Abel is an activist and early graduating senior at San Benito High School with a passion for emergency medicine and educational equity. After earning his EMT and ECG credentials, high-stakes emergency care shaped his secular worldview, grounding him in empirical science, logic, and empathy.

A former SkillsUSA District Officer, Abel advocates for expanding high-wage, in-demand technical training across South Texas. He engages directly with community leaders and staff for Representative Vicente Gonzalez to champion Career and Technical Education (CTE)—focusing on strengthening Carl D. Perkins Act funding to broaden local career pathways in fields like healthcare, technology, and skilled trades.

Alongside his girlfriend, a TSTC Paramedic student, Abel witnesses the urgent need for rational, community-centered solutions. He hopes to drive systemic change through evidence-based leadership to expand workforce access and postsecondary opportunity across the Rio Grande Valley.

Abel's scholarship is sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance.

Allen is a doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of North Florida and an English educator with a passion for education, critical thinking, and humanistic ethics. 

His secular identity developed through years of questioning religious assumptions; studying science, philosophy, linguistics, and history; traveling; and building relationships across different cultures and beliefs. He came to see secularism as a commitment to intellectual freedom, evidence, and the ability of people to form their own beliefs without coercion. 

As president of his campus Secular Student Alliance, Allen plans to build community through discussion, service, and celebrations of secular and humanist traditions while advocating for church-state separation. As an educator, he hopes to help students become independent thinkers who can engage differences with both critical thought and empathy.

Allen's scholarship is sponsored by the First Coast Freethought Society.

Amelia is a student at the University of Central Florida pursuing Sustainability, along with certificates in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Theme Park & Attraction Management.

Raised in a secular household emphasizing inquiry and critical thinking, Amelia has carried these values into her academic and personal journey. As a neurodivergent student, she has developed resilience and creativity that strengthen her work in engineering and leadership. 

Amelia is active in campus life and recently joined UCF’s Secular Student Alliance chapter. She is committed to outreach, peer support, and connecting SSA with the neurodiversity community to create inclusive programming. She has also participated in LGBTQ+ advocacy and values spaces that encourage equal rights, evidence-based dialogue, and open discussion.

Amelia’s scholarship is sponsored by the Central Florida Freethought Community.

Anthony is a freshman at Rollins college in Florida. He is very passionate about the environment and environmental justice. 

His journey to secularism is rooted within activism for the world around him. Seeing first hand the prejudice and inequality that his loved ones and members of his community face have helped him come to a humanist point of view. 

His greatest priority in life is being kind to others and always doing the right thing no matter the circumstances. He hopes to go to law school and become an environmental lawyer in the future to continue fighting for what he believes is right.

Anthony's scholarship is sponsored by the Central Florida Freethought Community.

Belén is a 2nd year Masters of Social Work (MSW) student at California State University, Los Angeles. 

Her journey to her secular journey stems from her belief that empathy may be intrinsic rather than taught from a religion. Additionally, Belén has witnessed many injustices and harm that do not seem compatible with the idea of an all-powerful God.

The activism she is engaged with is in advocating for school-based youth and LGBTQ+ youth. She has worked at her college’s Queer Resource center for 3+ years advocating for Title I low-income, first-generation, BIPOC youth in their LGBTQ+ clubs at their high schools as a college outreach coordinator.

Belén is the recipient of the Thomas W Jendrock Secular Student Alliance Scholarship.

Brittany is an activist and Social Work student at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Her activism focuses on children and families who live in poverty and helping expand resources and ease access by observing gaps and barriers and bringing this to the attention of lawmakers.

Her secular identity is rooted in the belief that there should be a separation between church and state, and our government should not use religion to dictate laws. She foundationally believes we should also support our working families.

As a Missouri resident, she has seen barriers to services, as recently the state has overwritten the peoples vote on abortion rights, and we once again must vote on this issue, especially with deaths of pregnant women with complications rise.

With her degree, she will provide therapy to children and families in underserved communities, while respecting their beliefs. She will use her knowledge working with families to learn about the problems our families face and advocate for better services.

Brittany's scholarship is sponsored by the Rationalist Society of St. Louis.

Chelsea is an activist and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a passion for social justice and educational reform. 

Chelsea’s secular identity is rooted in the belief that any form of religious proselytization is coercion. Their connection to their secular identity inspired their activism for limiting religious influence in public schools, whether by removing it entirely or by leveling the playing field: if one religion must be included, then all will be, as a form of malicious compliance.

As a teacher, Chelsea has seen first-hand how barriers to multiple viewpoints can prevent people from seeing a world outside themselves and the Christian-American bubble. 

Chelsea hopes to eventually abolish all public funding to private institutions, religious or otherwise. Regardless of religiosity, private schools are not required to abide by certain rules and regulations, which often leads to discrimination. The separation of church and state must be absolute, and all remnants of religious-based rules and requirements removed from public schools entirely. All religious topics should be discussed in a neutral manner with no bias toward any one religion.

Chelsea's scholarship is sponsored by the Spike Wadsworth and Y. Sherry Sheng Scholarship Fund.

Demilade (Demi) is a graduate student at Harvard Kennedy School in Massachusetts, pursuing

a Master in Public Administration with a passion for educational equity, human rights, and public service.

Raised in Nigeria by a Muslim father and Christian mother, with family traditions rooted in Yoruba spirituality and Cuban Santería, Demi’s secular identity grew from experiencing the beauty of different belief systems and recognizing the importance of protecting everyone's freedom of conscience.

Her activism includes participating in demonstrations opposing government-sponsored prayer in Oklahoma public schools, advocating for religious freedom and LGBTQ+ equality, and promoting STEM education. As the founder of the TTOE Foundation, Demi has also worked to expand educational opportunities for underserved students in Nigeria.

Demi hopes to build a future where public institutions are guided by evidence, human dignity, and equal opportunity, regardless of religious belief.

Demi is the recipient of a scholarship for a student activist in ROTC, reserves, or active duty military.

Dustin is a high school student, volunteer, and avid activist attending Hightower High School in Houston, Texas. He has a passion for animal care and conservation, and is committed to standing up for the justice of all through outreach, protest, and charity. 

Dustin believes that his secular identity is foundational to who he is, having been raised on humanist values by ex-Mormon parents. It is as a humanist that he finds the propagation of hatred and bigotry in America to be deeply unacceptable. Striving to be the change he wants in the world, Dustin leads his peers in improving their community, has confronted both his school board and city council on their injustices, hosted charity drives and pollinator plant giveaways, presented his work to Houston secular organizations, and much more. 

In the future, Dustin hopes to become a wildlife veterinarian while maintaining his strong presence as an activist in his community, putting action and change into the world, not thoughts and prayers.

Dustin is the recipient of the Strong Backbone/FFRF Student Activist Award.

Ella is an activist and college student at the University of Colorado Boulder, studying Integrative Physiology on the Pre-Health track. She is passionate about healthcare access, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and secularism. Her activism includes participating in women’s marches, BLM demonstrations, Pride, and anti-ICE activism at CU Boulder.

Ella’s secular identity stems from being raised in a family that encouraged questioning, personal choice, and freedom of belief. Her secular values inspired her activism for church-state separation, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ equality, and secular education.

As a bisexual woman, Ella has seen how discrimination and barriers to healthcare can prevent people from feeling heard and respected. She hopes to become an emergency medicine physician and use her secular values to provide compassionate, evidence-based care in rural areas.

Ella's scholarship is sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Metro Denver Chapter.

We are honored to work with amazing student leaders. We hope that you will join us in supporting secular students across the country. 

Emma is an activist and college student at University of Maryland in College Park with a passion for social welfare. Her activism focuses on building community around secular identity and she is working toward creating change on UMD campus by leading her university’s chapter of Secular Student Alliance.

Emma’s secular identity is rooted in the belief that personal connection and mutual aid is the key to living and promoting humanist values. Her connection to her secular-humanist identity inspired her previous two internships serving individuals experiencing homelessness both in Washington D.C. and Baltimore.

As an ex-Catholic, Emma has seen first-hand how the rhetoric that a person needs faith to do good in the world and serve others can alienate those with doubts from not only community, but also their natural desires to do good. She has worked to build a secular community on campus that values meaningful discussion, reaching out to others, and a humanistic worldview.

Emma hopes to become a medical social worker, specializing in illness and the end of life, grounded in humanist values like autonomy, dignity, and service.

Emma's scholarship is sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance.

Flynn is a senior at Texas Tech University with a passion for community building. His focus on campus is creating secular community spaces open to anyone. He has done this through involvement in Tech’s Secular Student Alliance, of which he is now president.

He came to secularism after an arduous process of apostatizing from the catholic church, and many isolating experiences in religious schools. The last of which cemented his passion for making sure anyone who does not fit the mold has a place to go.

As a brown trans man Flynn has seen firsthand how queerphobia and racism can affect leftist spaces, and as such he has focused on building diverse secular spaces. This has come to fruition in events like Second Chance Prom, which he held for the queer community. Flynn hopes to continue his work with the SSA and help combat censorship through a banned book library.

Flynn is the recipient of the Dr. Hector Avalos Scholarship, awarded jointly with Hispanic American Freethinkers.

Isaiah is a student activist at Paradise Valley Community College in Arizona with a long-standing passion for political affairs, constitutional law, and academic excellence. Isaiah is studying to procure a law degree and become an attorney in the United States. Their academic and career focus is centered around the legal and political field, such as constitutional, antitrust, regulatory affairs, and criminal justice.

Isaiah has led activism across Arizona as a political canvasser, engaging everyday voters and citizens on economic and political issues, including collecting petition signatures for ballot measures, voter registration, and educating the public. 

Isaiah’s secular identity has many intersectional elements, assembled upon each other. It is deeply intrinsic to atheism and the pursuit of a better world. Isaiah is a member of the LGBTQ community, which radicalized them to continue achieving equality under the law, on a platform of secularism and religious non-affiliation. 

Isaiah has fought against Arizona’s ESA voucher program, which has instituted a disastrous burden on public education funding, disintegrating a secular education system that instead chooses to subsidize private school tuition, including private religious schools and multi-millionaire families.

Isaiah is the recipient of the Freedom from Religion Foundation Valley of the Sun Scholarship and the Al Luneman / Freedom from Religion Student Activist Award.

Joshua is an 18-year-old Hispanic Cuban freshman and student activist at Eastern Florida State College, with a deep passion for immigrant rights, abortion access, and LGBTQ+ equality. His activism focuses on fighting against the injustices of ICE, defending reproductive freedom, and standing in solidarity with the queer community.

His secular identity is rooted in the belief that human empathy, reason, and shared responsibility must guide us in caring for one another here on earth. 

Coming from an immigrant family, he has seen first-hand how devastating policies and systemic barriers can prevent people from finding safety, dignity, and stability. Having witnessed close family friends get taken by ICE, and seeing how vulnerable communities are targeted, he is driven by a deep awareness of these injustices. He has taken direct action by helping set up protests against ICE and standing up for marginalized groups.

In the future, he hopes to become an orthodontist or dentist, while continuing to spread his secular values. He envisions using his secular perspective to foster open-mindedness, compassion, and community connection, ensuring that he always advocates for human dignity both in his practice and the world.

Joshua's scholarship is sponsored by the Central Florida Freethought Community.

Joy is an activist and graduate student at the University of California, Irvine, pursuing a Master's Entry Program in Nursing with a concentration in Community and Population Health. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, where her research and advocacy focused on women’s rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and inclusion. 

Joy’s secular identity grew from learning to think independently about the beliefs she was raised with and deciding what values she wanted to carry forward. Her experiences inspired research on the suppression and discrimination of Iranian gender and sexual minorities, as well as her continued advocacy for equality and compassionate healthcare. 

In the future, Joy hopes to become a nurse practitioner and create a clinic that provides equitable, whole-person care while continuing to advocate for underserved communities.

Joy's scholarship is sponsored jointly by Atheists United; Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics & Humanists; and the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara.

Juliana is an activist, artist, and Integrated Studies student in Florida who is passionate about psychiatric healthcare reform and environmental sustainability. Juliana uses immersive art to drive social change and is working to create community alternatives to carceral psychiatric practices, shifting to models that support autonomy and freedom from religious control. 

Juliana’s secular identity is rooted in agnostic humanism and existentialism. They believe everyone deserves a life that feels existentially meaningful to them, without pressure to conform to an organized religion. Their commitment to human rights was shaped by an adolescence spent in psychiatric institutions, religious treatment centers, and the Troubled Teen Industry. 

Through their work, they would like to increase public awareness and help enact policy reform that directly leads to an increased quality of life for people within religious and psychiatric institutions. Juliana’s work centers around empowering people in their community to realize their own inherent value and agency to create change and helping them mobilize to do so.

Juliana's scholarship is sponsored by the Humanists of Sarasota Bay.

Kaleb is a sophomore Animal Science student at Prairie View A&M University in Texas with a passion for veterinary medicine and animal welfare. His activism focuses on advocating for animals and promoting compassionate, responsible animal care in his community. He would love to be able to give back to those pet owners who have a financial need. 

His secular identity is rooted in respecting people with different beliefs and perspectives while valuing critical thinking, openness, and freedom of thought. He believes people can have different beliefs while still treating one another with dignity, compassion, and respect.

Kaleb began volunteering in middle school, and gained hands-on experience in animal care, strengthening his commitment to animal advocacy. He hopes to become a sought-after veterinarian and use his career to advocate for animals, educate others about responsible care, and serve his community. His secular values will help him approach that work with compassion, respect, and an open mind.

Kaleb is a recipient of the Cliff Richards Memorial / Freedom from Religion Foundation Scholarship.

Karina is a student at Longmont High School in Colorado. Her passion is medicine, research, and activism through compassionably understanding people’s belief systems.

Growing up, she never believed in God. Her parents grew up religious: dad - Protestant, mom - Muslim. They became Atheists as adults. Throughout her childhood, she learnt about religions, sacred texts, and how teachings are interpreted into daily life. Through a desire to understand the way people interpret the world, she has become a safe person for her peers to discuss their beliefs, while questioning religious activities in school and proposing alternatives.

Karina’s plans involve a lot of schooling: majors in evolutionary biology and bioengineering, a Masters and PhD in evolutionary biology focusing on epidemiology. Then she plans to attend medical school to become a neurosurgeon. Karina hopes to not only advance science towards cures, but also change the culture, lifestyle, and accessibility behind brain disorders.

Karina is a recipient of the Al Luneman / Freedom from Religion Student Activist Award.

Katelyn is an activist and undergraduate student at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Their activism focuses on the intersectionality of education, feminism, and queer rights, and they are working to create change in their community by making a personal difference.

Katelyn’s secular identity stems from her experiences as a curious nonreligious kid raised in a religious world. Her connection to her secular identity inspired her activism for all marginalized identities.

As a queer woman, Katelyn has seen first-hand how barriers to inclusive spaces can prevent people from feeling that they belong. She has worked primarily with young women interested in STEM to build inclusive community support in a field that severely lacks just that.

Katelyn hopes to become an engineer in the future who makes well thought out, socially responsible designs.

Katelyn's scholarship is sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation Cincinnati Metro Chapter.

Kaylee is a senior at the Dallastown Area High School in Pennsylvania. She is involved in activism focused on social issues both outside of and on campus, including an after-school protest that made it to the local news. 

Kaylee also believes in making differences on a small scale through community joy. She makes stickers to give out at her school’s LGBTQ+ club and started a “trinket trade” box in her community. Kaylee is a secularist atheist who is motivated by her curiosity and desire for equality. Being involved in an LGBTQ+ activist group, she has seen firsthand how religion can harm when it is not a free choice. 

As she transitions to college in the coming year, Kaylee hopes to bring more attention to secularism within her current work, believing that the fight for social and legal equality is incomplete without the fight for freedom of (and from) religion.

Kaylee's scholarship is sponsored by The Freethought Society.

Leila is an activist and high school graduate from Minneapolis, Minnesota with a passion for

writing. She dreams of becoming a doctor that can make a meaningful change in her

community. She is attending Tennessee State University as a Biology major hoping to follow a pre-med pathway.

She identifies as a humanist. Growing up mostly in her grandparents home, she saw firsthand how systemic racism deemed Black and Brown people as useless or undesired. Working in a rehab center, she saw people who were tossed off to the side or outcaste for their perceived lack of value. These experiences led her to her humanist identity.

Leila hopes to graduate from Tennessee State University with her bachelor’s in Biology. She

plans to go to medical school to become a physician or medical researcher so she can help

give back to her community and become an inspiring story for others in her community to follow and look up to.

Leila is a recipient of the Cliff Richards Memorial / Freedom from Religion Foundation Scholarship.

We are honored to work with amazing student leaders. We hope that you will join us in supporting secular students across the country. 

Lexie (she/her) is a senior at Michigan State University dual majoring in Experience Architecture and Humanities Prelaw, with a passion for LGBTQ+ rights, accessibility, and education. 

Born into an evangelical household, Lexie grew up being taught that being queer was wrong and that faith should shape how she understood herself and the world around her. As she grew older, questioning those teachings helped her develop a secular identity rooted in compassion, equality, reason, and the belief that people should be free to define their own lives.

As an openly transgender woman, Lexie has spent more than six years advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and creating more inclusive communities. Her experiences have shaped her commitment to ensuring others can live openly and authentically. Through student affairs roles, community organizing, and nonprofit work, she has advocated for LGBTQ+ rights, disability inclusion, and accessible education. 

Lexie hopes to become an educator and future attorney, using her values to advance equality and human dignity.

Lexie is the recipient of the LGBTQ+ Activist Scholarship.

Madie is a senior at the University of Pacific in Stockton, California, where she majors in Communication, English, and Philosophy. 

She first discovered the Secular Student Alliance as a high school freshman, when she often felt isolated due to her secular beliefs. Five years later, she founded Pacific's first SSA chapter and has led a community of more than 40 students. She has organized educational discussions on atheism, morality, and religion, built partnerships with local organizations, and led community service initiatives. In particular, she helped SSA to partner with the Stockton Animal Shelter to clean cages, sort food supplies, and care for animals. 

This year, while studying abroad through Semester at Sea, Madie hopes to establish a secular student community that connects critical inquiry with human rights, global inquiry, and ethical responsibility.

Madie's scholarship is sponsored jointly by Atheists United; Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics & Humanists; and the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara.

Malakai is a freshman in college, who has been working to defend the separation of church and state in public schools since his freshman year of high school. 

After his dad lost his life to the religious trauma inflicted upon him by a cult, he has worked hard to educate his community on the importance of religious freedoms, including the freedom to practice no religion at all. To him, his secular identity means honoring his family, and the world they taught him to love through activism. Thank you for this incredibly generous opportunity.

Malakai is the recipient of the LGBTQ+ Activist Scholarship.

Maya is a sophomore at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where she’s studying Government, Anthropology, and Native American Studies.

In the past, her activism has centered around ending gun violence and promoting firearm safety, feminist topics, and animal rights. She’s currently involved with Dartmouth’s intersectional feminist zine, Spare Rib, and finds joy in volunteering with Centre County PAWS, an animal shelter in her hometown. 

Her secularism informs her goal to pursue a legal career and deconstruct Christian influences on US law.

Maya's scholarship is sponsored by PA Non-believers.

Micky is an activist and graduate student in the Social Work program at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Their activism focuses on providing access to resources for LGBTQIA+ adolescents. Micky is working toward creating change by extending ethical discourse into high schools, juvenile detention centers, and the local community.

Micky’s secular identity is deeply tied to a sense of care for others and is staunchly rooted in creating open spaces for queer folks. They are driven by their personal battle to end adolescent suicide.

As a gender nonconforming lesbian, Micky has seen first-hand how barriers to necessary support networks, healthcare, and LGBTQIA+ resources can prevent people from living in their truth. They have worked passionately with the Florida Blue Center for Ethics to bridge the academic community with surrounding high schools, helping marginalized students gain access to institutional resources.

Micky hopes that they will be able to extend social work, ethics, and transgender activism to facilitate a change in the narrative about teen suicide. For them, the Secular Student Alliance represents a national conversation that aims to confront discriminatory attitudes, hatred, and ignorance.

Micky's scholarship is sponsored by the First Coast Freethought Society.

Nathan is an activist and high school student in Chandler, Arizona with a passion for defending his community against pervasive unwarranted technologies. His activism focuses on constitutional rights and he’s working toward creating change in Arizona by advocating for complete bans on automated license plate readers. 

Nathan’s secular identity is rooted in the belief that governments derive their power from the people, not a religious text, and must remain secular to serve the governed. His connection to his secular identity inspired his activism for civil liberties.

As an engaged community member, Nathan has seen first-hand how barriers to civic participation can prevent people from voicing their opinions. He has directed East Valley Unite, and worked with the ACLU of Arizona to build community support for bans on unconstitutional surveillance technology. Nathan hopes to pass those bans in the future and engage with communities to ensure their voices are heard.

Nathan's scholarship is sponsored by the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix.

Nav is an activist and college student at Appalachian State University in North Carolina with a passion for journalism, religious hegemony, and cultural preservation. His activism focuses on political and social liberation, and he’s working toward creating change in his community by volunteering for non-profit food markets, filming videos for an abortion rights group in Boone, and creating content that explores the intersections of religion and politics in America. 

Nav’s secular identity is rooted in his Tamil–Hindu identity that has encouraged him to learn about religion with a curious and accepting mind, while rejecting extreme dogma and prejudice. He is inspired by the Tamil secular activists of the Self Respect Movement that spread secular ideologies throughout Tamil Nadu.

As a Second–Generation American, he has seen firsthand the obstacles that immigrants face. He hopes to create content that sheds light on the hardships, traditions, and rituals of immigrant communities. Nav has also earned an Honorable Mention in the NPR Student Podcast Challenge by investigating a Charlotte church’s ties to American political figures and right–wing Christian nationalism. 

He is currently working with AppTV to build awareness on Christian nationalist movements, and how politics affects practitioners of folk religion and diasporic religious communities in Appalachia. Nav hopes to create more work that investigates politics and to utilize his secular identity in pursuit of deeper connection with his subjects.

Nav's scholarship is sponsored by the Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle.

Niusha is a high school student at El Camino Real Charter High School in California, passionate about neuroscience. Her activism focuses on making healthcare more accessible and advocating for women in Iran affected by religious restrictions.

Niusha’s secular identity is rooted in her belief in the right of individuals to make decisions about her own lives and beliefs. This perspective has inspired her to advocate for communities facing barriers to healthcare.

Passionate about medicine, Niusha founded a nonprofit dedicated to bridging language barriers in medicine, helping patients better understand and advocate for her health. Through this work, she hopes to make healthcare more equitable and accessible.

In the future, Niusha hopes to study neuroscience and pursue a career in medicine while continuing to advocate for equality, critical thinking, and individual freedom.

Niusha's scholarship is sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance.

Ricketha is an activist and graduate student at Loyola University, Chicago pursuing a dual master’s degree in social work and women’s and gender studies. Their activism focuses on minority stress in LGBTQ+ and Black/Brown populations, centering on creating change against systemic failings of minority groups. 

Ricketha's secular identity is rooted in their queerness. Through identity exploration and community building practices, Ricketha was able to come into their belonging under humanist principles that meaning making and life fulfillment are not mutually exclusive to religious affiliation. 

As a Black, genderqueer, and neurodivergent individual raised in the Bible Belt South, Ricketha understands the detriment that harmful theology can have on human development. Putting her bachelor’s degree in sociology to good use, she developed Deconstruction Sundays, a virtual unpacking of lived experiences, as an opportunity to question traditions, challenge belief systems, and encourage theological transformation through critical thinking.

As a secular social worker, Ricketha is working to build a clinical practice that prioritizes bodily autonomy, sex-positivity and queer affirmation. By interweaving secularist values in its foundation, emphasizing sustainable action and humanistic care models, Ricketha's ultimate goal is to create a future where her services are no longer needed. 

Ricketha is a recipient of the Black Student Activist Scholarship.

Salvador is a college student at The University of Texas at San Antonio with a passion for advocating for Human and LGBTQ rights. 

Salvador's secular identity is rooted in the belief that human dignity, empathy, and universal rights must be grounded in our lived reality rather than dogma or conditional doctrines. This perspective came into focus after recognizing how frequently religious frameworks are used to justify exclusion and marginalization of vulnerable communities. 

As a student organizer and community advocate, Salvador has seen first-hand how cultural dogma and institutional barriers can prevent people from living authentically and accessing safe, affirming spaces. He has used collaboration and community outreach to build broad-based support for LGBTQ inclusivity and comprehensive human rights protections on campus and his former city, Laredo, Texas.

Looking ahead, Salvador hopes to become an electrical engineer working on renewable energy and accessible tech infrastructure. His secular values keep his goals grounded in real-world problems and human empathy, ensuring his technical work is driven by fairness, science, and the practical needs of all communities.

Salvador's scholarship is sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance.

Samsam is an incoming freshman at the University of Oregon from Tucson, Arizona. She is passionate about research sciences, women’s health, and protecting her rights, and plans to reflect that as she studies Biochemistry with an interest in Bioengineering. Her activism focuses on calling out the discrimination she

faces every day as a black woman and pushes for improvement in her community.

Samsam’s secular identity is rooted in her experiences being born into Islam and the many contradictions she dared to challenge. Her journey led her to identify as agnostic, as it reflected her belief in freedom of expression, trust of reason and logic, and the right to explore without unnecessary boundaries. 

As an ex-Muslim, now Agnostic, Black woman, Samsam has seen firsthand how barriers to the ability to express oneself can prevent people from exploring what they truly want in life. Samsam has brought awareness to issues like restricted reproductive rights, the dehumanization of women amidst conflicts, and misogynoir deeply embedded in the medical system, and will continue to do so as she pursues a higher education.

Samsam's scholarship is sponsored by Secular Coalition for Arizona.

Saoirse is an activist and college student at Penn State University with an interest in physics and mathematics. Her activism focuses on human rights and she works hard to create change in her community through organizing, protesting and speaking publicly on attacks on our rights.

Saoirse’s secular identity is rooted in the belief that everyone should be treated equally regardless of their beliefs. Her connection to her secular identity inspires her activism for human rights.

As a disabled woman, Saoirse knows personally how the system disadvantages people for not fitting in the right groups in society, in the educational world and in the workforce. She organized a YDSA chapter at Shippensburg University to help combat the oppression minorities face in their communities.

Saoirse hopes to organize a large movement in the future, as well as earn her degree in physics to do research. Saoirse feels deeply connected to her community, and is deeply motivated in her own life by helping make a difference in other people’s lives.

Saoirse's scholarship is sponsored by PA Non-believers.

Scerick is an activist and college student at Fisk in Nashville with a passion for third party electoralism and secular thought. Their activism focuses on Palestine and they’re working toward creating change in the world by protesting, participating in the BDS movement, organizing communities, and running for local and federal office.

Scerick's secular identity came into focus after struggling with homelessness and being subject to fierce, self-aggrandizing proselytizing of whatever sect of Christianity that shelter preferred to shove down your throat whilst you were utilizing their services. Their connection to their secular identity inspired their activism for homelessness, socioeconomic instability, and freedom of movement.

As a nonbinary trans woman, Scerick has seen first-hand how barriers to employment and housing can prevent people from speaking and surviving. They have worked with the Green Party of Tennessee and the Nashville chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation to build community support for homelessness, secularism, and Palestine.

Scerick hopes to solidify our nation's founding principles of separation of church and state, of freedom *from* religion, by banding together communities, directing that outrage towards a common goal, and fundraising for those that need it most.

Scerick's scholarship is sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, East Tennesee Chapter.

Scott is a third-year Biomedical Engineering student at Oregon State University. He is passionate about improving healthcare, supporting others, and building communities where people feel comfortable being themselves. 

Growing up as an atheist in Salt Lake City, Utah, Scott experienced firsthand how difficult it is to feel excluded because of differences in identity. Those experiences shaped his secular humanist values and taught him the importance of understanding people whose beliefs differ from his own. 

At Oregon State, Scott serves as a Resident Assistant, where he connects students with each other along with campus resources, while working to create an inclusive community. He hopes to become more involved in secular activism through communicating concerns relating to people’s voting behavior being solely tied to their religious beliefs. 

In the future, Scott hopes to combine biomedical engineering research with outreach as well as education to improve healthcare and inspire others to pursue possibilities they once doubted, just as his role models did for him.

Scott is the recipient of the Spike Wadsworth and Y. Sherry Sheng Scholarship Fund.

Siva is an activist and MBA student at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business in California with a passion for engineering and social entrepreneurship. His activism focuses on environmental justice and housing equity, working toward creating change by organizing protests against abusive Section 8 management and deploying Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) systems in low-income municipalities.

Siva’s secular identity is rooted in scientific inquiry and humanistic ethics, forged by dismantling inherited dogmas through empirical global collaboration. This connection inspired his activism for equitable infrastructure.

As a caregiver, Siva has seen first-hand how systemic barriers prevent marginalized populations from accessing safe housing and clean energy. He has built intersectional coalitions to demand transparency from subsidized housing authorities. 

Siva hopes to engineer an inclusive global supply chain, relying on secular, empirical planning to construct a just society.

Siva's scholarship is sponsored jointly by Atheists United; Inland Empire Atheists, Agnostics & Humanists; and the Humanist Society of Santa Barbara.

Star is an incoming Musical Theatre major at Kean University in New Jersey. Her secular identity grew from the belief that empathy and positive change come directly from human connection and our own actions. This worldview drives her community activism. 

In Camden, she has served as an International Thespian Society President and a Spanish translator for her school district, working to uplift local Hispanic families. Her ultimate goal is to launch a free youth theatre program in Camden. By studying early childhood education, she wants to provide creative training that helps the next generation of Hispanic youth confidently share their voices with the world.

Star's scholarship is sponsored by the New Jersey Humanist Network.

Vienna is a passionate youth voting rights and LGBTQIA+ rights organizer and an American University student. 

They have served as Vice Chair of the Delaware LGBTQ+ Commission, Hub Coordinator for Generation Vote in Sussex County, and National LGBTQIA+ Public Policy Director at Bulletproof Pride. Their work centers on the intersections of democracy, gun violence prevention, youth advocacy, and LGBTQIA+ justice.

As a queer, nonbinary young person, Vienna has witnessed firsthand the escalating attacks

against LGBTQIA+ youth by governmental bodies, including their own family’s move from

Texas to Delaware in response to anti-trans legislation. That experience drew them into civic life

in Delaware, where they went on to serve as Vice Chair of the Delaware LGBTQ+ Commission

and Chair of its Youth and Education Subcommittee. 

They hold a strong secular identity and believe deeply in upholding secular values in civic life, applying an intersectional lens to policy, activism, and leadership.

Vienna hopes to engage in political advocacy alongside secular leaders to ensure that government remains a secular space, open to all people, of all backgrounds.

Vienna's scholarship is sponsored by the Secular Student Alliance.

Vitha is a junior at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She is studying psychology and global health. Her interests include clinical and moral psychology and ethical inquiry, especially questions of atheism, humanism, and how people construct meaning, values, and resilience outside of imposed belief systems. 

Vitha identifies as an ex-Muslim, humanist, and atheist and leads Duke’s chapter of the Secular Student Alliance. Her secular identity inspired her activism for ex-religious and non-religious people to have a safe space where they can find like-minded individuals. 

As an ex-Muslim, Vitha has seen how barriers to safe spaces can prevent people from speaking up about challenges. She has worked with SSA to build community and support for students who want to talk about religion’s impact in their life and on the world; she wants students to know they are not alone.

Vitha hopes to become a psychologist to conduct research and treatments for people who have left high-control religion and/or deal with depression and trauma. Her work in secularism has brought so much joy, belonging, and community; things she felt were missing her whole life.

Vitha is a recipient of the Al Luneman / Freedom from Religion Student Activist Award.

Zoey is an activist and student at the University of Texas at Austin. She’s a member of Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS), as well as part of UT’s Polish Society and the Texas Writing Society. She hopes to make a difference in international labor and gender standards through advocacy, journalism, and storytelling.

Zoey's secular identity came into focus as she saw how religious doctrine was used to limit women's choices about their bodies, education, and work. She turned to a humanist worldview, feeling it better accepted and empowered the individuals organized religion seemed to demean.

Zoey has seen firsthand how barriers to equality can keep women from safe workplaces, fair pay, and control over their own lives. She has worked to raise awareness of labor rights abuses and build community support for workers, especially women, whose voices are too often left out. 

Zoey hopes to build a career in international labor and human rights advocacy, pushing for policies that protect workers and women everywhere. She believes secularism is key because laws grounded in evidence and human rights, rather than any single faith, protect everyone.

Zoey's scholarship is sponsored by the Freethinkers Association of Central Texas.