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Branson Awards Junior Fellowships to Class of 2026
Branson Communications

Branson announced the recipients of the Junior Fellowships and In Pursuit of Science Scholarship from the Class of 2026 in Assembly on Monday, January 27, 2025. These fellowships are awarded annually to deserving Branson juniors through a competitive selection process.

This year, a committee of faculty and staff first evaluated the 64 applications (a record number of submissions) though an anonymous process, from which 22 proposals were selected and invited to present to the committee in person. Following these presentations and intense deliberations within the committee, the final twelve fellowship recipients were unanimously chosen by the committee on the strength of their projects and presentations.

The following fellowships and scholarships were awarded:

  • The Chase Fellowship
  • The Raabe Family Fellowship for the Arts
  • The Reid Mangels Fellowship
  • The In Pursuit of Science Scholarship
  • The Werner F. Chilton Fellowship

Congratulations to all of the winners! Read more about their projects below:

Khema Klinetobe
This summer, Khema will travel to Cambodia to film a documentary about the long term impact of the Khmer Rouge’s regime on the mental health of Cambodians. Khema plans to talk to people across generations in order to learn their stories and how those stories intersect with her own family’s narratives. Khema plans on entering the resulting film in film festivals.

Skylar Lariviere
Skylar’s interest in science shows up as dedication in the field by inspiring young learners and providing them with hands-on learning opportunities. She will develop, make, and distribute STEM kits to the youth programs in the community. She will teach these youth, as well as emerging instructors, how to make and use these kits.

Barry Liu
Barry's project aims to address the mental health challenges faced by teens by developing a self-monitoring mental health assessment app, utilizing machine learning to provide personalized support. The app will offer private, instant guidance, helping teens identify early signs of distress and encouraging proactive help-seeking to prevent the escalation of mental health issues.

Maryn McConnell
Maryn will be bringing her artistic background to serve residents of inpatient drug and alcohol rehab facilities– facilities that help people who are detoxing from drugs and alcohol to stay sober and manage the effects of withdrawal. She will facilitate workshops for the residents, and together they will paint a mural that represents the values of the facility. This is a way for the residents to express their creativity as well as give something beautiful to the community that is helping them recover.

Elizabeth Miller and Beatrice Morfit
Elizabeth and Bea will be working with a migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico that helps women seeking asylum in the United States. They will plan and execute a storytelling workshop that uses embroidery and interviews to amplify the voices of immigrants. They will then display the embroidered art in a gallery to raise money and awareness on immigration issues, and submit the interviews to an immigration archive at the Smithsonian.

Kaylyn Molloy
Kaylyn will travel to the island of Rotuma to conduct interviews of islanders as well as document her time on the island to produce an interactive exhibit that will relay both her experience and the highlights of Rotuman culture. By bringing the indigenous perspectives outside of the island, her goal is to help people understand that all Pacific islands have their own unique traditions and practices and aren't confined by a single common narrative. 

Kyle Penczak
Kyle will connect Play Marin and Marin Rowing to advance socioeconomic diversity and inclusion in rowing, a sport often limited by financial and systemic barriers. By creating opportunities for underrepresented youth to access rowing, he seeks to help foster a sense of belonging, teamwork, and personal growth while challenging the sport’s traditional exclusivity. Through this partnership, he aims to build bridges between diverse communities, ensuring rowing becomes a more equitable and accessible space for all.

Alexandra (Xandra) Sebastiani
Xandra's project, Bridging Generations, seeks to narrow the intergenerational gap between adolescents and the elderly by fostering meaningful social connections that enhance mental well-being for both groups. Through an eight-week program featuring in-person discussions, activities, and shared experiences, her initiative aims to build lasting bonds, culminating in a toolkit to enable similar efforts in other communities.

Dael Tao
Dael’s project promises to bring some immediate assistance to an important Marin-based nonprofit called Sanzuma. Sanzuma helps public schools and homeless shelters source fresh produce directly from local farms. Dael will be developing his programming skills to help streamline Sanzuma’s process on the back end, helping the nonprofit make an even bigger impact on the organizations they serve. 

Kaitlyn White
Through conducting interviews and attending juvenile court cases, Kaitlyn will research and expose the circumstances by which children commit crimes, as well as highlight the injustices of trying minors as adults.

Sadie Winter
Sadie will take on the responsibility of raising and training a guide dog puppy from Guide Dogs for the Blind and will work with Guide Dogs for the Blind and the National Institute of Canine Service and Training to learn more about service dogs and how they support people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and PTSD. She will then use this knowledge to educate Branson and the larger community to raise awareness around the importance of supporting service animal organizations.

Anina Yang
Anina will write and illustrate a children's book targeted at ages 6-9 on the subject of pediatric cancer that will be accessible for the patients themselves, and also for families, friends, and people in general to be better informed on the experiences that pediatric cancer patients go through. She will use information from interviews with doctors and families to create a piece of children’s literature weaving together experiences and educational information that can be utilized in school, hospital, and family settings.

Junior Fellowship winners, Class of 2026

Front: Skylar Lariviere, Khema Klinetobe, Sadie Winter with GDB puppy, Dale Tao

Middle: Elizabeth Miller, Bea Morfit, Barry Liu

Back: Anina Yang, Xandra Sebastiani, Kaylyn Molloy, Maryn McConnell, Kyle Penczak

Not Pictured: Kaitlyn White