Srdjan Stakic
My name is Srdjan. I have built GuardianCare AI, a platform that gives a voice to those who cannot self-advocate by flagging potential patient mistreatment. Through the Mira Fellowship, I hope to pilot the system in real-world settings, validating its ability to generate timestamped evidence that ensures accountability and protects the dignity of our most vulnerable.
My name is Srdjan. I have built GuardianCare AI, a platform that gives a voice to those who cannot self-advocate by flagging potential patient mistreatment. Through the Mira Fellowship, I hope to pilot the system in real-world settings, validating its ability to generate timestamped evidence that ensures accountability and protects the dignity of our most vulnerable.
Lull Mengesha
My North Star is creating a world where technology compassionately empowers communities, restores trust, and ensures justice is transparent and equitable for everyone. During the Fellowship, I hope to deepen JusticeLink’s model by learning directly from families impacted by violence, refining our prototype through community feedback, and forging partnerships with advocacy groups and law enforcement that can bring systemic change.
My North Star is creating a world where technology compassionately empowers communities, restores trust, and ensures justice is transparent and equitable for everyone. During the Fellowship, I hope to deepen JusticeLink’s model by learning directly from families impacted by violence, refining our prototype through community feedback, and forging partnerships with advocacy groups and law enforcement that can bring systemic change.
Liz Gerber
Liz wants a future where our technology reflects our best values, not just our fastest algorithms. She wants us to not just ask “can we build this?” but “should we” and “who benefits, who is harmed, and what kind of world do we want to live in?” Liz wants to create a framework that offers hope and direction during this AI tornado. Liz is not anti-tech, but rather pro-human.
Liz wants a future where our technology reflects our best values, not just our fastest algorithms. She wants us to not just ask “can we build this?” but “should we” and “who benefits, who is harmed, and what kind of world do we want to live in?” Liz wants to create a framework that offers hope and direction during this AI tornado. Liz is not anti-tech, but rather pro-human.
Blaine Johnson
Blaine envisions a future when our senior elected leaders look forward to "second summits" of greater civic impact after serving in office. During the fellowship year, Blaine is designing and piloting an outbound pipeline program with former officials to help them secure purpose-driven encore roles and sustain their legacy of service to democracy beyond office.
Blaine envisions a future when our senior elected leaders look forward to "second summits" of greater civic impact after serving in office. During the fellowship year, Blaine is designing and piloting an outbound pipeline program with former officials to help them secure purpose-driven encore roles and sustain their legacy of service to democracy beyond office.
Andrew Hening
Andrew believes homelessness is a solvable problem trapped in broken systems, and he is currently building a change management framework that helps communities rapidly realign funding and services to proven practices, thus driving lasting reductions through more coordinated and accountable systems of care.
Andrew believes homelessness is a solvable problem trapped in broken systems, and he is currently building a change management framework that helps communities rapidly realign funding and services to proven practices, thus driving lasting reductions through more coordinated and accountable systems of care.
Aashna Mago
Aashna is on a mission to demonstrate that strong culture and mastery learning can power schools that are joyful, rigorous, and purposeful, especially for learners who need it most. She’s building Purpose Schools, a Montessori-inspired PreK-8 network, and as a Mira Fellow, will be working to launch her first school in Durham, NC in Fall 2026.
Aashna is on a mission to demonstrate that strong culture and mastery learning can power schools that are joyful, rigorous, and purposeful, especially for learners who need it most. She’s building Purpose Schools, a Montessori-inspired PreK-8 network, and as a Mira Fellow, will be working to launch her first school in Durham, NC in Fall 2026.
Yusuf Young
Yusuf imagines a world where everyone lives in a safe, peaceful community where conflict is resolved without violence. He is working with adolescents who have been suspended or expelled and teaching them conflict resolution skills and emotional regulation practices through unique, one of a kind programming that exposes students to outdoor adventures while also enforcing reading comprehension skills.
Yusuf imagines a world where everyone lives in a safe, peaceful community where conflict is resolved without violence. He is working with adolescents who have been suspended or expelled and teaching them conflict resolution skills and emotional regulation practices through unique, one of a kind programming that exposes students to outdoor adventures while also enforcing reading comprehension skills.
Susannah Staats
Susannah imagines a world where gender non-conforming kids thrive and unleash their super powers through the unwavering support of their parents, caregivers, and the adults around them. She is building out a cohort-based program to support, inform, and empower parents of trans and nonbinary youth so that they can help their own child navigate their unique gender journey.
Susannah imagines a world where gender non-conforming kids thrive and unleash their super powers through the unwavering support of their parents, caregivers, and the adults around them. She is building out a cohort-based program to support, inform, and empower parents of trans and nonbinary youth so that they can help their own child navigate their unique gender journey.
Pomy Singh
Pomy envisions a world where patients have more power in their own healthcare. She will spend the year speaking with industry leaders, building alliances with healthcare providers, and prototyping her solution that gives patients more control in their healthcare choices and costs.
Pomy envisions a world where patients have more power in their own healthcare. She will spend the year speaking with industry leaders, building alliances with healthcare providers, and prototyping her solution that gives patients more control in their healthcare choices and costs.
Tasha Russman
Tasha is building HomeVitals, which treats your home like your health -- because your future depends on both. HomeVitals is an applied AI startup with the mission to help homeowners and insurers work from the same data, plan for the same risks, and act before small issues turn into overwhelming crises.
Tasha is building HomeVitals, which treats your home like your health -- because your future depends on both. HomeVitals is an applied AI startup with the mission to help homeowners and insurers work from the same data, plan for the same risks, and act before small issues turn into overwhelming crises.
Anne Hamilton
Anne envisions a world where no one is afraid of death because they have the rituals and framework to give it meaning and make it enlivening. Her goal during the fellowship year is to design and pilot a 5 Day retreat -- a modern "Garden of Epicurus" experience -- centered around death anxiety and informed by ancient wisdom, existentialism, psychotherapy, and mysticism.
Anne envisions a world where no one is afraid of death because they have the rituals and framework to give it meaning and make it enlivening. Her goal during the fellowship year is to design and pilot a 5 Day retreat -- a modern "Garden of Epicurus" experience -- centered around death anxiety and informed by ancient wisdom, existentialism, psychotherapy, and mysticism.
Sikander Bizenjo
Sikander envisions a world where indigenous communities have the agency to bring their own ideas into action. Continuing his work as the co-founder of the Balochistan Youth Action Committee (BYAC), a youth-driven grassroots organization in southwestern Pakistan, he will work with young people, empowering them to become change agents for their communities.
Sikander envisions a world where indigenous communities have the agency to bring their own ideas into action. Continuing his work as the co-founder of the Balochistan Youth Action Committee (BYAC), a youth-driven grassroots organization in southwestern Pakistan, he will work with young people, empowering them to become change agents for their communities.
Jack Carey
Jack imagines a world in which diverse, skilled networks of young people connect through shared rituals, experiences, and values, and as they build social capital together they become better equipped to pursue their individual and collective dreams.
Jack imagines a world in which diverse, skilled networks of young people connect through shared rituals, experiences, and values, and as they build social capital together they become better equipped to pursue their individual and collective dreams.
Heidi Weiskel
Heidi envisions a world in which environmental jurisprudence is strengthened by bringing scientific expertise without bias to justices around the world. She will spend the coming year launching this vision of a better world by meeting with judges, lawyers, and scientists, testing training materials, researching legal cases, and building the institute, SciJustice.
Heidi envisions a world in which environmental jurisprudence is strengthened by bringing scientific expertise without bias to justices around the world. She will spend the coming year launching this vision of a better world by meeting with judges, lawyers, and scientists, testing training materials, researching legal cases, and building the institute, SciJustice.
Han Yan Yuen
Han Yan imagines a world where journalists who work in difficult environments are able to operate without repercussion. Drawing from her years of experience in media and the non-profit sector, she will spend her time with the Mira fellowship to innovate infrastructure that will assist journalists in conflict-zones and repressive countries.
Han Yan imagines a world where journalists who work in difficult environments are able to operate without repercussion. Drawing from her years of experience in media and the non-profit sector, she will spend her time with the Mira fellowship to innovate infrastructure that will assist journalists in conflict-zones and repressive countries.
Dart Lindsley
Dart imagines a world in which every workplace is an engine for designing and delivering work that makes employees feel whole and alive. He will spend the year developing management tools and supporting instructional materials, and growing a partner ecosystem for coaching and distribution.
Dart imagines a world in which every workplace is an engine for designing and delivering work that makes employees feel whole and alive. He will spend the year developing management tools and supporting instructional materials, and growing a partner ecosystem for coaching and distribution.
Apekshita Varshney
Apekshita Varshney imagines a world where social justice is at the core of development as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation. She will spend the year building knowledge and alliances to draw awareness and action around the impact of climate-change induced extreme heat.
Apekshita Varshney imagines a world where social justice is at the core of development as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation. She will spend the year building knowledge and alliances to draw awareness and action around the impact of climate-change induced extreme heat.
Sudarshan Mahajan
Sudarshan has been developing the curriculum of the Tiny Monkey Stage programme to help children grow up to be confident, emotionally intelligent and creatively prolific. With almost 50 in person events conducted in 2023 and over 200+ hours of virtual coaching, Sudarshan has developed frameworks for contemplation and storytelling that could be used by children anywhere in the world.
Sudarshan has been developing the curriculum of the Tiny Monkey Stage programme to help children grow up to be confident, emotionally intelligent and creatively prolific. With almost 50 in person events conducted in 2023 and over 200+ hours of virtual coaching, Sudarshan has developed frameworks for contemplation and storytelling that could be used by children anywhere in the world.
Heather Tsavaris
During her fellowship year Heather engaged military veterans to figure out how to prevent veteran suicide and increase their own sense of belonging after service. Together they co-designed several new solutions that are being used today. Heather believes that those who are rarely asked are our greatest design resource. They know the problems because they live them. By activating communities of lived experts to address the problems they care most about, we can solve big issues and build stronger communities.
Through her organization, Atoma, Heather is building a world where activating the knowledge, skills and expertise of all of us improves our individual lives and brings together communities to solve the hardest problems our societies face.
During her fellowship year Heather engaged military veterans to figure out how to prevent veteran suicide and increase their own sense of belonging after service. Together they co-designed several new solutions that are being used today. Heather believes that those who are rarely asked are our greatest design resource. They know the problems because they live them. By activating communities of lived experts to address the problems they care most about, we can solve big issues and build stronger communities.
Through her organization, Atoma, Heather is building a world where activating the knowledge, skills and expertise of all of us improves our individual lives and brings together communities to solve the hardest problems our societies face.
Jill Wolfe
During her fellowship year Jill explored roadmaps to help veterans transition into a life of meaning and purpose outside of military service. Through her own experiences, Jill discovered that being a veteran is an art, and like any creative masterpiece, is often as traumatic as it is transformative.
Jill published a book, Mission, Tribe & Grace: How Veterans Can Lead Change, Find Their Tribe, and Build a Meaningful Life, in the spring of 2025 that guides veterans to new definitions of concepts like courage, belonging, and life purpose. Armed with this knowledge, Jill believes that vets can not only shorten their transitional learning curve, but also allow us as a society to build a strong and steady pipeline of diverse, compassionate individuals who can lead us into the future.
During her fellowship year Jill explored roadmaps to help veterans transition into a life of meaning and purpose outside of military service. Through her own experiences, Jill discovered that being a veteran is an art, and like any creative masterpiece, is often as traumatic as it is transformative.
Jill published a book, Mission, Tribe & Grace: How Veterans Can Lead Change, Find Their Tribe, and Build a Meaningful Life, in the spring of 2025 that guides veterans to new definitions of concepts like courage, belonging, and life purpose. Armed with this knowledge, Jill believes that vets can not only shorten their transitional learning curve, but also allow us as a society to build a strong and steady pipeline of diverse, compassionate individuals who can lead us into the future.