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
“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 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 gave 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 life’s. 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
“For me, its not passion, its a matter of life and death. I understand first hand the dangers of substance use disorder and the isolation that it brings. I want students to not 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 thats 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
“I get a chance to spread awareness. I’m 6 years in recovery and people are dying due to shame and stigma.”
George Nolan • Grand Canyon University
“Addiction has touched my life and the lives of my friends in some really deep and painful ways. I’m very passionate in bringing the wisdom of recovery and information about different recovery pathways to the people I most care about. I believe that reducing stigma and engaging with harm reduction will save lives. I am so proud to be doing this work.”
Ariadne Wolf • University of Oregon
