2018 Voqal Fellows Convene in Denver

February 5, 2018

This past weekend at the Curtis Hotel in Denver, Voqal Fellows Alicia Nieves, Amber Royster, Chris Vaeth, Imara Jones, Jeremiah Smith, Micah White, Nick Guthman and Shira Frank came together to kick off the 2018 Voqal Fellowship.

The convening started with a session led by program officer Leah Pryor-Lease and communications associate Jered Weber outlining the history of Voqal and its Fellowship program.

The rest of the morning the Fellows shared their projects with each other and outlined their visions for the future. During these presentations one thing became clear, 2018 is sure to be another impressive year of Voqal Fellowship projects.

“I was blown away by the progressive tech and media projects of my Voqal [Fellowship] colleagues,” said Voqal Fellow Imara Jones.

After a lunch that featured Voqal founder and president John Schwartz, attendees heard from 2017 Voqal Fellows Antonio Garcia, Jeremy McQueen, Tenaja Jordan and DeShuna Spencer who shared their experiences and fielded questions.

Following this informational and inspiring panel, Voqal Fellowship mentors Alyce Myatt and Austin Belali gave the Fellows advice on how to work with their mentors over the next six months.

The final speaker of the afternoon, Voqal education program director Vinny Badolato shared his experience working with startups to give those Fellows looking to start organizations the insight they need to turn their initial ideas into lasting organizations for progressive social change.

The 2018 Voqal Fellowship convening was an excellent start to this year’s Fellowship and we look forward to seeing the great strides these talented individuals will take towards creating a more just and equitable world in the coming year.

Learn more about this year’s Voqal Fellows and their projects on the #makingairwaves blog.