Who We are

Hunter is a third-year Master of Divinity student at Duke Divinity School. He is pursuing the Certificate in Faith-based Organizing, Advocacy, and Social Transformation. He graduated in 2019 from Milligan College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Humanities. His interests include political theology, economic justice, community organizing, and legal advocacy.

Mahgul Mansoor is a 2nd year MSc candidate at the Duke Global Health Institute, mentored by Dr. Eve Puffer. Her research interests are primarily in global mental health and implementation science. Additionally, Mahgul’s professional goals are to improve mental health access in low resource settings both within the United States and her home country, Pakistan. Her current project focuses on delivering mental health care in a pandemic within North Carolina

Tony is a second-year Master of Divinity student at Duke Divinity School where he is a Thriving Communities Fellow studying theology and ministry. He holds a dual degree in Philosophy and Communications and a Master of Business Administration from Spring Arbor University. His current research interests lie at the intersection of theological ethics and community organizing. Prior to joining Duke Divinity School, Tony was a college admissions officer.

Originally from North Carolina, Monroe is a graduate student in the Neurobiology PhD program. They completed a joint bachelor’s degree at UNC Chapel Hill and the National University of Singapore, studying biology and graduating with highest honors. They currently research how our lungs respond to environmental challenges, such as viral infection or air pollution, to impact brain function. Monroe has long been interested in citizen science and public engagement and intends on continuing work making science more accessible to broad audiences. Alongside creating and translating research, Monroe is an active advocate in LGBTQ communities with a particular focus on improving opportunity for queer people in North Carolina.

Kira is a third-year medical student at the Duke University School of Medicine. Prior to enrolling in medical school, she received her Bachelor of Science degree at Duke University, where she studied Neuroscience and French & Francophone Studies. She then completed a year of service with AmeriCorps, serving as a medical caseworker for refugees in Pittsburgh, PA. Kira is thrilled to be able to continue her work with Carolina Outreach’s Assertive Community Treatment Team, partnering with individuals with severe and persistent mental illness in Durham to work toward their health goals.

Eric is a Sloan Scholar and third-year PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests involve clarifying the concepts learned by machine learning (ML) and making ML more reliable for safety-critical applications. He is from Gainesville, Florida and graduated with a B.E. in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2019. Eric is partnering with Durham Public Schools (DPS) to provide a free afterschool robotics club for local middle schools that need more STEM-based afterschool opportunities. The initiative aims to promote student interest in engineering disciplines through fun, interactive robotics challenges – students will work in teams to program robots to navigate obstacle courses, understand voice commands, and interact with other robots through Internet of Things (IoT) communication.