Faith Otchere Awarded 2025 ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship

Congratulations to Dr. Otchere, May 2025 COMM PhD graduate!

The Department of Communication at the University of Maryland is proud to announce that Dr. Faith Otchere, a May 2025 PhD graduate, has been awarded a 2025 American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Leading Edge Fellowship! 

The ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship Program supports outstanding recent PhDs in the  humanities and social sciences as they work with organizations advancing justice and equity in  communities across the United States. The program is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. In 2025, fellows will take up two-year positions designed to take advantage of the diverse skills  of PhD humanists while contributing to the impactful work of host organizations.

Dr. Otchere's May 2025 dissertation was titled "'Nobody will see past my Blackness: They will only see a loud black woman': Examining how Ghanaian immigrant women in the United States Communicate their maternal experiences." She will continue her important work advocating for Black womxn and girls at The Afiya Center (TAC) in Dallas, TX as a Policy Researcher. TAC’s mission is to engage with Black womxn, girls, femmes, and transgender/gender non-conforming individuals in ways that honor their traditions while introducing innovative approaches in HIV prevention, public health, and reproductive justice spaces. 

As a Policy Researcher, Dr. Otchere will support TAC’s ongoing advocacy efforts and research partnership. The position will also support organizational programming, community engagement, and internal program evaluation as needed. She will focus on prioritizing two major advocacy campaigns and assisting in conducting research in the existing Livable Black Futures Research Collective with an emphasis on health science data-driven research projects.

Dr. Otchere has been recognized as one of 16 awardees, who will each receive a $72,000  stipend in the first year and $74,000 in the second for in-person positions, with fully remote  fellows receiving a $70,000 stipend in the first year and $72,000 in the second. The award also  comes with access to health insurance and an annual budget of up to $3,000 for professional  development activities, as well as networking, mentorship, and career development resources  provided by ACLS.

Congratulations Dr. Faith Otchere!