Welcome Our 2026 Gephardt Fellows
This summer the Ashrei Foundation is proud to welcome two WashU students participating in the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement's St. Louis Fellows Program, who will be supporting our Rapid Response Hotline and immigrant justice work.
The St. Louis Fellows Program gives WashU students the opportunity to spend a summer immersed in the St. Louis region through full-time nonprofit and civic internships, community engagement, and a curriculum focused on the history, culture, opportunities, and challenges that shape our city. The program develops emerging civic leaders while expanding the capacity of local organizations working to create positive change across St. Louis.
We are excited to welcome Estefhany Hernandez Albarran and David Garcia to the Ashrei team.
Estefhany Hernandez Albarran is a rising senior from Arkansas majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences with minors in Spanish and Legal Studies. A 2026 St. Louis Fellow on the pre-law track, she is passionate about immigrant rights and hopes to support underserved communities through her work with Ashrei this summer.
David is a rising senior at WashU, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Biology. Through his work with Ashrei this summer, David hopes to learn how to support the immigrant community in St. Louis through the Rapid Response Hotline and the many other vital services Ashrei provides.
Throughout the summer, David and Estefhany, both bilingual, will be working alongside our trained volunteers to fill open shifts as Operators and Interpreters, monitoring and responding to calls through our Rapid Response Hotline, and supporting community members navigating urgent immigration-related concerns.
In addition, they will each dig deeper into specific areas of our work that aligns with their professional and academic interests: Estefhany will spend time working with our Detained Intake Volunteer Attorney teams, improving processes and training in order to improve community outcomes; David, who is on track to attend medical school after graduation, will be digging into tracking and improving detention conditions, with a special focus on access to medical care for detained immigrants.
Please join us in welcoming David and Estefhany to Ashrei. We are grateful to the Gephardt Institute and the St. Louis Fellows Program for investing in the next generation of civic leaders, and we look forward to learning alongside these talented fellows throughout the summer.
