Five students have been selected as Lender Fellows and will work with the Data Warriors project, an initiative that helps Syracuse City School District (SCSD) youth build math and data literacy skills to address pressing issues in their community.

The fellows will work with Nicole Fonger, associate professor of mathematics and mathematics education in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education. Fonger is the 2025-27 Lender Center for Social Justice faculty fellow.

The student research fellows are:

Lauren Ashby G’23, ’25, a third-year doctoral student in sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs who also earned master’s degrees in both sociology and geography. The Syracuse native graduated from SCSD and has been involved in the Data Warriors program for four years. Her work blends ethnography, interviews, GIS mapping and youth participatory action research to explore how young people address segregation and inequity.

Meghavarshini (Megha) Iska ’27, a dual economics and international relations major in the Maxwell School with a minor in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises. She serves as a University student ambassador and is part of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. She founded the Ikya Women’s Health Foundation to promote women’s health awareness and wellness in her home country of Zambia.

Camilla (Milly) McAskin ’28, a double major in policy studies and law, society and policy in the Maxwell School with minors in business and information management and technology. She is the founder and president of the Syracuse University chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Shameen Fatima G’27, a master’s student in communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Her research focuses on how rhetoric shapes language policies and narratives of grief, trauma and belonging. She is the founder of the Disorders Collective, a community platform on mental health in South Asia.

Shavonne Jacobs ’27, an information management and technology major in the School of Information Studies with a minor in architecture. Her interests bridge technology, architecture and environmental science.

Started in 2021, the Data Warriors project now includes 21 researchers from two SCSD high schools. They use math, maps and data analysis to study lead poisoning, code violations, housing conditions, car thefts and income disparities, as well as current immigration policies and historic parallels in Syracuse. The high schoolers aim to train as community-engaged scholars; support community-engaged math education; and inform local government officials about their research findings.

Data Warriors students and their teachers visited campus recently to attend mathematician and musician Eugenia Cheng’s lecture and performance, “The Logic of Creativity: Music, Mathematics and Expression,” part of the School of Education’s Ganders Lecture Series. The group will present their research on lead poisoning in Syracuse at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State conference in Rochester this month.