Blossom Hill is thrilled to announce our 2025 Class of Fellows! This year, two new Fellows are joining our Fellowship program with innovative initiatives to make breakthroughs for refugee children affected by conflict and war. These initiatives will put refugee children and youth on the path to success and a better future.
2025 Fellows
BH Fellow 2025
Melissa Diamond (Syria)
Pulse of Life Kindergarten will establish Syria's first Montessori program in Dara'a Governorate, targeting formerly displaced children with educational gaps and trauma-related challenges. The initiative will train local educators, establish a four-classroom campus, and create economic opportunities by employing parents to develop materials. Through academic support and resilience-building activities, the program aims to help children successfully integrate into local schools.
Melissa worked in Jordan for many years with displaced Syrian families who had limited access to education. When families began to return to Syria, she discovered many children were too far behind academically to enroll in local schools and showed trauma symptoms affecting classroom behavior. With a close friend in Syria, Melissa founded Pulse of Life to help these children catch up academically and develop resilience skills for future success.
BH Fellow 2025
Daisy Van Leeuwen-Hill (Jordan)
Squash Dreamers is a holistic program dedicated to empowering young refugee and underserved girls in Amman through sports, education and wellbeing to ensure that they reach their full potential. Under Blossom Hill, the program will expand by creating the ``Blossom Hill Team,`` a new cohort of girls. The program combines English education, squash, fitness, and wellbeing support to keep girls in school and prevent early marriage. The expansion will incorporate Montessori techniques and upgrade learning spaces to foster independence and self-directed learning.
Daisy came to Jordan in 2018 to learn Arabic and became deeply involved with the local refugee community. As Executive Director of Squash Dreamers since 2021, she has grown the program, expanding from squash and English to comprehensive support including academics, mental health, meals, and healthcare. Under her leadership, participants have achieved multiple scholarships to the UK, US, and Jordan while showing improved wellbeing and academic performance.
