Point Scholars

Jenia Browne (they/she) is a Black feminist student and activist with a passion for social change and community involvement. They are an honors Northeastern University undergraduate student studying international affairs with minors in environmental studies and Black feminist studies. Their research interests include Black feminist studies, Black queer studies, small island states, sustainable urban spaces, and equitable transit systems.

Jenia worked in nonprofit affordable housing and transportation systems as a sustainability program intern at the Community Preservation Cooperation and as a strategic research assistant for the MBTA's Office of Performance Management and Innovation. They are also an Africana Studies Program assistant at Northeastern.

Jenia hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Africana Studies with a focus on Black feminism and Black queer studies. They aim to use their education to promote social justice and equity through education and community organization. Outside of professional and extracurricular activities, they enjoy 80s/90s movies, classical music, theater, reading tarot, dancing, and crocheting.

Ky'Johnna Jamison (she/her) is a writer and filmmaker from Upstate New York. As an artist with training in several disciplines, her ultimate goal is to work in film & television, merging her passions for film and queer advocacy to improve social issues affecting BIPOC and LGBTQ communities. Such representation is instrumental in addressing systemic issues of inequality and oppression.

During her time at Monroe Community College, Ky'Johnna served as Public Relations Senator for the Student Government Association. She also served as Communications Officer for Global Student Union, a student-led organization committed to celebrating cultural diversity in higher ed. In this role, she collaborated with organizations such as APAPA Rochester and New Americans Forum to organize events for cultural holidays including Lunar New Year, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Diwali. As part of her artistic journey, she has been involved in Theater, Film, and Music.

In March 2024, Ky'Johnna's short sci-fi script Ouroborosâ was selected for the Under the Eclipse: Youth Playwriting Festival, and performed by working actors at the Rochester Museum & Science Center.

In her films, she hopes to create positive media representation depicting black and queer stories.

Born in Punjab, India, Jaspreet Kaur (she/her) immigrated to Los Angeles with her parents and older sister in 2000. After 9/11, she witnessed the xenophobia against Sikhs and Muslims that raged across the United States. As a response, Jaspreet began creating films that challenged the stereotypical depiction of underrepresented people in mainstream media. Her film work envisions film as a transformative tool for creating community-led change and healing.

Jaspreet founded Brown Girl Joy Productions, a production and consulting agency, alongside Amritpal Kaur and Amandeep Kaur to create intersectional, innovative, and transformative media centering underserved communities. She produced an LGBTQ short film Zindagi Dobara, which won the Tasveer Film Fund Grant, funded by Netflix and will screen at festivals like Outfest Fusion, Tasveer Film Festival, and Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Through the 2022 Made in Her Image x A24 Beyond the Screen program, Jaspreet gained insight about the business of filmmaking. As an Artist Disruptors Fellow with the Center for Cultural Power, she wrote an original, LGBTQ South Asian drama television pilot.

Noah Mancuso (he/him) grew up in West Virginia and has always been passionate about health. He studied global health at Duke University and chemistry at UNC Chapel Hill during his undergrad studies as a Robertson Scholar, before working in the global health field for several years. Noah recently graduated from Emory University as a James W. Curran Scholar with a Master of Science in Global Epidemiology and will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Epidemiology starting in the fall of 2023. His research is in understanding and addressing disparities in HIV prevention and treatment. Much of Noah's work has focused on the diverse LGBTQ community, both domestically and internationally, which led him to create the Queer Health Consulting (QHC) group. Noah looks forward to continuing to advance LGBTQ issues in the public health field and improving health for all.

Stephanie Rosado (she/her) started her doctoral journey after a diverse background of professional experiences: professional athlete, various healthcare roles, and working as a licensed social work supervisor in a child welfare agency in Philadelphia. As a Queer Puerto Rican Latina, Stephanie is passionate about promoting positive health, mental health, and lifestyle outcomes for marginalized groups, athletes, and adults.

Her research focuses on health and well-being, the intersection of social work and athletics (i.e., sports social work), and her dissertation research explores the quality of life impact of osteoarthritis among adults. Stephanie completed two terms on the executive leadership team for the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports. She served on an osteoarthritis panel for a drug development workshop co-sponsored by the FDA and the Arthritis Foundation and the 2023 Arthritis Foundation Pathways Conference. While at USF, Stephanie founded a monthly support group to build community and belonging among a diverse fellowship of Black and Hispanic/Latinx doctoral students on campus. She is also an ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation and has volunteered for several of its community events.

Nathan Samayo (any pronouns) was born in Guåhan and raised in Tacoma, Washington. He is graduating in 2023 with a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School where he focused on religion and decolonial thought in the Pacific Islander diaspora. He will continue his research at Princeton Theological Seminary in a Religion Ph.D. program studying religion, military technology, and climate change in the Pacific. Nathan has served in multiple leadership roles including Student Body President of Seattle Pacific University for two consecutive years from 2018-2020, a youth pastor in Ipswich, Massachusetts., and a co-coordinator of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies Working Group on the Committee for Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights (Ethnic Studies) at Harvard University. Nathan is deeply grateful for his tight-knit communities, family, and ancestors who have paved the way for him to be where he is. Nathan loves reading, dancing, and family BBQs, and aspires to be a hip-hop DJ at some point in his life. After his Ph.D., Nathan wants to be a university religious studies professor, high school English teacher, and farmer.

Warren Small grew up in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois. In the Spring and Summer of 2020, in collaboration with the Alive Center, his local teen center, he started Alive with PRIDE (Providing Resources for Identity and Diversity Experiences), a summer camp and drop-in program for LGBTQ middle schoolers. Warren worked throughout that summer and the 2020-2021 school year with LGBTQ youth and led them through topics including Internalized homophobia, mental illness, bullying, and family/social acceptance. This program inspired Warren to become more interested in politics and to change the landscape for LGBTQ youth on a national level someday. Warren is a sophomore honors political science major at Howard University. On campus, he is involved with the Howard University Student Association in the Student Advocacy Department, serving underrepresented student groups. He was a recent legislative intern with Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and currently serves as a legislative intern for Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY). In addition, He has recently advocated for LGBTQ gender-inclusive housing at HBCU campuses through the White House HBCU Policy Initiative. He hopes to attend law school upon graduation and pursue a career in public interest law.

Robyn Tomiko (she/they) is first-generation Okinawan-American and a first-generation student who grew up in a couple of small Texas towns. Robyn stumbled their way through high school, then ran with wild abandon toward the great unknown of a Bachelor's in English and Linguistics at the University of North Texas, where they graduated Magna Cum Laude. Robyn became a middle school teacher, where they created supportive spaces for LGBTQ students and respectfully rebelled against the increasingly oppressive political and social climate in Texas classrooms. Through their experiences with their students and as a single/solo parent of their own two kiddos, Robyn grew deeply interested in ways to pursue educational equity and justice. While continuing to teach full-time, they earned a Master's in Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Arlington but was still faced with what seemed like insurmountable educational oppression aimed at their students. In 2021, Robyn made the difficult decision to leave the classroom to pursue a Ph.D. in Educational Foundations, Policy, and Practice at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where they are now developing research focused on serving LGBTQ and racially marginalized students. In addition to their research, Robyn assists teacher professional development with A Queer Endeavor, teaches social justice education courses, volunteers for local LGBTQ organizations, and does their best to queer the streets of Boulder, Colorado.