Isabella Dearing

Isabella Dearing is a Community Engagement Fellow with Duke Community Affairs. She earned her Master of Public Health from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she focused on community, leadership, and social justice. 

 

Isabella began her career in community organizing as the founder of the Students Demand Action chapter at UNC Wilmington, where she built the organization from the ground up to mobilize students around gun violence prevention. Through organizing events, leading advocacy campaigns, and building partnerships across campus, statewide, and nationally, she developed a deep understanding of how collective action and shared leadership create lasting impact. She also discovered how curiosity and creativity fuel collective empowerment—sparking connection, action, and meaningful change. These experiences continue to inform her current work, where she supports students in developing their own initiatives and partnerships rooted in purpose, collaboration, and care.

 

At Duke, Isabella fosters partnerships between the university and the Durham community by uplifting community voices and creating opportunities for meaningful engagement. She brings a background in grassroots organizing, outreach, and trauma-informed programming, alongside her practice as a yin yoga instructor and teaching artist.

 

Grounded in the belief that transformation begins with connection, Isabella leads with love as both a guiding principle and a strategy for change.