JOHN LEWIS CENTER FELLOWS
Bolstering Humanities & Social Science Research (in Social Justice)
The John Lewis Center Fellows Program is funded by a generous grant from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. Established in 2022, the program supports social justice fellows working in the areas of policy/activism, arts/culture, and tech/data science. In 2026, the program was converted into a postdoctoral fellowship under the John Lewis Center’s Highest Calling Social Justice Initiative.
Postdoctoral Fellows, 2026-2028
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Dr. Iyanna Hamby, Arts/Culture, Bio Forthcoming
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Dr. Brittany Jarman, Advanced Tech Innovator, Bio Forthcoming
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Inaugural Fellows, 2022-2025
Michelle Eistrup, Arts/Culture Fellow
Michelle Eistrup was the inaugural arts/culture fellow. She is a visual artist, arts producer, and initiator of artistic collaborations who presently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. Ms. Eistrup’s art incorporates themes of identity, corporeality, faith, memory, and post-colonialism, with her transnational background (Danish, Jamaican, American) frequently serving as a point of departure. She traverses varied artistic expressions that include photography, drawing, video, sound, and performance, all integrated in a practice led by the spirit of and a strong belief in the collective’s transformative potential.
Lena Winfree
Lena Winfree was the inaugural tech/data science fellow. She is the co-founder of Rachel + Winfree Consulting, a data analytics firm that provides data strategy and analytics solutions to small and mid- sized businesses. She has served as Vice President and co-organizer of the Nashville chapter of the Blacks in Technology Foundation, has worked at multiple universities, and has launched social justice initiatives that increase digital equity and literacy for historically excluded minorities. During her tenure as a fellow, she created the Social Justice Hackathons for the Fisk-Belmont Social Justice Collaborative.
Justin Jones
Justin Jones was the inaugural policy/activism fellow. He is the State Representative of House District 52. He has a background in community organizing, nonviolent direct action, environmental justice, and youth organizing. He is the author of The People’s Plaza: Sixty-Two Days of Nonviolent Resistance (Vanderbilt University Press, 2022).