2025 JFL Fellows shape leaders, expand their own leadership capacities

This summer, five interns not only changed their lives, but changed the lives of hundreds of NHI students in the process. 

The college student group called to Maxwell to become John F. Lopez, Jr. Research and Management Fellowship interns (or JFLs for short) had a variety of duties while at NHI headquarters, but they were also called into summer programs to help the high school students involved take steps in their leadership journeys. 

The program is named for John F. Lopez, Jr., NHI’s original youth volunteer, who first became involved with the organization at the 1983 Lorenzo de Zavala Youth Legislative Session program and is now a member of NHI’s Board of Directors. 

“My favorite part of this sector of my internship was getting to work with current NHIers and help them create and discover new ways to recruit and fundraise in their respective areas,” said Heaven Poles, a New York University student who worked with NHI from October to August on various projects, including social media outreach and a final project involving development of the East Coast Alliance, as well as serving as assistant onsite director at the Texas Great Debate and coaching at the Northeast Great Debate. 

“My biggest takeaway from this internship is that not everything is supposed to go perfectly nor should it, because if it does then how are we supposed to reflect and adapt to future hurdles in life, during programs, or even in school,” she reflected. “That is exactly what all programs that I staffed did for me, they taught me to take everything step-by-step and not harp too much on what went wrong, and rather on how I could fix it and troubleshoot any future issues similar to those that arose.” 

Piper Davidson, who worked closely with NHI’s media liaison on media outreach and NHIMagazine.com article writing, was also involved with both CWS programs and the two Texas six-day Great Debates. Her participation was supported by a grant program from Mount Holyoke College, which supports students pursuing internships or research during the summer before their junior or senior year. 

Sofia Garza-Serreli, currently a pre-law student at Cornell University, got guidance from the school’s career services office that helped her crystallize her decision to spend her summer with NHI, which in part involved her being the assistant onsite director at the Texas Ambassador Great Debate. 

“I learned to be okay with asking questions,” she said of her experience. “I had to remind myself to not be afraid to make a fool of yourself by asking questions. It’s better to ask, and then do it right, than to not ask, guess about what to do, and then get it wrong. Asking questions doesn’t just mean asking questions to others; it also means asking myself questions. Before bothering someone else, it’s important to ask myself, ‘Do I already know what to do?’”

For her project, she created a fundraising packet providing students with fundraising ideas anchored by an asset-based mindset. “It can be something as simple as if you’re really good at making bracelets, you can make a bunch of bracelets and sell them. Or, what if you’re good at baking, you can do a bake sale … and it really does add up. If you get $20 from 20 people, all of a sudden you have $400 raised towards your tuition.” 

Rebeca Galvan Chapa, currently at Duquesne University, worked closely with the volunteer office, worked as an assistant onsite director and senior counselor at the National LDZ, and as the senior security officer at the Texas CWS — the latter being the 10th NHI program she’s volunteered at in her time with the organization. Her project included documenting the volunteer process and determining how to improve in future years. 

“I love coming back,” she said. “I think watching these kids just grow and becoming a better version of themselves … and just being comfortable in who they are and what they have to say — it’s one of the most rewarding things ever.” 

Juan Hernandez-Romo, who graduated from Colorado State University just before embarking on his summer with NHI, says his Colorado LDZ experience in high school — and the scholarship offer he received upon completing that program — was a major factor in his picking what is now his alma mater. 

This summer, he was primarily engaged with creating an updated Secretary of State manual to help future volunteers filling that crucial LDZ role with a better playbook. 

“The biggest takeaway was just seeing how much work goes into creating a program and running a program, because as a volunteer, you only get to see so much of what’s going on behind the scenes.

“Now that I was able to be on the other side of the curtain and actually see not only how much time it takes to plan out a program, but also the amount of resources it takes as well, it was really eye-opening. And it just made me really happy to see that, all the effort that NHI puts to invest in youth. And I just thought it was really amazing to see, especially in this time and place, it’s definitely great to see that there’s still a lot being done to shape leaders into who they are for the years to come.”