The Executive Team
Operations Committee
The Operations Committee oversees all other executive committees. They work closely with the Executive Director to make decisions on action plans for nationwide campaigns.
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Executive
Director
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Chief of Staff
Alvin Lee (he/him) is the founder and Executive Director of GENup. In this capacity, he oversees day-to-day operations of the organization as well as strategic development and expansion of the organization as a whole. He is a current Sophomore at Stanford University studying public policy and education. A proud graduate of California public schools and a Bay Area native, he has been deeply involved in California education policy since 9th grade and envisions an interconnected education system where student voice and leadership help drive policy creation.In the fall of 2019, he organized youth-led marches for education in three cities (Oakland, SF, San Jose) for the Schools and Communities First Ballot Initiative. After getting involved in local school district issues and noticing the lack of youth participation in education, he founded GENup: a national, youth-led advocacy organization that strives to advocate for education reform through the power of youth voices. Alvin believes that grassroots, community-oriented organizing is at the core of every successful movement.
Alvin is the founding member of the California Department of Education’s first Youth Advisory council, where students utilize youth voice to shape education-policy affecting all of California’s 6.3 million public school students. Alvin is also a co-founder of the California Student Board Member Association.
In his free time, Alvin enjoys music, hiking, and tennis.
Email: alee@generationup.net
Collegiate Director of Operations
Allyson Chan (she/her) is a senior at Hillsdale High School in the Bay Area and GENup’s Collegiate Director of Operations. Having been involved in student government since elementary school, Allyson has always been passionate about representing her peers' voices and aims to do so on a greater level by advocating for inclusive educational curriculum with GENup. Allyson is a Youth Commissioner and Chair of the Civic Engagement Committee in the San Mateo County Youth Commission, where she has drafted policy recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on various issues impacting youth, ranging from juvenile justice approaches to ethnic studies in addition to organizing conferences for student civic engagement. As the Student Board Member on the San Mateo County Board of Education, Allyson represents over 90,000 student voices and has provided insight on various issues, such as emphasizing a need for student input on the Local Control and Accountability Plan. From involvement with electoral politics leading My School Votes Bay Area to lobbying for gun violence reform with BAStA to interning for congressional candidate Brynne Kennedy, Allyson has experienced many different avenues of activism. As she enters college—the next chapter of her life, Allyson is eager to advocate for educational equity at the collegiate level and looks forward to working with other passionate students on GENup’s Executive Team.
Genavieve Koenigshofer (she/her) is a sophomore at University of California: San Diego. She is a pre-med student pursuing a double major in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience and Political Science: Public Policy. As Chief of Staff, she oversees all Directors on the Executive Team and coordinates GENup’s operations. Genavieve developed an interest in education policy as the 2019-2020 Student Advisor to the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees, representing almost 50,000 students. She is a founding member of the California Student Board Member Association and now sits on their Board of Directors. Genavieve has also served as the Operations VP for Congresswoman Katie Porter's Youth Advisory Board, as a UCSD campus leader for the UC Advocacy Network, and as the President of GENup Collegiate at UCSD.
Email: genavieve@generationup.net
Director of GENup Collegiate
Kimberly Woo (she/her) is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, pursuing her higher education in the fields of Political Science, Legal Studies, and Ethnic Studies. Due to her strong beliefs in equitable educational practices, she strives for an inclusive, diverse, and representative educational curriculum as well as an affordable, accessible right to education for all students. Her political advocacy began at a young age when she noticed the alarming absence of narratives from people of color in her education, entertainment/media, politics, and community, inspiring her to join GENup to empower youth voices and promote social justice. As Director of GENup Collegiate, Kimberly helps spearhead GENup's higher educational sphere in the fight for education equity by mobilizing events through phone banking, rallies, and legislative testimonies, such as supporting local mental health hotlines on student IDs through AB2122 (Choi). Additionally, due to her passion for diverse educational representation, she has fought for ethnic studies by organizing the AB101 (Medina) Teach Ethnic Studies Rally at the Sacramento State Capitol and working to implement ethnic studies as a UC admissions requirement. Outside of GENup, Kimberly has worked in state and municipal politics such as the Oakland Youth Commission, the judicial system through JusticeCorps, and community organizations such as the Cal ACLU, to further her knowledge and passion for political issues because she believes that the community organizing is the most powerful way to use our voices for change. As a firm advocate for social justice and equity, Kimberly aspires to empower youth to create a more loving future.
Email: collegiate@generationup.net
Director of Expansion
Pranavi Sammidi (she/her) is a rising sophomore at Westview High School. She has a strong interest in empowerment and the need for student support. While attending schools with a lack of diversity and inclusion, she saw firsthand how the teaching of awareness slipped through the cracks of formal education. She strives to bring equity into the classroom, ensuring that people feel welcomed in their learning spaces and community. Pranavi truly believes that grassroots organizing is such an amazing way of creating change and is adept at empowering the individual. She has been involved in activism all throughout her life whether it be attending protests, volunteering or speaking up in the face of injustice. She joined GENup to meet inspiring people and chase her passion of advocacy. Pranavi takes part in different cultural activism organizations and clubs specific to empowerment in the classroom. In her free time, Pranavi likes to sew, listen to music and code.
Organizing Committee
The Organizing Committee reaches out and makes connections with all GENup chapters. They provide a one-on-one line of communication to the GENup Executive Team and are also instrumental in rolling out new campaigns.
Chief Organizing
Officer
Director of Organizing
Daniel Dolan (he/him) is a senior at Del Norte High School in San Diego, California. They have a strong passion for political advocacy and youth leadership, stewarding numerous projects at Del Norte as part of the local GENup chapter & Civics Club. Some of these projects include debates between students on different sets of issues (including domestic & foreign policy), voter registration drives, panels with minorities on campus, and interviews with Congressmen. Daniel also works with their district on advocating for increased CTE-focused policy to open up career pathways for Del Norte students and is in youth leadership as a CTSO state president and commissioner of their student body.
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Director of Organizing
Carter McKinzie (he/him) is a sophomore at Laguna Beach High School, CA. His interest in educational activism sparked when he discerned inequity in his community regarding equal access for all and No Child Left Behind. As an advocate of mental health, Carter plans on working at the community level on improving the resources available to students. In addition, he serves as a coordinator for Laguna Beach High School's Model United Nations program which strives to educate students about pressing UN issues such as gender inequality, nuclear regulation, climate change, and fair sustainable development. In Carter's free times, you will find him playing water polo, spending time with friends, or reading a classic novel.
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Kiran
Manghnani
Kiran Manghnani (she/her) is Junior at Monta Vista HIgh School, California. Her interests in activism and politics began to develop during middle school through mock trial, and speech and debate. Over the past few years her passion for social justice and activism have led her to organizations like GENup. She joined GENup in an effort to both help educate people on many of the injustices which underrepresented and marginalized groups across the world are forced to face, and to actively work against these injustices. Kiran has worked with similar advocacy clubs and organizations, volunteering with MoveOn, Team Everest, Leo Club, and other smaller organizations throughout her years in high school. She began working with GENup in 2019 with the Cupertino chapter and is now a member of the Board of Organizing as well as the Director of Content Creation for the Women and Marginalized genders caucus. In the future she hopes to take aspects from her experiences with GENup and implement these ideas of social justice into the medical and STEM fields as she is currently interested in pre-med specifically biochem. Her experiences in the past have fueled her passion for advocacy and fight for equity; having been to the Women's March three times and having the opportunity to participate in the Black Lives Matter protests over the past summer have in many ways changed her outlook and brought her to further educate herself and others. She is excited to work with GENup to help bring these ideas of equity and social justice to life.
Eric Yue (he/him) is a junior in Leland High School in the Bay Area and is one of the Directors of Organizing for GENup K-12. After attending various political events, Eric realized the societal inequality in our world today, especially in the accessibility of education for many lower-income families. He became more involved in political activism throughout his high school years and joined GENup's K-12 Executive Team to further expand on this passion and interest. As a Director of Organizing, Eric will work closely with other teams within GENup to support local chapters, campaigns, and activism. He is excited to work with youth leaders around the state on issues impacting the educational system! In his free time, Eric is always down to a late-night boba run, watching endless hours of YouTube, or simply chatting with friends online and through voice calls!
Director of Organizing
Ramit Goyal (he/him) is a junior at The Harker School in San Jose, California. His motivation for advocating for reform in the education system comes from his early days in his school's speech and debate club, where he learned about different issues such as residential segregation and its effect on public education. Because of his experience there, he has now started drafting and articulating more of his thoughts on different issues. He was promoted to Vice President at his school's Civil Discourse Club which serves to promote an environment safe for everyone to share their personal possibly controversial opinions on different relevant topics. To continue his fight for reform in the educational system, he is interning with a local politician, Rishi Kumar. In addition, Ramit is passionate about the right to education for every child. He feels that in order to create a just, fair and wonderful society for the future, we need to start with providing the right to education for every child not only in the United States but in the whole world. There are millions and millions of smart kids who are deprived of the opportunity to contribute to society and to the planet earth just because they didn’t get basic education. With this in mind, he is part of a non-profit, Equal Access Robotics. The mission of the organization is to help teach kids in not only unprivileged neighborhoods in California, but also in other parts of the world. He joined as a teacher to teach different STEM courses including programming to these kids. Based on his passion and time commitment, he got promoted to VP of Class Operations. In his free time, Ramit likes to play piano where he is able to pause on everything else going on in his life.
Sanya Dhama
Sanya Dhama (she/her) is a first-year at Pitzer College in the Joint Medical Program in Claremont, CA, pursuing a major in Human Biology on a path to become a physician. In high school, she represented her peers as class president and student representative on her school site council. It was these experiences and her involvement within the Mayor’s Youth Council that opened up her eyes to the world of advocacy. Since then, she has promoted civic engagement within youth through hosting rallies and conferences in her role as Region 11 President for the California Association of Student Councils and Far South Regional Director for the Empowerment Collective. Her advocacy efforts range from health equity to racial justice to education, and beyond. Deeply passionate about minority representation—both in and out of medicine—, she serves as an intern for the Keck Science Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and for the United Nations Women USA Los Angeles Chapter, working to promote diversity and gender equity. She even had the opportunity to speak alongside Asm Medina in support of AB 101 for Ethnic Studies at a statewide press conference. As the co-founder of GoToTutors (a free, virtual peer-to-peer tutoring service), she greatly values education and emphasizes community engagement as an avenue towards creating solutions to support those in need. Sanya finds her greatest inspiration from her peers and thus always looks to support and uplift the voices of the leaders of today—aka YOU! On her free time, she loves listening to music (recently into French and Ukrainian music), watching basketball, swimming, and going on spontaneous trips.
Policy Committee
The Policy Committee develops most new campaigns for GENup to pursue. They are also in charge of drafting educational policy, reaching out to legislators and tracking key bills that GENup may support.
Chief Policy & Legislative
Director
Fiona Lu (she/her) is a senior at Northwood High School in Irvine, Orange County, California. She is extremely passionate about educational equity, racial justice, and youth advocacy. She is a student representative on the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) Youth Advisory Council, where she and 11 other students advise policymakers and educators towards implementing equitable practices in the education system. She is also involved in the California Association of Student Councils (CASC) as the State Vice President where she oversees the organization’s state-wide efforts, including leadership conference planning, legislative platform, and student engagement. Her fight for racial equity includes leading a local chapter of Dear Asian Youth, an organization that works to empower Asian youth through intersectional activism. In her free time, she loves creative writing, watching Criminal Minds on loop, and spending time with her family.
Director of Policy
Akul Gupta (he/him) is a Biomedical Sciences major at the University of South Florida and serves as Director of National Policy. He spearheads projects on a global scale in underserved communities focusing on preventative care and sustainable development targeting inadequate accessibility through novel methods of communication. Currently on the boards of multiple nonprofit organizations, Akul has run projects in Latin America, Africa, Vietnam, and India. He has published an app to serve as a database on phytomedicine and a book that teaches patients how to manage osteoporosis in their daily lives. Akul has presented at multiple conferences across the country and hopes to help GENup expand their scope of practice within his capacity as Director of National Policy.
Director of Policy
Sissi Zhang (she/her) is a senior at Irvington High School in the Fremont Unified School District. As the Policy Director for GENup, she advocates for tangible change within the education system through policymaking. In her district, she serves as a Student Board Representative and has seen the importance of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion alongside civic engagement in order to create the best learning environment for students. Wanting to create change at the state level, Sissi applied for the CA State Board of Education Student Board Member position and is now a top 3 finalist. Aside from educational advocacy, she is also involved in speech and debate and is actively working to create free and accessible teacher-led programs within districts across California to promote equitable debate education. In her free time, she loves to draw and browse through cute pictures of animals and looks forward to working with the GENup Team to make a positive impact on her community.
Collegiate
Director of Policy
George Ashford (he/him) is a sophomore at Claremont McKenna College and a prospective Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major. Before joining GENup's Collegiate policy team, George pursued his passion for youth advocacy and local government as the Chair of the Takoma Park Youth City Council and a Cohort Captain and Roundtable Facilitator with the YMCA Changemakers Institute. He has volunteered and organized campaigns including that of Senator Gary Peters and President Joe Biden in Michigan, worked as a communications assistant for Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart, and interned with the Executive Department at FairVote, an electoral reform advocacy organization. He currently works as a research assistant for the Rose Institute for State and Local Government and as an intern in Congressman Jamie Raskin's DC Office. In his spare time, George loves arguing about tax policy, backpacking, skiing, and otherwise enjoying the outdoors. He is excited to join GENup in making higher education more equitable and accessible for students of all races and income backgrounds!
Director of Policy
Kate Rodgers (she/her) is a member of the class of 2025 at the University of California, Los Angeles. Currently, she is pursuing a dual degree and Math and Economics. Kate has been interested in politics since childhood, but she got involved in educational advocacy in high school. Through serving on the student council and running free academic resources for her classmates, she realized that she has a passion for education-related political issues. As a result, Kate co-founded a student protest organization advocating for racial equity in the education system by updating curriculums and removing police from schools. Going forward, she hopes to continue this work as a Director of Policy for GENUp by engaging with statewide policy. Kate hopes to continue her advocacy beyond her school years by pursuing a career in politics or law.
Director of
Policy
Ollie James-Singh (they/them) is a junior at Armijo High School in Fairfield, California. They are one of the Associate Artistic Director‘s helping to create informational posts on GENup’s social media. Ollie is also a student ambassador for the Fairfield Suisun chapter, which is how they first got involved in GENup. Ollie has been involved in educational advocacy since the beginning of their high school career, joining their school's leadership program, sitting in on district board meetings, and working with school admin to assure the voices of students are being heard. As someone who hopes to become involved in politics in the future, Ollie is excited about the experiences and opportunities GENup will bring. In their free time Ollie likes to read, listen to music, and spend time with friends and family. Ollie strongly believes in what GENup is doing for education reform in California as their goal is to help students and educators alike.
Campaigns Team
The Campaigns Team creates resources to assist chapters in successfully operating and executing campaigns.
Director of Campaign Development
Kimiya Attar (she/they) is a junior at University High School in Fresno, CA. Growing up in the Central Valley has allowed for Kimiya to be exposed to people of diverse racial groups, socio-economic standpoints, religious affiliations, gender identities, and sexual orientations, and has made her aware of the importance of grassroots organizing to amplify marginalized voices. Kimiya served as a Youth Fellow for CADEM, volunteering for local Congressional Candidates Phil Arballo and TJ Cox, as well as Selma School Board Trustee Jaspreet Nagra. In her role, Kimiya phone-banked and canvassed, as well as registering over 3,000 community members in Fresno County and Kern County to vote in the November election. She became passionate about education reform after volunteering for a local school board trustee candidate, a role in which she phonebanked, canvassed, and gave a speech at a campaign event to raise awareness about implementing progressive policies, such as Green New Deal practices, the removal of SROs on campus, and Mutual Aid Groups to provide resources to working class families in the Fresno Unified School District. Kimiya is a reporter for The kNOw Fresno, a local youth-led magazine that brings prominence to sociopolitical, cultural, environmental, and educational matters. Currently, Kimiya is the president of the Fresno GENup chapter, and is working to form legislative policies that highlight the importance of mental health, learning tactics that are inclusive to neurodivergent students, budget reform, civic engagement, and a Diversify our Narrative campaign for districtwide textbooks and literature pieces. As their school’s finalist for the American Legion Auxiliary, a statewide conference delving into governmental affairs, Kimiya recognizes the responsibility that comes with student leadership, and finds ways to enact that into their everyday life. Kimiya is a Peer Mentor for her school’s Speech and Debate, as well as an active member in Chamber Choir, Mock Trial, and Model United Nations. In her free time, she loves to volunteer at a local nursing home for Alzheimer’s patients, play the piano, and go hiking at Yosemite National Park.
Director of Campaign Development
Sreevarshini Amara (she/her) is a freshman at Irvington High School in the Fremont Unified School District. From a young age, Varshi has enjoyed learning about diversity in her community and is interested in using her voice to strive for equality. Varshi has demonstrated passion for advocating through community service, volunteer events, director leadership, and many more. She has been involved in her school’s political club and taken the director position of an international organization from India to represent the current global issues along with domestic and foreign policies. From her short span during high school, she began developing communication skills by joining her class council and speaking in front of large audiences, to gain awareness of current issues. Varshi is also an active member of the United Nations club to explore more about demographic issues. During her free time, she loves to dance and watch TikTok videos. Varshi has a lot of goals to accomplish during her time at GENUP, specifically focusing on the education system.
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Director of Campaign Development
Saachi Raju (she/her) is currently a freshman at Irvine Valley College, pursuing her degree in political science, and hopes to one day attend law school. She is very passionate about de-stigmatizing mental health and hopes to create campaigns focusing on mental health education in schools as a Director of Campaign Development at GENup. Having been an international director at a mental health organization, she has orchestrated the production of multimedia content such as podcasts and articles that share the unique experiences of people all across the world. Ranging from climate activist burnout to the mental health resources provided in schools, she and her team strive to highlight unknown stories and provide a safe platform for people to share their experiences. In addition to her time at this organization, she has also worked as a research assistant in a lab at the University of California, Irvine, for a study that strengthens mother-child relationships through intervention programs for low income Latinx communities in the Santa Ana area. Being involved in this study has only enhanced her passion for improving civic education and ensuring that all students have equitable access to resources. In her future, she hopes to engage in more advocacy projects and explore journalism in order to be a representative for marginalized communities and bring awareness to unknown societal issues. Ultimately, Saachi hopes to utilize her position at GENup to highlight social justice issues and lead campaigns that strive for changes in education.
Chief Officer of Campaign
Alison Chiu (she/her) is a junior at Heritage High School in Brentwood, California. She is extremely passionate about making a change ever since she was young. She is a strong advocate for gender equality, student engagement, and mental health. Alison got involved with GenUP originally at a local level, joining her district's chapter. Then, she became a Director of Organizing, gaining much experience in how to communicate with members and learning a lot about local education systems. She loved learning about the different processes her chapter went through and the extensive advocacy her chapter did locally. She is currently the co-president of her district's chapter. Alison also has a lot of interest in environmental activism, having been Vice Chair and current Co-Chair for Sustainable Leaders in Action (the youth branch of Sustainable Contra Costa). There she is extensively working on the No Oil and Gas Drilling campaign with the rest of her team and is currently working on implementing an education program on water for young students with nearby water districts, along with many other initiatives. Additionally, another passion of Alison's is speech and debate. She has been on the board for her school's speech and debate club and is the current president of the club. Alison is proud of what GenUP, both locally and on a larger scale, has done, and she is absolutely excited to see what holds for the future!
Partnerships Committee
The Partnerships Committee is in charge of all communications and relationships with partner organizations. They develop resources for campaigns in partnership with other organizations, and help mentor smaller youth-led civic organizations.
Chief Officer of Partnerships
Phillip Nguyen (he/him) is a junior at Bolsa Grande High School in the Garden Grove Unified School District. When he was an eighth grader, his interests in advocacy and reform emerged after he witnessed how political decisions can have a significant impact on students at all levels of their education. As a sophomore, Phillip entered the world of advocacy by serving as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for his local GENup chapter. Since then, he has worked with State Senator Thomas J. Umberg through the inaugural Young Senator program for State Senate District 34. As the Director of Partnerships, Phillip collaborates with the Partnerships Team to strengthen GENup’s campaigns by developing and maintaining relations with different organizations. Outside of advocacy, Phillip studies Mandarin Chinese through the National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship. By learning Mandarin, he hopes to create a lasting impact in Sino-American relations, peace, and global education. In his free time, Phillip enjoys listening to music, studying history, and reading.
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee manages all monetary affairs. They are also in charge of all fundraising efforts, such as developing new, innovative fundraising ideas and applying for grants.
Chief Officer of Finance
Manasi Gajjalapurna (she/her) is a senior at Los Gatos High School. As the Chief of Finance, she works on national fundraising, grant applications, and operations, as well as supports local chapters by creating finance related toolkits and pushing chapters to leverage financial autonomy as a means of fueling sustainable chapter growth! As a first generation student, she understands the importance of prioritizing student education and providing all students with the resources and education they need regardless of their background. Growing up in a town that struggles with diversity and cultural awareness has allowed Manasi to realize the importance of educating her peers and community members on these topics. Through being involved in Leadership programs, raising funds for student technology, and leading the development of ethnic studies & civic engagement in her district, she saw the power she had as a student in her school and community in regards to the issues she saw. Outside of GENup, Manasi is heavily involved with menstrual and reproductive inequity and works with organizations like PERIOD at a local and a larger scale, while also tackling the issue through a data and research-driven approach. In her free time, Manasi likes to sing, hike, and listen to podcast episodes! She is excited to continue her impact through GENup by using her passions for campaigning and outreach to continue advocating for equity across schools and students, and work to support the rise of student leaders advocating for such issues!
Director of Finance
Shahd Khourshed (she/her) is a senior in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is a Director of Finance at GENup. Her involvement in GENup begins with this position, and she is very excited to contribute to this organization’s future. She is passionate about addressing inequities in healthcare, uplifting student voices, and promoting education. Through her involvement in multiple student-led nonprofits and Career and Technical student organizations, she has found her passion for education advocacy. She hopes to advocate for a brighter and more empowering future for students alongside GENup through fundraising and reaching out to emerging student leaders to stand up for educational policy across the country!
Director of Finance
Shreya Prashantha (she/her) is a sophomore at Irvington High School. She became involved in GenUp post-pandemic as a student ambassador for her high school after experiencing a disassociation between diversity education and academic education. She has been in student leadership over the past two years and continues to serve as a financial representative in her high school's ASG, developing an understanding of the impact of community events on an individual's morale. As one of the co-founders of an organization, which is working to support the unhoused through activities that provide financial assistance, hygiene resources, and innovative projects, she has become aware of the lack of opportunities available to certain groups in her community. In her free time, Shreya likes photography, cooking without avocados, and spending time with her younger brother. She is excited to use this opportunity as part of the GENUp team to create and support opportunities for change, as well as endorse diversified education in the school system.
Communications Committee
The Communications Committee is in charge of all written communications from GENup. Some of their duties include writing press releases, open letters, website content, blog posts, and editorials. They also run the GENup podcast and manage email communications.
Chief Director of Communications
Emile Shah (she/her) is a junior at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California. As the Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships, Emile works with the Partnerships Team at GENup to manage existing external networks and partnerships. Her passion for educational and social reform began in high school, when she began to notice that there was a large disparity in quality of education many students were experiencing. In her free time, she likes to write stories, study foreign languages, and watch anime!
Director of
Communications
Ashlyn Bautista (she/her) is a freshman at UC San Diego from Yorba Linda, California who is majoring in Literature and English. As someone who grew up in a family of educators, she was exposed early to conversations around the disparities and hurdles that many students face within the education spectrum. After seeing the ways that her hometown's Board of Education has been actively trying to ban and condemn inclusive and important aspects of the school curriculum, she wanted to be a part of a group of like-minded people that have the chance to advocate for equitable, racially inclusive policies that have the ability to shape a student's life. Although she is new to the educational advocacy scene, Ashlyn wants to use her passion and talents to be a voice for previously marginalized groups and saw GENup as the perfect way to do so. She is currently a member of the GENup chapter at UC San Diego and the GENup Collegiate Director of Communications. In her free time, she enjoys doing anything artistic, writing poetry, reading a good book, and baking sweets for friends and family.
Technology Committee
The Technology Committee handles a variety of tech-related activities, from managing the website and other online platforms, to setting up webinars and our digital outreach tools, and much more!
Director of Technology
Anousha Athreya (she/her) is a senior at Archbishop Mitty High School. She strongly believes in the importance of the education system in uplifting student's voices and teaching them about real-life skills and applications. From there, she found her love for social advocacy and civic engagement through the advocacy project at her school where she serves as the lead for the Gun Violence Prevention team. Passionate about public speaking and learning more about systemic issues that affect society, Anousha is also a lead on her school's speech and debate team to help write affirmatives that deal with these basic issues and the necessity of uplifting equity in legislation. She is also the president of the GENup San Jose chapter and so far has aided in planning the March for Education held last year and facilitated a webinar about the intersection about COVID-19 and Education with local civic leaders to help educate students on what they can do over the pandemic to continue advocating for education equity. She is the Governmental Affairs Director in Region 4 of the California Association of Student Councils and strive to take legislative actions are all issues that are affecting students today, working specifically to advocate for better civic education in schools in front of the Board of Education. Apart from civil service and advocacy, Anousha is passionate about science research and continues to work towards research in brain health and renewable energy to help sustain our environment and always search for better solutions. She is excited to be working with GENup and help advocate for education equity to help more students receive the education that they deserve in their communities.
Collegiate Director of Technology
Matthew Aini (he/him) is a sophomore at UC Berkeley pursuing both a major in political science and business administration, with a minor in public policy. His strong belief in ensuring equitable access to public goods, especially in education, has guided him in his past work and has led him to GENup. Previously, Matthew has served on his city's DEI task force, where he got to work on a number of recommendations pertaining to police reform and DEI in city practices. Additionally, he had served on his school district's graduation requirements task force, where he joined various school stakeholders in advancing flexibility to the high school graduation pathways. As a member of the UC Berkeley chapter of GENup Collegiate, Matthew has been vocal in advocating for ways to improve access to resources for commuter students, among other initiatives the chapter has been working on. His work on helping commuters is also furthered through his participation on the UC Berkeley Parking and Transportation Department's Mobility Equity Committee, where he weighs in on a number of initiatives the department is exploring to help simplify micro-mobility and commuting. In the role of Collegiate Director of Technology, Matthew is in charge of building and managing the organization's technology initiatives. In his free time, Matthew enjoys getting to spend time with loved ones, delving into politics, and visiting new places around the bay area.
Media Committee
The Media Committee makes content for and manages all GENup social media. They also edit GENup videos and the GENup podcast.
Chief Director of Media
Sue Oh (she/her) is a junior at Sunny Hills High School in Orange County. As a Director of Media, she handles communications on a graphic level and aids the outreach of GENup. Sue has always been passionate about leadership and uplifting student perspectives in the education system. On the school, district, local, and even state levels, she has vocalized her support of youth voices. She fundamentally believes that everyone can make a change, and hopes that she can help others find their passion. Through GENup, she hopes to guide others through their school life and embrace change starting from students!
Director of Media
Elaheh Khazi (she/her) is a senior at Mission San Jose High School (MSJHS) in Fremont, California. Currently, she serves as the Media Director for GENup and is responsible for GENup’s various media publications. Elaheh is also part of several GENup caucuses, including the Women and Marginalized Genders’ (WMG) Caucus and Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) Caucus; she serves as the Social Media Director of the former and the Caucus Chair of the latter. Furthermore, she previously served as a School Ambassador for GENup Fremont. Elaheh initially joined GENup to engage more deeply and widely with her community, specifically by amplifying student voices. In her time with GENup, she has become further inspired to get even more involved with activism and advocacy. She founded and oversees the Fremont chapter of Bay Area Student Activists (BAStA), which brings student voices to sociopolitical spheres and figures. In the time since its establishment, Fremont BAStA has advised and supported the creation of this student group in high schools in the Fremont United School District, including MSJHS. She has recently taken her leadership as part of the organization to the main BAStA team as President. In her free time, Elaheh enjoys playing the piano, writing poetry, and painting.
Director of Media
Durriya Ahmed (she/they) is a rising Junior at the University of California, Los Angeles, pursuing a degree in History and Geography/Environmental Studies. As a community college transfer from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, Durriya has been a strong advocate for community colleges and educational equity. During their time at Orange Coast College, Durriya led the advocacy branch of their student government and represented Region VIII in the Student Senate for California Community Colleges: working closely with legislation that actively impacts California Community College students and incorporating bills that GENup has worked with closely in Orange Coast College's legislative advocacy work. As a high schooler, Durriya worked heavily with March for Our Lives California and interned with former Councilmen Gil Cisneros in 2020 throughout their junior and senior years, advocating for gun reform and control. As they move forward in their collegiate career, Durriya hopes to continue working in higher education as a Professor and later move on to Administration.
Director of Media
Melissa Liu (she/her) is a rising junior at Irvington High School in California. She serves as the Artistic Director for GENup and is responsible to oversee the creation of all promotional and informational material for the team, especially on the website and on GENup's social media platforms. She has dabbled in art and design for several years, and has earned various regional, national, and international prizes for her work, from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards to being published in the World Journal to creating advertisements for other organizations. Overall, she is invested in sharing her worldview and spreading awareness about current issues through her art! Beyond being an artist and an activist, she loves to read, look at rabbits, and video call with her friends. She believes in education and supporting both students and educators throughout California.
Director of Media
Hannah Cho (she/her) is a sophomore at Northwood High School in Orange County, California. Hannah’s advocacy began in middle school as the ASB President during the COVID pandemic. She recognized a lack of appreciation towards healthcare workers of her school district and at local hospitals due to a disconnection between them and students, driving her to combat this while engaging the student body. And so, Hannah collaborated with the Vice President to organize Wings of Hope, a school-wide origami butterfly campaign. After collecting the students’ butterflies with gratitude messages, they gave them to healthcare providers and the Kaiser Permanente Hospital. From this, Hannah realized her passion for advocacy and engaging the community. This naturally led her to become involved in her City Council, including as Mayor Farrah Khan and Councilmember Tammy Kim’s intern. Now, she serves in Region 10 of the California Association of Student Councils, as Deputy Communications Director of California High School Democrats, and as President of her high school’s National History Day club. Hannah is excited to collaborate alongside other passionate members of GENup and continue her journey in advocacy as GENup’s K-12 Director of Media.