4 Tars Named Phoenix Ginsburg Fellows

As 2026-27 Phoenix Ginsburg Fellows, Ella Afrifa ’28, Sara Gennevee Alvarez ’27, Aimal Irteza ’27, and Angelica Zabbara ’28 join a scholarship and mentoring program that supports students committed to advancing social justice and making a positive difference in their communities.

Established by prolific real estate developer, entrepreneur, and Rollins Trustee Alan Ginsburg, the Ginsburg Family Foundation is led by the team behind The Central Florida Pledge, a community-wide call to action that encourages courage, conversation, and collaboration while creating opportunities for young people to rise together. Through its Phoenix Ginsburg Fellows program, the foundation seeks to inspire, equip, and support the next generation of leaders through civic engagement, community organizing, and positive activism, empowering young people to create meaningful, lasting change in their communities and beyond.

The fellowship program serves as a youth leadership incubator, bringing together student leaders from across Central Florida to learn, connect, innovate, and take action to strengthen their communities and deepen collective understanding. Selected fellows receive $2,000 toward educational costs, financial support for campus and community initiatives, and access to mentorship, leadership development, and networking opportunities. Through monthly virtual cohort meetings and in-person training sessions, fellows gain the resources, knowledge, and support to turn their passion for social justice into meaningful community impact and help build a more connected society.

This year, the Phoenix Ginsburg Fellows Program selected 43 high school and college students from across Central Florida, including just 27 undergraduate students, among them Ella Afrifa ’28, Sara Gennevee Alvarez ’27, Aimal Irteza ’27, and Angelica Zabbara ’28.

Ella Afrifa ’28

• Majors: International relations and computer science

At Rollins, Ella Afrifa ’28 channels her passion for social justice into advocacy and civil dialogue. A founding member of the Abolition Advocacy Project, she has organized educational events and letter-writing campaigns in support of incarcerated individuals. She also helped establish the College’s first Mock Trial Club and introduce moot court opportunities through the Debate and Speech Society. An award-winning debater active in Model United Nations, Afrifa spent this past summer interning with Neutral Zone, a youth-driven community organization in Michigan. She hopes to attend law school and pursue a career in international law and policy, particularly on issues emerging in the digital age.

How Rollins prepared them: “The small, intimate classes and discussion-heavy courses give me room to share my opinions, hear different perspectives, and reflect on or revise my beliefs. I have taken classes ranging from ethics and data analytics to Peace and Conflict Studies and discrete mathematics. Those experiences have strengthened different parts of how I think: how I approach ethical questions, evaluate information, understand conflict, and reason through a problem. I find myself applying those skills outside the classroom, especially in advocacy and debate. The liberal arts model, alongside the mentorship of my advisor, Dr. Dan Chong, my debate coach, Dr. David Painter, and other professors, have helped me become a more well-rounded thinker and communicator. I recently won a novice championship at the Sunshine Series, an intercollegiate debate tournament with participants from colleges across the country. That accomplishment reflects both my own growth and the support I have received at Rollins.”

Who shaped their journey: “If I tried to name everyone who has helped me, I think would run out of ink! My advisor, political science and international relations professor Dan Chong, and my debate coach, communication professor David Painter, have been important mentors in my academic development and advocacy. Denisa Metko, director of the Center for Career & Life Planning, has also been a constant source of encouragement. She consistently reminds me that she believes in me, pushes me beyond my comfort zone, and encourages me to pursue opportunities I might otherwise overlook. Having someone recognize your potential and challenge you to act on it makes a tremendous difference. That support extends across the College. Faculty members, professional staff, facilities staff, and my supervisors at my campus jobs all remind me why I do what I do and inspire me to become a better version of myself.”

“I believe meaningful change begins with… “I believe meaningful change begins with taking responsibility for what I can do and recognizing that every other person is capable of creating change too. My dream is to become a strong advocate and bridge builder, and this experience gives me an opportunity to practice those responsibilities now.”

Sara Gennevee Alvarez ’27

• Major: Communication studies

Through Rollins coursework and her experience with the fellowship, returning fellow Alvarez discovered her passion for storytelling to create social change. In the Rollins course Advocating for Change, she learned how to find achievable solutions to social problems and has steadily gained experience in storytelling from creating short-form content on Handshake to completing two different editing internships producing videos and content and even creating a short film for a Rollins course. She hopes to develop short videos or documentaries that bring community members’ experiences to life, encourage dialogue across differences, and inspire others to take action.

Complete this sentence in your own words: “I believe meaningful change begins with…” “I believe meaningful change begins when you decide to be part of it. If there’s a change you want to see, you have to be willing to take the first step rather than waiting for someone else to do it. I’ve also learned that meaningful change begins with listening to perspectives different from your own. Through the Ginsburg Fellowship, I realized that discomfort is a part of learning, and understanding someone else’s experience requires being willing to pause, listen, and consider what you might not have understood before. Even a short piece of content can start a conversation and influence how someone sees an issue.”

How Rollins prepared them: “Rollins has given me so many opportunities to grow, both academically and personally, that it’s honestly a blessing. Through the communication major courses, I've learned about storytelling structure and how important it is to be intentional with the time and space you have. One of the most meaningful experiences for me is communication professor Rick Bommelje’s Listening and Leadership course, where we created our own adaptive challenges: I started using intentional calls to action for myself in my everyday life, paying closer attention to my choices, and becoming more intentional about how I show up for others. When I think about Rollins' mission of global citizenship, responsible leadership, meaningful lives, and productive careers, I genuinely feel that my education has helped me grow into those values. I feel more prepared to pursue a career, but I also feel wiser and have more confidence in myself, a better understanding of how I want to show up for others, and a stronger sense of responsibility for what I create and share.”

Who shaped their journey: “Adjunct professor Jennie Jarvis has had a huge impact on me. From her writing class to her short filmmaking class to her course on story structure, she has challenged me to think more deeply about how stories are created and how they connect with an audience. I took an elective course with her where the final project was to create a short film, giving me the full-on experience in writing, directing, and producing. I assembled a 14-person crew as well as directed and completed post-production work for the first time. This project was an important first step in putting my passion for media into practice, and Rollins gave me the opportunity to take a creative risk, work with a team of strangers, and discover what I could accomplish when I pushed myself beyond what I already knew. Creating a film of that scale for the first time was intimidating, but she encouraged and advised me throughout the process and helped me believe in what I was capable of accomplishing. Even when I wasn't taking one of her classes, she continued to make time to meet with me and offer guidance. She helped me see filmmaking as something I want to continue pursuing, and I hope to carry the lessons and encouragement she has given me into the stories I create in the future.”

Aimal Irteza ’27

• Majors: Political science and public policy & political economy

Irteza’s interest in health policy grew through her involvement with Rollins’ Democracy Project, an internship with AdventHealth’s public policy team, and experience working in state and local politics, including Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani’s legislative office and mayoral campaign. With these experiences strengthening her passion for local governance, Irteza aims to address the intersection of health policy and everyday cross-cutting social issues through civic engagement. Irteza plans to attend law school and pursue a career in health policy in Florida. She hopes to address barriers that prevent eligible Floridians from accessing programs such as Medicaid and SNAP.

Complete this sentence in your own words: “For me, civic engagement means…”: “Civic engagement means informed participation: putting information in people's hands, whether it's a polling location or a legislator's contact information, so that their everyday concerns can become actionable policy.”

How Rollins prepared them: “My liberal arts education has given me a multidimensional, holistic perspective: thinking critically about the different stakeholders on every side of a policy issue, and engaging with them to incorporate solutions. My first-year honors course, Invisible Children, led me to reflect deeply on marginalized groups in the U.S. who face barriers to quality of life and to social and economic equality and showed me how advocacy can be informed by amplifying their perspectives rather than speaking over them. My political science courses gave me perspectives on the philosophy of voting and political engagement. Alongside my hands-on work with student and community voters, this year, I started working with political science professor Tahmina Rahman on a paper about South Asian voters in Orlando, which is turning classroom learning into on-the-ground understanding of how this community engages with the political process.”

Who shaped their journey: “My political science professor and advisor Dan Chong has been instrumental in my development as a civic leader. His International Human Rights class taught me not only how to think about activism but also how to tailor information to specific audiences. It also taught me to connect global issues to the campus level, which I used in my work with the Rollins Amnesty International chapter. Another important mentor has been my supervisor Victoria Teske at the Center for Leadership & Community Engagement. Her support and encouragement to think creatively helped me engage the campus community and form partnerships with other organizations.”

Angelica Zabbara ’28

• Majors: Political science and international relations

Zabbara is committed to fostering civic engagement and promoting equal footing across diverse communities through service and collaboration, serving as chief justice of Rollins’ Student Government Association (SGA), a member of Model United Nations, and a campaign fellow for Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani. As a Democracy Project ambassador, she encourages meaningful dialogue and active participation in democratic processes on campus. Through her leadership and focus on ethical engagement, she works to amplify student voices and strengthen a more inclusive and engaged campus community.