We are excited to introduce you to our Collegiate Recovery Leadership Academy Class of 2026! This cohort marked the beginning of our 8th Collegiate Recovery Leadership Academy (CRLA). This year, we welcomed a class of 46 students from 39 different institutions across the country.
Check out this year’s cohort demographic:
- 39 Fellows and 7 Working Group Leaders
- 8 of the 39 (2025 – 2026) Fellows are from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)
- 5 out the 29 (2025 – 2026) Fellows are from Community Colleges (CCs)
Meet the Collegiate Recovery Leadership Academy Class of 2026!
We asked several members of the Class of 2026 about their motivations. Why did they choose SAFE Project, and what drives their passion for recovery, harm reduction, or anti-stigma work?
“My passion for recovery advocacy comes from both personal experience and academic interest. Through my research on addiction stigma and social support, I’ve seen how shame and misunderstanding can keep people from seeking help. I believe in creating compassionate, evidence-based systems that meet people where they are, whether through harm reduction, peer support, or education.“
Siya Aggarwal • Santa Clara University
“I’m passionate about anti-stigma work because I’ve seen how judgment and silence keep people from getting the help they deserve. Stigma kills confidence, connection, and hope — and I want to be part of breaking that cycle. Through my work in harm reduction and peer education, I’ve learned that real change starts when we replace shame with understanding. I want to help create spaces where people can be honest about their struggles and still feel valued, not defined by them.”
Taylor Atkinson • Fayetteville State University
“This is where my heart is. Harm reduction takes voices and I can be a voice.”
Paige Carter • UNC Chapel Hill
“In a world where people with substance use disorders are criminalized, demonized, and invisibilized, I was struck by the radical act of love and care harm reduction brings to the table. To meet people where they are, to accept their addiction and what a road to recovery looks like on their own terms, is empowering to me.“
Charlotte Combe • Colorado College
“I’m passionate about harm reduction, especially as it relates to binge drinking, because it’s a major issue many college students face and they often receive little to no guidance on how to prevent its dangerous side effects.”
Lauren DeGaugh • Tufts University
“Coming from generational recovery, I am passionate about anything that helps people understand recovery as something that should be celebrated.”
Haley Duerr • University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
“I’m excited to implement change on my campus so future students can have a more validating and rewarding college experience.“
Mia Fisher • UC Davis
“I’m passionate about challenging the stigma surrounding addiction, recovery, and sobriety. Too often, people on these journeys are treated differently or unfairly, as if their struggles define their worth. I want to inspire those who have felt “less than” to see that they are deeply valuable, capable, and deserving of opportunity. Every person, no matter where they are in their healing, has something meaningful to offer — and the world is better with them in it.”
Audriana Gutierrez • AIMS Community College
“By establishing harm reduction measures on campus for all students regardless of diagnosis status, not only do we protect life by enhancing overdose preparedness, but we also normalize conversations about substance use, which leads to the destigmatization of substance use disorder and recovery.”
Nick Harrison • Tulane University
I am a person in long term recovery.“
Elizabeth Haught • University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
“I am passionate about recovery because being in recovery has changed my life and given me opportunities that I never dreamed of. I love talking about the anti-stigma because I am an engineering student in recovery, and it’s been challenging navigating my path as an engineering student recovering from an addiction. I am passionate about harm reduction because it saves lives. Now, as my senior design project, I am getting to design an automated Naloxone dispenser for my campus.”
Crystal Holland • University of Texas San Antonio
“What excites me most about being a SAFE Project CRLA Fellow is having the amazing opportunity to learn from the existing voices in the addiction and recovery field so that, alongside my cohort of Fellows, I too can effectively join the conversation guiding its future.”
Dara Kiel • University of Texas at Austin and Austin Community College
“I’m super passionate because I’ve seen how it has affected people’s lives. I want to help make a difference in this epidemic and educate people about addiction.“
Vikram Kollipara • Trinity University
“For me, it’s not passion, it’s a matter of life and death. I understand firsthand the dangers of substance use disorder and the isolation that it brings. I want students not to feel alone and know that there is always help available. In my active use, I felt like there was no hope or light at the end of the tunnel. I do this work so no other student has to feel like that. Yet, the opposite of addiction is connection and that’s what collegiate recovery programs can facilitate. I want to stop people from going down the path I did and help them form friendships along the way.”
Jacob Lignell • Georgetown University
“Because this population does not have as much support as they should. I want to contribute so that they can have more community.”
Harold Mendoza • The University of Utah
“Being able to use my lived experience to help others. I believe anyone can recover and feel it’s important to support those who do not believe that.“
George Nolan • Grand Canyon University
“I am passionate about helping those find their voice in recovery.”
Sage Rodriguez • Aims Community College
“I was a fellow in the CRLA 23-24 cohort and am excited to return as a working group leader. I learned a lot about my abilities over that year. I formed relationships with other students in recovery, started working for the campus collegiate recovery program, and have thoroughly enjoyed being a collaborative partner in building our newer program. The CRLA changed my life. It reactivated my passion for advocacy, inspired my vocational aspiration, and has provided me the support I needed to identify and embrace my strengths. Now, I am thrilled to support this year’s fellows on their leadership journey and watch them grow.”
Joel Tutwiler • University of California, Berkeley
“Addiction has touched my life and the lives of my friends in some really deep and painful ways. I’m very passionate about bringing the wisdom of recovery and information about different recovery pathways to the people I care about most. I believe that reducing stigma and engaging with harm reduction will save lives. I am so proud to be doing this work.“