- 10 YEARS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL PHILANTHROPY -
PHILANTHROPY FELLOWS
The Crimsonbridge Foundation Philanthropy Fellows Program is a paid fellowship position that offers high school seniors, college students, and graduate students an opportunity to learn about the role of philanthropy and grant-making in the nonprofit sector, while providing administrative and project support to the foundation’s team members. Philanthropy Fellows work with all members of the foundation’s team as active participants in proposal review, site visits and meetings, grants management, and communications and digital content development. In addition, fellows participate as engaged and active participants and representatives of the Philanthropy Fellows Program, attending online and in-person events of foundation and nonprofit grantee partners. The Crimsonbridge Philanthropy Fellowship is administered and funded by Crimsonbridge LLC.
2025 PHILANTHROPY FELLOWS
Fiona Lu
Fiona Lu (she/her) is a second-year student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) studying Public Affairs, Labor Studies, and Asian American Studies. She is passionate about community-centered policymaking for public benefits, economic development, and the social safety net, with a focus on attending to the needs of people of color and low-income women, youth, and families. She is a youth advocate through an youth-led policy advocacy organization she co-founded, What We All Deserve (WWAD), which works towards basic needs and economic justice for all through state policy advocacy. Since its founding, Fiona has co-led WWAD to propose five pieces of student-written state policies, two of which were signed into law, that work on menstrual product access, food security, and higher education accessibility. Her work with running her youth organization has exposed her to the world of nonprofit management and structure, and the important role philanthropy plays in investing in communities and promising initiatives. She's excited to take this enthusiasm and learn more as a Philanthropy Fellow at the Crimsonbridge Foundation.
Outside of youth advocacy work, Fiona has also worked professionally across public service sectors from California to Washington, D.C. She has interned for The Children’s Partnership (TCP), the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), and on Capitol Hill for Congressmember Grace Meng from Queens, New York. In her free time, Fiona loves going on food crawls, listening to podcasts, and catching the sunset on a long hike!
Emily Fairbanks
Emily Fairbanks is a rising senior at the Catholic University of America, studying Theology and Secondary Education. Throughout her college career, she has been involved in organizations that promote the importance of education such as DC Reads, a tutoring program that connects college students with local urban schools to help kids with one-on-one learning. In addition, Emily is passionate about her faith and the transformative power of Catholic Education, having worked in Catholic schools and summer camps. After graduation, she hopes to be a Catholic School teacher, so she is looking forward to interacting with the administrative side of education. She is excited to be a Philanthropy Fellow at The Crimsonbridge Foundation to help advocate for the mission pillars to impact lives in diverse communities. Emily enjoys cooking for her large family, spending time with her nieces and nephews, playing pickleball and singing in her church choir.
Emily began as a Philanthropy Fellow in summer 2024 and continues to serve in this role through fall 2024 and spring 2025.
SUMMER 2024 PHILANTHROPY FELLOWS
Beatriz Huerta
Beatriz Huerta is a cum laude graduate from Saint Anselm College where she double majored in Marketing and Spanish. During her time at Saint A’s, Beatriz showed a strong commitment to making important information readily available and accessible on her college campus and the wider Manchester area. She could be found at her school’s volunteer center researching and designing posts focusing on human rights advocacy, or volunteering at the Manchester Animal Shelter. In her last semester, Beatriz interned at New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), translating and interpreting English NHPR publications and announcements into Spanish, while producing her very own story in Spanish.
Post-graduation, Beatriz’s love for education, language, and culture led her to become an English Teaching Assistant in Murcia, Spain. There she discovered a passion for traveling while exploring a teaching career and is looking forward to start teaching in a dual language immersion classroom. Beatriz is excited to be joining Crimsonbridge as a Philanthropy Fellow and learn about the role the foundation plays in education and leadership development.
SUMMER 2023 PHILANTHROPY FELLOWS
Paige Collazo
Paige Collazo is an incoming freshman at the University of Southern California and plans to major in Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. During high school, she was actively involved with the Red Cross as she held two leadership positions, specifically the Youth Advisory Board Representative for her school’s club and the Recognition Lead for the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake’s Region Youth Executive Board. In both of these positions, Paige worked to support and communicate with smaller Red Cross clubs as well as implement diverse recognition initiatives to highlight the accomplishments of youth volunteers within her region. Outside of the Red Cross, Paige enjoys volunteering with CancerKidsFirst and maintains involvement in other extracurricular activities. She looks forward to working with the Crimsonbridge team this summer and taking on new responsibilities regarding projects that fall under their various program areas.
Zahra Abdi
Zahra Abdi is a rising sophomore studying Latin at Boston University. During her high school years, Zahra worked as a media center assistant, tutored students, and volunteered for several local nonprofit organizations including Comfort Cases, an organization that provides children in the foster care system with comfort and personal care items. She has continued her commitment to giving back to her community by volunteering for nonprofits working towards ending food insecurity in the Greater Boston Area.
Zahra is a member of several student associations, including the Undergraduate Classics Association, the Islamic Society of Boston University, and the Somali Student Association. As a returning Crimsonbridge Philanthropy Fellow, Zahra looks forward to continuing to learn more about the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors while enhancing her research, writing, and administrative skills. She will return to Boston University in the fall and is excited to join the university’s College of Arts & Sciences Writing Center as a writing consultant, guiding students through their research papers and helping them transition to college writing and become more confident and independent writers.
