, she seeks to understand the Canoe’s vitality, which is constituted by a rootedness to island ecologies, as well as routedness creating mobility in the Pacific– to paraphrase the scholar Vincente M. Diaz. Tanmayee will assist in the organization’s workshops teaching non-instrument navigation, Kilo forecasting, and island stewardship. She will also be involved in a sail around Maui, aiming to simulate food self-sufficiency in Hawai’i. She seeks to visualize Hui O Wa’a’s operations from “Mauka to the Makai”– mountain to the sea– in the vein of the methodologies learned across the Nature lab, Landscape Architecture, and material experimentation, adding to the organization’s toolkit, while expanding the design canon.
Sofia Schreiber | Congress of the Birds
BFA 2026 | Illustration
Sofia is an illustrator and writer who is committed to using the tools of visual communication and storytelling to promote a culture of reciprocity with the environment and shed light on the issues threatening Rhode Island’s ecosystems and beyond. This summer, Sofia will work with Congress of the Birds (CotB), a non-profit avian rehabilitation center based in Glocester, RI, to help develop accessible educational materials that teach the public about the native and transitory bird populations, the urgent issues jeopardizing these species, and how individuals can get involved to build respectful and compassionate relationships with the local wildlife. Sofia will draw upon her training in journalistic illustration to contribute a unique perspective to these educational outreach projects, rooted in learning from the CotB’s staff, who have an intimate knowledge of the rehabilitation process and RI’s ecological systems. Ultimately, together with CotB, Sofia hopes to bolster the impact of their efforts by combating misinformation, sharing sustainable practices, and nurturing empathy and care for our feathery friends.
BFA 2026 | Illustration
Sofia is an illustrator and writer who is committed to using the tools of visual communication and storytelling to promote a culture of reciprocity with the environment and shed light on the issues threatening Rhode Island’s ecosystems and beyond. This summer, Sofia will work with Congress of the Birds (CotB), a non-profit avian rehabilitation center based in Glocester, RI, to help develop accessible educational materials that teach the public about the native and transitory bird populations, the urgent issues jeopardizing these species, and how individuals can get involved to build respectful and compassionate relationships with the local wildlife. Sofia will draw upon her training in journalistic illustration to contribute a unique perspective to these educational outreach projects, rooted in learning from the CotB’s staff, who have an intimate knowledge of the rehabilitation process and RI’s ecological systems. Ultimately, together with CotB, Sofia hopes to bolster the impact of their efforts by combating misinformation, sharing sustainable practices, and nurturing empathy and care for our feathery friends.
Mill Shah | Mariposa – Center for Multiple Disabilities and Autism Spectrum
MDES 2025 | Interior Architecture
Mill Shah is an interior architect from Mumbai, India, pursuing a Master of Interior Architecture in Adaptive Reuse at RISD. Her work explores the intersection of art, sustainability, and accessibility; merging creativity, technology, and spatial innovation. She is drawn to design that balances preservation with transformation, creating environments that foster dignity, healing, and joy. This summer, Mill will collaborate with Mariposa, Center for Neurodiverse; Multiple Disabilities, a Mumbai-based nonprofit focused on inclusive education and therapy for children with disabilities. Through the Maharam Fellowship, she will help reimagine Mariposa’s facility into an accessible, low-cost, and sustainable learning ecosystem. Her contributions will include designing interactive learning environments, curating a Knowledge Hub on inclusive design and creative therapies, launching a sustainable product line of student-made crafts, and developing an adaptable exhibition framework. Mill’s work is grounded in empathy-driven design, aiming to build inclusive systems that empower communities. Her project reflects a commitment to sustainable interventions that are replicable, scalable, and rooted in care.
MDES 2025 | Interior Architecture
Mill Shah is an interior architect from Mumbai, India, pursuing a Master of Interior Architecture in Adaptive Reuse at RISD. Her work explores the intersection of art, sustainability, and accessibility; merging creativity, technology, and spatial innovation. She is drawn to design that balances preservation with transformation, creating environments that foster dignity, healing, and joy. This summer, Mill will collaborate with Mariposa, Center for Neurodiverse; Multiple Disabilities, a Mumbai-based nonprofit focused on inclusive education and therapy for children with disabilities. Through the Maharam Fellowship, she will help reimagine Mariposa’s facility into an accessible, low-cost, and sustainable learning ecosystem. Her contributions will include designing interactive learning environments, curating a Knowledge Hub on inclusive design and creative therapies, launching a sustainable product line of student-made crafts, and developing an adaptable exhibition framework. Mill’s work is grounded in empathy-driven design, aiming to build inclusive systems that empower communities. Her project reflects a commitment to sustainable interventions that are replicable, scalable, and rooted in care.
Mawra Tahreem | Center on Forced Displacement at Boston University
MFA 2025 | Illustration
Mawra Tahreem is an interdisciplinary visual artist and researcher who is interested in the notion of migration from South Asia to Europe. Through her motion and visual narratives, she explores impermanence, liminality, suspension, and transition. Mawra’s experimental frame-by-frame animations, installations, and drawings voice absence, silence, time, and space. With a keen interest in ethnography, migration, and community engagement, Mawra has worked with internally displaced groups affected by conflicts and climate change in Pakistan. This summer, Mawra will work with the Center for Forced Displacement (CFD) at Boston University under the supervision of its director, Professor Muhammad H. Zaman. With the support of CFD’s team, she will conduct surveys and interviews with potential migrants in Pakistan, as well as with Pakistani migrants who are already transitioning to Europe. She is interested in exploring the unique circumstances of individuals that forced them to flee.
MFA 2025 | Illustration
Mawra Tahreem is an interdisciplinary visual artist and researcher who is interested in the notion of migration from South Asia to Europe. Through her motion and visual narratives, she explores impermanence, liminality, suspension, and transition. Mawra’s experimental frame-by-frame animations, installations, and drawings voice absence, silence, time, and space. With a keen interest in ethnography, migration, and community engagement, Mawra has worked with internally displaced groups affected by conflicts and climate change in Pakistan. This summer, Mawra will work with the Center for Forced Displacement (CFD) at Boston University under the supervision of its director, Professor Muhammad H. Zaman. With the support of CFD’s team, she will conduct surveys and interviews with potential migrants in Pakistan, as well as with Pakistani migrants who are already transitioning to Europe. She is interested in exploring the unique circumstances of individuals that forced them to flee.
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Talha Shams | Khawaja Sira Society
MFA 2026 | Painting
Talha Shams is an interdisciplinary artist from Pakistan, currently pursuing an MFA in Painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. His practice engages with the fluidity of existence, challenging constructs of ‘normality’ while exploring the complex intersections of identity and experience. This summer, he will collaborate with Khawaja Sira Society (KSS)—a Lahore-based organization advocating for the social and health rights of transgender women and Hijra individuals. Through a series of workshops, Shams aims to support KSS’s economic empowerment mission by equipping the Khawaja Sira community with arts and crafts skills. Given the systemic barriers that prevent them from securing traditional employment, these creative skills will serve as an alternative pathway toward self-expression, financial stability, and greater autonomy.
MFA 2026 | Painting
Talha Shams is an interdisciplinary artist from Pakistan, currently pursuing an MFA in Painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. His practice engages with the fluidity of existence, challenging constructs of ‘normality’ while exploring the complex intersections of identity and experience. This summer, he will collaborate with Khawaja Sira Society (KSS)—a Lahore-based organization advocating for the social and health rights of transgender women and Hijra individuals. Through a series of workshops, Shams aims to support KSS’s economic empowerment mission by equipping the Khawaja Sira community with arts and crafts skills. Given the systemic barriers that prevent them from securing traditional employment, these creative skills will serve as an alternative pathway toward self-expression, financial stability, and greater autonomy.