Meet the Fellows

2023-24: Yomna Saeed

Yomna Saeed (B.S. Public Affairs ‘23) was selected as the 2023-24 TI Founders Leadership Fellow. As a 2019 Terry Scholar, her pursuits revolve around community service, servant leadership, and academia. She’s been actively involved in various endeavors, including volunteering with nonprofits like the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, mentoring undergraduates, serving on the Worsfold Grant Committee, and engaging in coursework such as Constitutional Law, Health and Social Policy, and the Innocence Project Seminar.

In her recent senior capstone project, Yomna, alongside five peers, successfully secured a $250,000 grant for the Hill A. Feinberg Teen Academy and Outpatient Facility, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting teenagers recovering from addiction and substance abuse. As a Fall 2022 Archer Fellow, she interned at the Executive Office of Presidential Correspondence while studying policy making and advocacy. At the White House, she reviewed hundreds of digital and paper correspondences from individuals requesting assistance and connected them to the federal agency or support organization best equipped to assist.

Yomna is deeply grateful for the generosity, patience, and contribution of God, countless individuals, the Terry Foundation, and the University along her journey. As the incoming Fellow, she eagerly embraces the opportunity to uphold the TI Founders’ legacy and vision of servant leadership through community enrichment, philanthropy, and education.

2022-23: Michael Stout

Michael Stout, BA’18, was selected as the 2022-23 Texas Instruments Founders Leadership Fellow. Originally from Havre de Grace, Maryland, Michael served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps with deployments to the Western Pacific, Persian Gulf, and the British Army’s 19th Regiment Royal Artillery in Afghanistan. After his military career, Michael began his pursuit of philanthropy in a Santa Barbara veteran benefits office and received the Red Cross Community Hero award for serving veterans of the armed forces on California’s Central Coast.

After moving to Dallas in 2015, Michael expanded his social work beyond the veteran community. In 2017, he contributed to ground-level tornado response efforts in Canton, TX, advocated for persons with disabilities through numerous outlets at UT Dallas, and currently volunteers as a severe weather spotter for the City of Richardson’s Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and National Weather Service Fort Worth. Michael is also an active Life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

Michael earned his undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2018 with substantial coursework in Journalism, Sociology, Political Science, and American culture. A short time after, he accepted a full-time position on campus, providing administrative support in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. Stout served in that position for nearly three years before beginning his full-time pursuit of a Master of Public Affairs degree, which continues today. He also continues to volunteer as a Peer Advisor for Veteran Education (PAVE), providing institutional guidance and support to undergraduate, militaryaffiliated students.

As the next TI Founders Leadership Fellow, Michael is eager to further his campus citizenry through the Development and Alumni Relations team while honing his leadership skills in human resource management and community advancement. He credits the University and his mentors for his successful career transformation and an enduring belief that higher education can be life-changing for all.

2021-22: Sreoshi Sen Chowdhury

Sreoshi Sen Chowdhury was selected as the 2021-22 Texas Instruments Founders Leadership Fellow. Sreoshi is a senior double majoring in Speech-Language Pathology, Hearing Sciences, and Psychology. She began her fellowship in September remotely due to de-densification protocols put in place to counter the Delta Variant. Beginning in November, she began her in-person team rotations.

In addition to being named a TI Leadership Fellow, Sreoshi is a UT Dallas Anson L. Clark Research Scholar, UTDiscovery Scholar, and an Executive First-Year Leader.

Through the Clark Research Program, Sreoshi worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the Motor and Habit Learning Lab led by Dr. Catherine Thorn where she was able to complete behavioral training on rat models to further conduct studies on the underlying mechanisms of vagus nerve stimulation–which are often used to treat patients with stroke or spinal cord injuries.

Sreoshi is set to present her research investigating the impact of developing technologies and their relation to student engagement amongst middle school students as a part of the university’s UTDiscovery program at the poster competition held in December. Sreoshi was able to work alongside the Venture Development Center to directly collaborate with OnPoynt, a company whose initiatives lie in creating educational materials using STEM Drone and Robotics Technology for the classroom.

Participating in the First-Year Leader Program at UT Dallas, Sreoshi has been able to teach freshman seminar courses under the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences as well as the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. This year, she served as an Executive FYL where she had a chance to instruct current and future students in the program, directly impacting nearly 1500 students at the university.

As the fourth TI Founders Leadership Fellow, Sreoshi is excited to be working with the Development and Alumni Relations Team and learning skills she will carry on with her through graduate school and her career. As a strong advocate of philanthropy, she plans on utilizing her experiences and background to give back to better understand how to truly make an impact in higher education.

This December, Sreoshi will earn her undergraduate degree and is interested in pursuing a career that combines her passion for the field of Psychology and the world of philanthropy.

2020-21: Tiffany Page Carter

Tiffany Page Carter was selected as the 2020-21 TI Founders Leadership Fellow. A UT Dallas Terry Scholar, Collegium V Honors Senior, and member of Phi Kappa Phi, Tiffany is a first-generation student pursuing her undergraduate degree in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication, with a focus in Critical Media Studies. Most recently Tiffany presented her research on the media representation of persons with severe autism at the Communicating Diversity conference at Texas A&M University. She has also served as the transfer enrichment coordinator within the UT Dallas Terry Scholars Student Organization and worked as the communications and alumni engagement Intern for the Terry Foundation.

In the pursuit of giving back to parents of children with autism, like herself, Tiffany founded a Texas Disability support group and volunteers as a parent mentor with The Autism Community in Action (TACA). As the 2020-21 TI Founders Leadership Fellow, Tiffany is excited to learn from the development and alumni relations team, while utilizing her love of giving back, storytelling and sharing the life-changing importance of philanthropy in higher education.

2019-20: Jessica M. Howell BA’19

Jessica M. Howell BA’19, was selected as the 2019-20 Texas Instruments Founders Leadership Fellow. Jessica is a U.S. Navy veteran who served two deployments on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After honorably completing four years of service, Jessica moved to Dallas and earned her Associate of Arts degree from Richland College while working for a private oil company. Realizing how much she missed serving others, Jessica applied and was accepted at UT Dallas, choosing to major in economics, policy and politics, in order to learn and understand how to be an effective community leader.

While earning her degree, Jessica focused on building her nonprofit education and experiences to the fullest extent possible. Jessica was a regular volunteer for organizations like the Down Syndrome Convention, Girls Inc. Dallas and Equest. She also worked at the UT Dallas Military and Veteran Center, participating in panels on campus to help alleviate misunderstandings and misconceptions of veterans. Jessica later volunteered to serve as a UT Dallas Peer Advisor for Veteran Education (PAVE) team leader and advisor, where she assisted student veterans with the transition from military life to academia.

Jessica graduated cum laude from UT Dallas in December 2019, earning her undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies. She is currently pursuing her master’s of public affairs at UT Dallas. After her fellowship, Jessica accepted a position with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred as the constituent advocate in the 32nd district, where she is now serving the Dallas community through district outreach and federal casework. Following her time with Mr. Allred’s office, Jessica has been selected to become a corp member in Teach for America, beginning in 2021, where she will be a teacher-leader in an underserved school district in the Dallas region. Jessica credits the experiences she gained at UT Dallas and during her fellowship for giving her confidence and the qualifications to effectively serve her community.

2018-19: Archie Nettles BS’11, MPA’18

Archie Nettles BS’11 MPA’18, was selected as the inaugural 2018-19 TI Founders Leadership Fellow. Originally from Beaumont, Texas, Archie Nettles served eight years in the U.S. Army on active duty and in the reserves, including one tour in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. After his military career, Archie transitioned to civilian life and pursued his undergraduate degree at UT Dallas in public affairs from the School of Economics, Political and Policy Sciences, graduating in 2011.

His commitment to service and to using his leadership abilities for the good of others continued within UT Dallas, where Archie worked for four years as an admission and enrollment counselor and veteran liaison at the Military and Veteran Center. He later accepted an internship with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and pursued and was offered the first-ever TI Founders Leadership Fellowship.

During the same year as his fellowship, Archie earned his master’s in public affairs at UT Dallas and also was accepted into the prestigious George W. Bush Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program at the George W. Bush Institute. One of 43 selected scholars from across the United States, Archie collaborated with other active-duty, veterans and civilians to improving transitions and outcomes for post-9/11 veterans and their families.

After completing his fellowship, Archie accepted a position on the Naveen Jindal School of Management’s major gifts team as assistant director of development, where he is now focusing on expanding fundraising capacity for the Jindal Young Scholars initiative, a University program that helps underrepresented Dallas Independent School District high school students prepare for and attend college. This dynamic role has given him the opportunity to leverage the training, tools, techniques and experiences he gained from the fellowship.