Fall 2026 Trusted Creator Fellows

Allie Joy is a board-certified art therapist, licensed professional counselor, content creator, and advocate for accessible creativity, mental health education, and greater understanding of the art therapy profession. Her platform began as a way to increase awareness of what art therapy is (and isn’t), including its place as a master’s-level, regulated and credentialed mental health profession. Over time, her content has expanded to explore creativity’s relationship to mental health, burnout, self-expression, and the psychology behind the things we make and why we’re drawn to them.

Amanda McGonigle is a Massachusetts-based content creator, advocate and activist. She’s amassed a following of over 3 million across platforms by speaking truth to power, especially around immigration issues. She is currently suing the administration for infringing on her first amendment rights.

Amiyah King is a New Orleans-based death doula and doctoral candidate who uses storytelling to make complicated policies, systems, and resources more accessible to the public. Her work explores the connections between exposure to violence, trauma-informed care, and grief, with a focus on how public systems respond to vulnerable populations.

Anthony Covert is one of the hosts for Concrete Mama, a podcast that confronts prison stereotypes through real-life stories and lived experience. He was released after serving 16 years at Washington State Penitentiary. He is now a student at Whitman College, studying economics and sociology.

Barrie (they/them) is an LGBTQ+ storyteller creating content inspired by real life. Through short-form skits and adventure vlogs, they blend humor, curiosity, and thoughtful reflection to tell stories that educate, encourage authenticity, and bring joy.

Brit Koch is an Indigenous content creator and author of Rooted and Radical, a guide to decolonizing self-care. She covers land protection, food access, and public health. She connects what’s happening now to the history that set it up, and her work makes the case that rest and care keep people in the fight, not pull them out of it.

Carlie St. Fleur is a communications student, mentor, and founder of Dreamer Success, a platform dedicated to helping students discover educational and professional opportunities. Through digital storytelling and mentorship, she shares resources and insights that help young people navigate their academic and professional journeys.

Frances Danger (she/they) is a Mvskoke/Semvnole Native Rights Advocate and nontraditional independent journalist who has parlayed her classes in 8th grade Journalism and 9th grade Newspaper into a freelance situation in which she commits random acts of journalism. Known for getting mad on the internet, she has gone viral for her educational Twitter threads, her staunch defense of Native sovereignty and accurate media representation, and for holding up a pie 5 years ago decrying colonization that resurfaces every Thankstaking/Indigenous Feast Day. Her bylines may be found under both Frances Danger and Frances Herrod.

James Sergio Crocker is a student, progressive organizer and creator from East Granby, Connecticut. James started using his platform to promote a local Pride event he was organizing in his community. After realizing how social media could be used for good, he began using it to promote civic engagement to his Gen Z audience. Alongside school and get out the vote efforts for this year’s midterms, he’s currently organizing a nationwide bus tour to register first-time voters in anticipation of the 2028 election.

Jolaade Kalinowski, known as @themommyprofessor, is a content creator by night, public health professor by day and mom of three. She provides real talk and funny takes based on her POV as a working mother in academia and public health. She also provides career and mentorship advice that she wished that she had as a first-generation American and doctoral student. She hopes to demystify research, academia and realities of working motherhood in America.

Kala Riggins is a creator, host, and storyteller building conversation-led media for millennial women navigating identity, culture, ambition, and adulthood. Through her platform Thoughts From My Thirties, she uses personal storytelling, interviews, and cultural conversations to help women make sense of themselves and the world around them—and ultimately create lives that feel like their own.

Kimberly Parris, known online as Kimi Michelle, is a chef, restaurant consultant, culinary storyteller, writer, and food justice advocate with over two decades of experience on both sides of the pass. She believes that food is a vehicle for joy, community, and bridging cultural gaps. She amplifies this belief through her work with the BlaQue Resource Network, through storytelling as the Food & Culture correspondent for Women for the Culture, and through her Substack, At the Kitchen Table.

Kristy DeGraaf is a family childcare provider and advocate with nearly 30 years of experience working with children and families. She uses her digital platforms to advocate for a stronger early childhood system that works for children, families, and the providers who care for them. Her work centers on the belief that children and communities thrive when they have access to high-quality care, strong relationships, meaningful play, and plenty of opportunities to explore and connect with the natural world.

Laura O’Dea is a political analyst and legal reform advocate who is also an active duty military spouse. She earned dual bachelors degrees in psychology and criminology, as well as a masters degree in legal and forensic psychology. She creates content to spread awareness about legal reform, mental health awareness, progressive politics, and to help give military families the tools to utilize their first amendment rights in support of American service members and against the rise of inequality and fascism in American politics.

Mente (they/she) is a Dominico-Taiwanese filmmaker and multimedia producer who creates snackable media that entertains and educates. Using comedy, they turn topics like colonialism and reproductive rights into conversations anyone can join through projects like their brainchild, “La Mente Open.” Since their start at Univision’s creative agency, Mente’s award-winning work has drawn 18M+ views and 200k+ followers across digital platforms.

Mia (helloitsmia.tech) is a software engineer and online investigator who creates content at the intersection of technology, AI, cybersecurity, and media literacy. She is especially interested in the ways these fields increasingly overlap and shape how people understand information online. Mia believes these topics affect everyone and is passionate about making complex technical ideas accessible, useful, and understandable to a broad audience.

Michelle Ramirez is a Mexican, Spanish-language creator in Washington. She amplifies the voices and experiences of the underrepresented local Latino community. Her content covers local events along with immigrant advocacy and keeps the Spanish-speaking community informed about issues directly affecting their lives.

Rachel Bender is a B.S. candidate in public relations, advertising, and applied communications at FIU, White House-recognized advocate, and board member of the Arthritis Foundation Tampa Bay. Since 14 years old, she has built a community of more than 86,000 across platforms making non-apparent disability and chronic illness impossible to ignore.

Rida Ali is a Pakistani American journalist and digital storyteller whose work explores South Asian history, Muslim identity, culture, and collective memory. A graduate of NYU and SOAS University of London, she has created and developed stories with organizations including PBS/ITVS, AJ+, and Zeteo. Through her platform, Rozana with Rida, she hopes to help Muslim and South Asian communities better understand their past while building stronger infrastructure for Muslim creatives to tell authentic, nuanced stories.

Whitney Roberts is an award-winning writer and content creator whose work focuses on community care and amplifying marginalized voices. She has been honored by the NAACP, has been featured in the New York Times, MSNow, Wired, i-D, & NBC, contributed to TheRoot, Shondaland, Insider, and Parents, and collaborated with NPR, WHYY, and various philanthropies.