The Durfee Foundation has announced the 2025-2026 recipients of the Stanton Fellowship. These six exceptional Los Angeles-based leaders will explore responses to some of LA’s most pressing challenges. The Fellows and their inquiry topics are below.
Chrissie Castro is the Executive Director of the California Native Vote Project, where she focuses on achieving justice and self-determination for Native American Communities through multigenerational power-building, organizing, and civic engagement. Her inquiry asks how the truth and reconciliation processes can be applied to Los Angeles-based efforts to address historic and contemporary harms by local government and other actors.
Dr. Charity Chandler-Cole is the CEO of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Los Angeles, where she directs efforts to secure the rights and futures of children and young adults impacted by foster care and incarceration. Charity’s inquiry seeks to explore how AI can be harnessed to revolutionize the support system for children in foster care, addressing their unique needs and rights more effectively than current methodologies.
Lian Cheun is the Executive Director of Khmer Girls in Action, a community-based organization whose mission is to build a progressive and sustainable movement for gender, racial, and economic justice led by Southeast Asian young women. Lian will be exploring governance structures that cultivate youth leadership and meaningful youth decision making in society.
Chris Contreras is the Chief Operating Officer of Brilliant Corners, a non-profit organization dedicated to scaling supportive housing solutions for vulnerable low-income populations transitioning from homelessness and institutionalization. Chris’s inquiry looks to explore how fostering a sense of belonging can be the key to solving homelessness.
Susan Goldberg is a transformational spiritual leader deeply engaged in multifaith dialogue and social justice. She is the founding Rabbi of Nefesh, an inclusive open open-hearted Jewish spiritual community, and she is dedicated to the renewal of Jewish life in LA’s eastside neighborhoods. Rabbi Susan’s inquiry asks, how can shared multifaith spaces help shape the future of Los Angeles?
Joseph Tomás Mckellar is the Executive Director of PICO California, where he focuses on catalyzing faith-based and spiritually-centered people power in California to create systemic change for the most vulnerable so that all Californians can belong and thrive. His inquiry explores how community organizations can better navigate AI’s threats and opportunities.
The Stanton Fellowship Program awards six fellows with $110,000 each over a two-year period to think deeply about challenges that face the future of Los Angeles.
“The Stanton program is centered on research, development, and discovery,” said Director of Programs and Operations Stella Chung. “The Fellows engage in both independent and collaborative work, spanning multiple sectors to address deeply interconnected issues. Therefore, we look for leaders who are highly networked, deeply knowledgeable, and naturally inquisitive – individuals who are uniquely positioned to drive transformative change. We are thrilled to welcome these six outstanding leaders into the Stanton program.”
The Durfee Foundation’s focus is on extraordinary people who are making a better Los Angeles.
Additional information about the program is available at www.durfee.org/programs/stanton. Contact Stella Chung, stella@durfee.org, 310-899-5120.