The 2025 Eva Koch Scholars share their backgrounds and what they are exploring in their scholarship.
Hezron Masitsa
Hezron Masitsa is a Quaker, a member of Nairobi Yearly Meeting, Kenya. He serves as the Justice and Peace Secretary for Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC World Office). He worked as the Regional Programs Coordinator for Change Agents for Peace International (CAPI); the National Peace building Coordinator for World Vision Kenya; and the Peacebuilding Technical Lead for Faith to Action Network.
Masitsa holds a Master of Arts degree in Peace Studies and International Relations from Catholic University for Eastern Africa (CUEA). He has attended several short courses locally and overseas, including the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, Eastern Mennonite University, USA.
What are you exploring in your Eva Koch scholarship?
Most people in Africa experience food shortages due to prolonged drought and famine, leading to malnutrition among young children and reduced life expectancy among the adults. The state of food insecurity contributes to climate crisis where the poor resort to unsustainable land practices for subsistence.
For centuries, cultures across the globe have developed ingenious ways to preserve food, architecture, and knowledge, ensuring survival and continuity in the face of scarcity. (amazingfoodanddrink.com/traditional-preservation-methods/). The threat of planetary crisis calls for multiple efforts aimed at reversing the negative effects of climate change. The crisis is a call to look into some of the ancient practices that are less costly, but also promote good health and contribute to reversing the negative effects of climate change.
The project will explore some of the African traditional preservative methods used by women to improve mortality rates among children while increasing life expectancy among the adults.
Jeanne Marie (Jaimie) Mudd
Jaimie has been walking in the wilderness as a spiritual activity throughout her life. She also engages in activities like creating land trusts, organizing neighbourhood clean-ups, composting green waste, and removing buffle grass and salt cedar. For over 35 years she has worked with people in faith communities, education, public health, government and philanthropy across the world.
She has led Friends, and other denominations, in Meeting and congregational care, spiritual renewal retreats and has a creative public ministry. Along with her husband Daniel, Jaimie leads Experiment with Light retreats and serves as coordinator of the North American Light Network.
Jaimie holds a Bachelor of Science, Psychology and a Master in Counselling Psychology, as well as Master of Divinity, and has certifications in meditation, sound healing, coaching, mediation, as well as Courage and Renewal Retreat facilitation.
What are you exploring in your Eva Koch scholarship?
‘ReWilding the Light: Quaker Eco Spirituality’ – ReWilding captures the fire of comprehensive conservation and restoration of biodiverse ecological systems. The term has also been popularised as a metaphor for reawakening and reclaiming generative, spiritual practices that connect us to the universal light, to our earth and cosmos, to ourselves and to one another.
Friends across the centuries connected faith and action in care for creation as well for justice in the world. This Eva Koch Award supports a compilation of the variety of Friends expression of 21st century and seeks to ensure this offers a practical theology for all who discern a concern for creation care.
Within this project will be ancient and emergent Quaker writings, global eco spiritual practices enabling an inspirational ReWilding window into how we are part of and care for all ecological systems and to ensure these practices and stories are available for our wider Quaker Fellowship. Included in this project are an exploration into forms of community building that foster creation care through prayer and meditation, direct action, creative expression, poetry, prose, dance and music.
John Shinebourne, Julia Mann, Alexandra Rook and Jean Jenn (Golders Green Quaker Meeting)
John Shinebourne is a retired lecturer/counsellor and uses his retirement to engage in Quaker service and studies. He is currently undertaking a Spiritual Direction course at Sarum College.
Jean Jenn is Clerk of premises and the Local Meeting Retreats facilitator. She is delighted to be exploring with Friends how we find spiritual strength and relevant witness.
Julia Mann is an elder at Golders Green Meeting. In the role she continues her longtime interest and experience in facilitating diverse practices to promote and nurture spiritual development.
Alexandra Rook is a retired Landscape Architect and keen gardener. She is involved with various local environmental projects which seek to reinvigorate the principles of the Garden Suburb.
What are you exploring in your Eva Koch scholarship?
Golders Green Meeting, North West London has a vision of how our meeting house, set in ancient woodland, might be used as a hub of spiritual strength and witness to nurture each other and our environment. We know that this sustaining space is valued by those who use it for worship, retreats, well-being classes, and those who simply sit a while in the front garden.
We seek ways to support Quakers acting under concern on climate change, climate justice and other global issues. We will explore the viability of our leadings and their potential relevance to the wider Quaker community. We are committed to spiritual learning and growing together. We will reach out to others of faith and none, to build a witness that holds to hope and resilience.
