Grantee

Bushrah Khan, a Questbridge Scholar, earned her BA in English with a concentration in Colonialism Studies from Tufts University in 2024 and completed a TESOL Certificate in 2025. As a child of Pakistani immigrants, she developed a strong understanding of the impacts of colonialism, which shaped her focus on the history of empire and anti-imperialist movements. As a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, she will co-teach at a Nepali school for 9 months, eager to learn from her students and engage with the community. 

Bushrah presented at the Fifty-Fifth Northeast Modern Language Association Convention on her project, “Unveiling Voices: Gender and Caste in South Asian Environmental Justice Texts,” analyzing South Asian literature through the lenses of caste and gender. She also conducted independent research on how poetry can create a sense of home for the dispossessed. Bushrah has been actively involved in the Camberville South Asian Leadership Initiative and interned at the Asian American Resource Workshop, gaining valuable experience in community work and mentorship. 

Nelisha Gray earned an M.A. in Language, Reading & Culture from the University of Arizona. Between 2022 and 2024, she participated in the Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship, a program for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), which allowed her to pursue graduate studies while contributing to underserved domestic communities. 

Nelisha’s extensive experience includes dedicating over 20 hours to eight education and refugee service projects. In 2021, she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, where she taught English to 135 Nepalese students in grades 5-8 for 10 months. She also taught English to 100 adult learners for 3.5 years through various non-profit organizations. Her research focuses on combating language and accent discrimination, a topic she has presented and co-led workshops on at both university and community events. In addition, Nelisha spent 1.5 years volunteering to restock a high school food pantry, helping to support students in need. She is now returning to Nepal to participate as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.