By Kristin Janka and Melanie Brender
Michigan State University students Anabelle Sanchez and Grace Gramza have become the institution’s second and third Voyager Scholarship recipients, each securing up to $50,000 in financial aid and a 10-year travel stipend.
The Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service is the brainchild of the Obamas and Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, to support students who demonstrate a passion for helping others, experience serving their communities, and an expansive view of what’s possible through public service.
The scholarship provides college students with financial aid, meaningful travel experiences, and a network of mentors and leaders to support them. The 2026-2028 cohort represents 100 students from 39 states and territories, as well as 68 colleges and universities.
Anabelle Sanchez
Grace Gramza“I’m very pleased to congratulate Anabelle Sanchez and Grace Gramza on being named Michigan State’s second and third Voyager Scholarship recipients,” said MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D. “Service to others is a Spartan hallmark, and this honor reflects both a commitment to public service and the values that define the greatest leaders, including curiosity, compassion, and the will to make a positive difference. Anabelle and Grace exemplify our shared commitment to serve others and strengthen our communities.”
Awardees also receive a $10,000 stipend and free Airbnb housing to pursue a summer work-travel experience between their third and fourth year of college, gaining exposure to new communities and development in a chosen field.
“The Distinguished Student Awards Office is a proud supporter and resource for all MSU students pursuing selective, nationally competitive awards like the Voyager Scholarship,” said DSAO Director and Honors College Assistant Dean Kristin Janka. “Congratulations to Grace and Anabelle. Earning an award like this is a life-changing achievement.”
Anabelle Sanchez: Pursuing educational equity in K-12
“I am deeply honored to be selected as a 2026-2028 Obama-Chesky Voyager,” Sanchez said. “My passion for public service, specifically advancing educational equity for youth from underserved communities, has been strengthened by this opportunity to help close the persistent gaps within the K-12 education system.”
Sanchez is a third-year student majoring in political theory and constitutional democracy through James Madison College and public policy in the College of Social Science. She is a Social Science Scholar and a 2025-2026 Community Engagement Scholar. Sanchez has served as a survivor advocate and crisis intervention volunteer with the MSU Center for Survivors and a peer educator for the Prevention, Outreach, and Education Department.
Professor John Waller, director of the Social Science Scholars program and Sanchez’s faculty mentor, said: “Anabelle is a model student who is thoroughly deserving of this accolade. In addition to excelling in academics, Anabelle could hardly be more engaged on and off campus.”
Beyond campus, Sanchez serves as one of 24 students on Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force to provide feedback on equitable voter engagement across Michigan. She is also a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and Chicago Mayor’s Youth Commission alumna.
Throughout her work in public service, Sanchez has been deeply involved with organizations focused on youth advancement and community support, including the Lansing-based nonprofit Teaching & Mentoring Young Leaders and the Gage Park Latinx Council in Chicago.
“To all of these roles, Anabelle brings enthusiasm, genuine care, and professionalism. A more other-centered, conscientious, or hard-working student would be hard to find. Anabelle will carry out a national-level study of educational inequities as a Voyager before dedicating her professional life to improving access to quality schooling across America,” Waller said.
Sanchez is from Chicago, Illinois, where she attended Jones College Prep High School.
Grace Gramza: Blending research and engineering to tackle PFAs
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to explore all the potential avenues for me within the public service sector,” Gramza said.
“This Voyager Scholarship means everything to me, and I am still in shock that I have already been able to meet many remarkable people who have inspired me to try new things to serve our environment, she said. “I cannot wait to take advantage of the vast network and resources this community gives me.”
Gramza is a third-year student majoring in biosystems engineering with a dual concentration in energy and ecosystems through the College of Engineering. She said that with the help of the Voyager Scholarship, she plans to explore career options in environmental policy and connect with policy sector professionals to learn more about writing policy with a focus on water quality.
This ties into her extensive undergraduate research experience, which began in her first year at MSU in the Climate-Smart Decision Support Systems Research Group, studying climate change using satellite systems in apple orchards under Professor Daniel Uyeh.
Gramza has been a research assistant in the Sarah Wu Laboratory at the University of Idaho, where she studied the degradation of PFAS, and in MSU’s Hydro Quality Water Lab supervised by Professor Subhasis Giri.
She has most recently worked with the Fraunhofer USA Center Midwest under Professor Ibrahim Abusallout, studying how to optimize processes for degrading PFAS.
Abusallout called Gramza an “outstanding student researcher” in the lab, where she contributed to a project funded by the National Science Foundation.
“She approached her research with strong curiosity, dedication, and a willingness to take on complex technical challenges. The Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service is a well-deserved recognition of her accomplishments and potential, and I am excited to see where her commitment to research and environmental impact takes her next,” Abusallout said.
Gramza’s campus involvements include external president for Leadership Advantage, activities chair for Engineering Student Council, and sisterhood chair for Phi Sigma Rho.
She is from Midland, Michigan and attended Celina High School in Celina, Ohio.
The Voyager Scholarship is open to second-year students who are committed to a career in public service and have a demonstrated financial need. The next application will open in spring 2027, but interested MSU students can fill out an Intent to Apply form in advance on the DSAO website.
Please contact Melanie Brender at brenderm@msu.edu for media inquiries on this story.