Meet Our Team
Alexander Levering Kern
Founding Editor
Alexander Levering Kern (he/him/his) is a widely-published poet, writer, and editor. A Quaker chaplain and interfaith leader, Alex serves as the founding Executive Director of the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue and Service (CSDS) at Northeastern University. Editor of the anthology Becoming Fire: Spiritual Writing from Rising Generations, Alex’s poems appear in Spiritus, CONSEQUENCE online,The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), About Place Journal, Spare Change News, and elsewhere.
Soo Laski
Assistant Editor
Soo Laski (she/her/hers) is quoted in the articles “Moving Interfaith Programs to Online Spaces” and “Right in Their Backyard” and her work is referenced in the book Practicing Development: Upending Assumptions for Positive Change. A Protestant Christian, she serves as the Assistant Director at the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service (CSDS). Soo has been involved in interfaith leadership for over 10 years and has partnered with local community leaders and organizations to bring clean potable water to communities in need on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua.
Isabela Fox-Mills
Co-Editor
Isabela Fox-Mills was born in Manhattan, NY, and grew up an hour north of the city. In her hometown, she was able to explore nature while having a bustling, creative, and stylish city to her disposal. Currently she is studying Sociology and International Affairs at Northeastern University, as a rising second year. She is hoping to pursue anything from a law degree to a Master’s in Public Health. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, cooking vegan meals, exploring nature, and thrift shopping.
Sharan Sekhon
Co-Editor
Sharan Sekhon is a second-year student studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Northeastern University. Her Linguistics minor adds to her diverse interests in studying the intersection of the arts and sciences. Having found a community of people who are also interested in the inter- and trans-diciplinary fields, she hopes to contribute to building an inclusive and provocative collection of literature.
Jayla Tillison
Co-Editor
Jayla Tillison is a second year Architectural Studies and Civil Engineering student at Northeastern University. As something of a “Renaissance woman”, she has always been deeply interested in the freedom to be found in the arts and fascinated by the intricacies of the sciences. In recent years she has found a great sense of community through these interests and hopes to continue to contribute to that moving forwards.
Melissa Streifert
Assistant Editor
Melissa is a member of the class of 2024 at Northeastern University. She is a pre-medical student majoring in Behavioral Neuroscience. She grew up in upstate New York before seeking new experiences in Boston. On campus, she is a research assistant in the Lifespan Emotional Development Lab and is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. She hopes to use her degree to improve the mental well-being of future patients and recognizes the importance of spirituality and the arts to achieve this.
Paulina Madero
Assistant Editor
Paulina Madero is a class of 2025 student at Northeastern University. She was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. She is a candidate for Bachelor of Science in a Combined Major in Business Administration and Psychology with a Concentration in Finance. Inside Northeastern, she is an active member and associate of Women in Finance and the Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship. She enjoys time spent with a good book, listening to music, going for a run and visiting art museums.
Scout Gullick
Assistant Editor
Scout Gullick is pursuing a degree in English and Environmental Studies here at Northeastern University. She is originally from Miami, Florida, but after years abroad, she is working on finding what feels like home. With a passion for sustainability and conservation, you can often find her exploring nature or trying new plant-based recipes.
Ryan Jenkins
Spiritual Advisor for Faith and Justice
Ryan is a third-year Master of Divinity student at Harvard Divinity School where he studies social movements, spiritual care, Catholic theology, prison abolition, and sacred ritual. Previously he has served as Minister of the Steps at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul and as a hospital chaplain in Raleigh, North Carolina. As someone who has held changing religious identities, Ryan is personally familiar with both the overwhelming and the liberating feelings that can come from deep spiritual inquiry. If you’re exploring a new faith tradition, unpacking complicated feelings about the faith you were raised in, or seeking to use your faith or spirituality as a lens to interpret issues of justice, please reach out to Ryan to accompany you— he would be happy to talk about whatever is weighing on your heart and mind.
Katya Forsyth
Lead Design
Katya was born in Russia and grew up in Los Angeles, before moving to Boston to pursue their BA in International Affairs at Northeastern University. They have long been involved in the interfaith community at Northeastern University, and will be pursuing a MS in Environmental Science and Policy at Northeastern in 2021.
Former Members (Graduates)
Dola Haque
Managing Editor
Dola Haque (she/her/hers) is a Master of Arts student in English at Northeastern University. Her research includes rhetorics of immigration and race, global feminisms, and narratives and storytelling. Language is her obsession. She is an aspiring novelist and public scholar who hopes to crush the hetero-normative patriarchy while unapologetically finding ways to be joyful and singing her way through life.
Ben Rubin
Website Editor
A lifelong reader turned English major, Benjamin Rubin is ecstatic to be a part of the Pensive team. This journal is his first time working on a collaborative literary project and he appreciates the turn away from reading/writing's otherwise solitary nature. He hopes that, in today's unstable and isolated times, those who read Pensive get a sense of the care and connectedness that this publication has given him.
Madelaine Millar
Marketing and Publicity Editor
Madelaine Millar is a fourth year Journalism student at Northeastern University pursuing double minors in International Affairs and Global Fashion Studies. She was born and raised in Missoula, Montana. She’s the Managing Editor of The Avenue, Northeastern University's fashion and culture magazine, and she cares deeply about connecting people with the stories that matter to them. In her free time she enjoys knitting, cooking, and dance.
Morgan Lloyd
Assistant Editor
Hyun Lee
Design Team
Amy Chen
Assistant Editor
Jacob Kapasi
Assistant Editor
Jermaya Kennedy
Assistant Editor
Rhyia Bibby
Assistant Editor