Svava Valfells

Svava is a rising senior at Columbia University, where she studies cognitive science and philosophy. She was born and raised in London before moving to her parents' native country, Iceland, at the age of ten, and later relocating to Massachusetts at fourteen. This past year, Svava served as a class representative on Columbia’s student council, organizing events from class trips to Coney Island to soup kitchens, communicating with faculty, and advocating for her classmates. She also worked at the Trust Collaboratory, a research center exploring the social dynamics of trust, where she supports the Listening Tables initiative as a student fellow, social media manager, and teaching assistant for the course, Practicing Dialogue Under Conditions of Power. Outside of school, she’s passionate about the visual and performing arts, especially dance and filmmaking. In the future, she hopes to combine her passion for storytelling with her cognitive science background to amplify nondominant voices, share new ideas, and make emerging tools more accessible, whether it’s in tech or creative media.