Faith, a Philadelphia native, is dedicated to serving her community through volunteer work. She served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at a local non-profit organization called Students Run Philly Style and has also volunteered with the ASPIRE program and the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project at Penn. Faith believes that to be a member of a community is to be a citizen of it and that it is imperative to contribute time, energy, and ideas to improve the community and care for its well-being. She seeks to bring this approach to the SNF Paideia Fellows cohort, uplifting the values of dialogue, citizenship, service, and wellness.
During her experiences with the Asian Cultural Association and United Minorities Council in high school, Faith gained an appreciation for navigating difficult conversations and learning from others’ perspectives. At Penn, she has continued to engage in meaningful discourse across difference. For example, Faith was a member of the 2023 Alliance for Understanding Cohort and spent six weeks discussing the Civil Rights Movement with a diverse group of Penn students and faculty. The group spent a week traveling across the South visiting museums and historical sites and engaging in dialogue about how to build solidarity across difference.
“I am interested in joining the SNF Paideia Fellows program precisely because it values dialogue. I have always been someone who has been drawn to dialogue, and I love thinking deeply and philosophically about different issues and ideas in the world. The SNF Paideia Fellows Program would be a great opportunity for me to more formally learn skills that are essential to transformative, meaningful dialogue. I would be exposed to plenty of topics that I am less familiar with but would be interested in learning more about through conversation.”
Faith is pursuing a degree in urban studies and history, with an emphasis on urban education and Hispanic studies. She is on the Urban Studies Undergraduate Advisory Board, helping the department plan events and foster a strong community at Penn. Faith hopes to work in the School District of Philadelphia and eventually become a leader in the field of education, impacting educational policy. As a graduate of the Philadelphia public school system and a current mentor to students in the district, she is inspired to be an advocate for the city’s youth. Faith hopes to effect change in the education system through participating in dialogue and learning from community members and leaders while voicing her own opinions and striving for justice and equity.