First Place Winner
Elyse Lightman, ’02 “Stillness Seeking”
Elyse Lightman Samuels is passionate about using writing to advance solutions for social justice and has worked for over a decade in the social justice field, in the US and globally. She is an independent writer and leads communications for Unbound Philanthropy, which seeks to build a vibrant, welcoming society and just immigration system in the US and UK. Elyse serves on the Board of the women's leadership organization, Harpswell. In addition to her BA at Brown, Elyse holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Columbia's School of the Arts and an MPA from NYU Wagner.