The Institute for Ethics and the Common Good has selected seven leaders from non-profit organizations around the world to serve as Social Innovator Fellows in the upcoming academic year. These fellows, selected from a competitive applicant pool, will maintain their fellowship from fall 2026 to spring 2027, advancing special projects related to applied ethics in their distinct fields of work.
The 2026–27 cohort of Social Innovator Fellows and their projects:
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Veronica De Sanctis, Scalabrini International Migration Institute (Expanding Psychological and Empowered Support (PES) for Migrants Through Love-Based Ethics)
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Andee Huxhold, Dismas House of Indiana (Where Love Draws the Line: Ethical Inquiry and Policy Design for Reentry Housing)
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Liane Ma, Cameron House (Better Me, Better Society)
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Genevieve Mougey, Catholic Charities of Wyoming (From Fear to Hope)
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Jenn Moya, Border Perspective (From Strangers to Peacemakers: Making Love-Based Formation Accessible for Immigrant Young Adults)
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Matthew Soerens, World Relief (Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate)
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Vincent Wanyoike, Jesuit Refugee Service (Extending Care in the Community)
“We’re thrilled with this cohort of Social Innovator Fellows” said Adam Gustine, Associate Director of Signature Course Fellowships, Education, and Formation. “This program represents a unique opportunity to connect the rich insights of the academy with the practical wisdom of experienced non-profit leaders. We look forward to the many ways this talented group will bring their gifts to bear furthering the love ethic through their own work.”
These seven fellows will travel to Notre Dame on two occasions during the fellowship. Following a one-week workshop in October, the Fellows will return to campus for a month-long residency in February 2027. During this intensive four-week period, fellows will live and work on campus, engaging with ECG faculty and staff as they make progress on the research portions of their projects. “The resources and research projects fellows complete during their time at Notre Dame will have a catalytic effect,” said Gustine, “impacting their local work and extending to the entire love ethic network.”
Fellows will participate in two global conferences on love-based ethics organized by the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. The conferences will take place in 2028 and 2030.
The institute launched a successful pilot of the current, expanded Social Innovator Fellowship program during the 2025–26 academic year. Scott Hurd, Vice President for Leadership Development and Catholic Identity at Catholic Charities USA, and Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, were the program’s first two fellows. During Hurd’s fellowship, he developed an AI discernment guide tailored to Catholic Charities employees and volunteers to assist them in thinking through the implications of AI use in their work. Vaillancourt Murphy's project focused on the need for effective storytelling in Catholic Mobilizing Network’s mission to bring an end to the death penalty.
These fellowships are made possible through a $10 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for the project Love and Social Transformation: Empowering Scholars and Social Innovators to Develop the Love Ethic. The grant project is led by the Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Center for Virtue Ethics, the locus for research and moral formation within the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. It brings scholars, writers, nonprofit leaders and others together to advance a framework that captures the power, richness and applicability of the love ethic—a core component of many faith traditions throughout the world.
To learn more about the Social Innovator Fellowship program, visit ECG’s Social Innovator fellowships page.