California native wins fellowship for civic engagement
The Office of Fellowships is thrilled to announce that Aanya Dhruv (SESP ’29) has been chosen for the 2026–2027 cohort of the Newman Civic Fellowship! Throughout the year, Aanya will receive mentoring and networking opportunities to grow her capacity as a civic leader.
Aanya is a rising sophomore majoring in learning sciences, with a minor in machine learning and data science. She is the co-founder of Save Open Spaces, a campaign that stopped her city council from rezoning and developing the voter-protected O'Keefe Open Space Preserve. After uncovering the city's attempt to bypass environmental review through a legal loophole, Aanya helped raise $33,000 to retain counsel and file a formal demand letter alleging California Environmental Quality Act and Brown Act violations. The pressure led the city to drop the measure and leave the preserve protected.
With support from the Newman Civic Fellowship, Aanya will extend open space preservation work in Evanston, mapping how land-use decisions move through a city and building a tool that alerts residents when nearby open space appears on a public agenda.
Outside of class, Aanya serves on Northwestern's Associated Student Government Academic Committee and volunteers with Books & Breakfast in the Evanston public schools.
Aanya shared the following reflection with us about the significance of her award: “I'm really excited to be a Newman Fellow! The part I care about most is getting connected to students across the country working on public problems in their own cities because it's hard to holistically understand structural problems from just my own experiences. I'm also grateful for the mentorship side of it because I came into this work with little experience in zoning law and learned as I went. Having a support system to guide me is exactly what I need next.”
The Newman Civic Fellowship is a yearlong program that recognizes students who stand out for their leadership potential and commitment to creating positive change in communities. Fellows are nominated by Campus Compact member presidents and chancellors, who are invited to select one exemplary community-committed student from their campus each year. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the Annual Convening of Newman Civic Fellows, which offers intensive in-person skill-building and networking over three days. The fellowship also provides fellows with pathways to apply for exclusive opportunities, including mini-grants to help fund scholarships and postgraduate opportunities.
Aanya is Northwestern’s second winner of the fellowship. Last year, Anusha Kumar (SESP ’26) became the first Wildcat to win the award.
Contact Jason Kelly Roberts at jason-roberts@northwestern.edu to learn more about the Newman Civic Fellowship.