FoRB Fellowship Overview

FoRB Fellows and Patrice Pederson together at the 2026 G20 Interfaith Forum in Salt Lake City
FoRB Fellows and First Freedom Foundation President Patrice Pederson at the G20 Interfaith Forum, Salt Lake City, October 2026.
The FoRB Fellowship

Different beliefs.
Shared freedom.

An international fellowship bringing together emerging leaders to advance freedom of religion or belief through scholarship, strategy, and service.

Lasting friendships and personal mentorship connect Fellows across borders and beliefs—and help them turn their commitment to one another’s freedom into shared work.

Explore our workWatch The Fellowship
36Fellows selected for the inaugural cohort
30Countries represented in that cohort
2Global Youth Summits organized by Fellows
Our distinctive approach

Unity without merger.

What happens when people learn to defend the freedom of someone whose beliefs they believe are wrong?

The relationships are the heart of the Fellowship. Fellows build lasting friendships across borders and beliefs, learning to see one another’s needs as equally real and to stand up for one another’s freedom.

Our Fellows bring deeply held convictions and firsthand experience of religious discrimination. A member of a persecuted minority in one country may belong to the majority religion in another Fellow’s country. Working together asks each of them to look beyond their own community’s experience and apply freedom of conscience consistently.

Alongside those relationships, ongoing mentorship from founder Patrice Pederson helps Fellows develop their ideas, navigate difficult decisions, and find the people and resources to move their work forward.

Through sustained dialogue, Arbinger’s outward-mindset training, and shared projects, Fellows build the trust to disagree and collaborate while retaining their own beliefs. In-person practicums deepen that learning through shared meals, shared responsibilities, visits to religious communities, and the ordinary moments in which trust grows.

Fellows and Patrice smiling together on a sunny street, with several Fellows linking arms
Walking together. Learning to stand together.
Three Fellows smiling for a photograph in the back row of a van
Friendship in the back row.
Four Fellows embracing in front of the G20 Interfaith Forum backdrop
Different beliefs. Real affection.
Fellows sharing a group hug outside at night
The bonds that stay.
Fellows and hosts together during a mosque visit in Utah
Learning through encounter: Fellows visit a mosque during the Utah practicum.
Fellows and companions inside a cathedral during the Utah practicum
Exploring one another’s religious worlds, with curiosity and respect.

Shared journeys.
Lasting friendships.

Memories from the Utah practicum
October 2026
Fellowship in action · Policy

Faith & Growth.
A local insight.
An international initiative.

The Faith and Growth Initiative began with a connection recognized by two Fellows: Viviana Osorio-Pérez of Colombia and Blessy Prasad of India. Restrictions on religious and faith-based organizations can also constrain education, healthcare, humanitarian service, and economic opportunity.

Drawing on their different national contexts, they developed that insight into a proposal asking G20 leaders to review and reduce unnecessary and discriminatory regulatory burdens.

The initiative brings together comparative examples, research on economic contributions, proposed declaration language, and an international coalition letter. Fellows contributed perspectives from Colombia, India, Malaysia, and Mexico, and brought the discussion to the 2026 G20 Interfaith Forum.

Explore Faith & Growth ↗
Blessy Prasad speaking into a microphone at a conference panel
Blessy Prasad, journalist, religious-freedom advocate, and co-originator of the Faith and Growth Initiative.
An upcoming docuseries

The Fellowship

The relationships behind the work. The convictions behind the courage.

Follow Fellows from different countries and belief communities as they confront religious intolerance, test their ideas, and learn what it takes to work together.

This upcoming docuseries brings viewers into the conversations, collaborative challenges, and personal decisions behind public advocacy. The Fellows help tell their own stories, making a universal right personal and showing audiences practical ways to act.

Watch the sizzle for a first look.

First look
The Fellowship
Choosing truth over tribe.
Watch the sizzle on YouTube ↗
International engagement

Bringing local experience
into global conversations.

Fellows develop the skills and relationships to bring community concerns directly to researchers, advocates, and international human-rights mechanisms.

FoRB Fellows and Patrice Pederson standing together with the United States Capitol in the background
Members of the Fellowship together in Washington, D.C., February 2026.
Learning that becomes practice

Scholarship. Strategy. Service.

A sustained program of expert-led learning, peer exchange, and practical work, followed by an in-person practicum and continued collaboration.

01 / SCHOLARSHIP

Understand the challenge.

Study freedom of religion or belief, examine different national contexts, and learn directly from people whose communities face discrimination. Connect those experiences with human-rights institutions and policy processes.

02 / STRATEGY

Build a path to change.

Develop a theory of change, map influence, build coalitions, and communicate effectively. Fellows practice storytelling, digital advocacy, and project pitches, with opportunities to discuss and refine their proposals.

03 / SERVICE

Put learning to work.

Organize events, produce public education, engage decision-makers, and develop initiatives rooted in local needs. Shared responsibility turns principles into choices about how to work with and for other people.

Learning from experienced practitioners

Selected instructors and guest contributors have included:

Mike Merchant

The Arbinger Institute
Outward mindset, relationships, and collaboration

Tina Ramirez

Hardwired Global
Religious freedom and respect across beliefs

Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett

Lantos Foundation
Storytelling for religious-freedom advocacy

Nadine Maenza

Former USCIRF Chair
International religious-freedom advocacy

Jonas Fiebrantz

ADF International
UN advocacy and the Human Rights Council

Rachel Forster

Search for Common Ground
Religious-freedom practice and dialogue

Rick Tyler

Leadership Institute
The Power of Story

John Dye

Communications practitioner
Personal branding for social media

Scott Morgan

IRF Roundtable Africa Working Group
Nigeria advocacy case study

Affiliations identify contributors’ professional backgrounds and do not imply institutional sponsorship or endorsement of the Fellowship.
Convening · Communication · Community

A growing record of shared work.

Two Global Youth Summits

Fellows helped organize Global Youth Summit 2.0 in 2024 and the 2026 summit focused on Nigeria. Using Open Space, participants shape the agenda around the challenges they care about and the ideas they want to pursue. The Nigeria gathering generated approximately 30 proposed community projects, creating a foundation for further mentorship and development.

Public scholarship and dialogue

Fellows have spoken at the International Law and Religion Symposium hosted by BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies and participated in the G20 Interfaith Forum. They brought perspectives grounded in professional experience and the realities of their own communities.

Media that makes religious freedom personal

Fellows have contributed to social media, podcasts, and video. Their public conversations include a 2025 all-male panel on women’s rights and the shared responsibility to defend freedom of religion or belief for everyone.

FoRB’s Future takes root

Several Fellows are launching chapters of FoRB’s Future, our global community for religious freedom. A national chapter is already established in Nigeria, alongside regional chapters for Africa and South Asia, connecting local initiative with a wider community of advocates.

An alumni network extends the Fellowship’s relationships beyond the weekly program, supporting continued collaboration across borders and belief communities.

Mohamad Radwan Al Omar presenting at the International Law and Religion Symposium
Mohamad Radwan Al Omar speaks at the International Law and Religion Symposium, October 2026.
Viviana Osorio-Pérez speaking at the International Law and Religion Symposium
Viviana Osorio-Pérez speaks at the International Law and Religion Symposium, October 2026.
Coming this GivingTuesday

Spark Tank.
Help good ideas take flight.

Fellows will present proposals for advancing religious freedom in their communities.

Spark Tank connects their local knowledge and initiative with people who can help bring those ideas to life. It is the next opportunity to turn the Fellowship’s learning, relationships, and mentorship into practical work.

Ask about Spark Tank ↗
Meet the Fellows

Experience from the communities
where freedom is at stake.

Selected from hundreds of applicants, the inaugural cohort brings together lawyers, researchers, journalists, peacebuilders, educators, and community leaders. Their different disciplines and lived experiences are central to the Fellowship’s learning.

Viviana Osorio-Pérez · Colombia

A lawyer working across public policy, religious freedom, and women’s rights. She holds an MSc in Inequalities and Social Science with Distinction from the London School of Economics and a master’s degree in International Cooperation.

Blessy Prasad · India

A journalist and human-rights advocate with more than a decade of experience. Her work combines field research, interviews, storytelling, and policy analysis to bring underreported community experiences to wider audiences.

Sahlim Charles · Kenya

A peacebuilding and mediation practitioner, founder of Re-Imagining New Communities, former USIP Generation Change Research Fellow, and USIP Master Trainer. His published work includes participatory research on youth-led peacebuilding.

Mohamad Radwan Al Omar · Lebanon

A lawyer, mediator, arbitrator, and youth advocate, with international advisory experience and co-authored work on dispute resolution and criminal law. He received a Viktor Frankl Award in 2025.

Suvra Dev Kar · Bangladesh

A minority-rights advocate and technology professional, bringing more than a decade of religious-freedom advocacy and a master’s degree in IT and computer science to his community work.

Eow Shiang Yen · Malaysia

A researcher and Buddhist youth leader trained in interreligious mediation. His work connects community health, youth development, and peacebuilding, informed by a master’s degree in community nutrition.

Vasu Bandhu · Mexico / United States

A Buddhist monk and interfaith leader serving with the Arizona Faith Network, United Religions Initiative, and Religions for Peace’s International Youth Committee.

Jacob Householder · United States

A civic educator and nonprofit leader with a degree in Financial Economics. His experience spans educational organizations, research, technology, and constitutional principles.

Shan Rasheed · Pakistan

A human-rights advocate working in communications, information technology, and graphic design at Human Friends Organization, with experience in education and administration.

Meet the full international cohort ↗
What comes next

More people.
More possibilities.

The next phase includes the release of The Fellowship, continued development of locally led initiatives, and an online hub to connect advocates with people, resources, and opportunities. The hub is still in development.

We welcome conversations with educators, researchers, civil-society organizations, and supporters who want to help these leaders advance religious freedom in their communities.

Connect with First Freedom ↗