I've always been passionate about helping people who don't have the same resources I do, as well as the environment around me. I have done a lot of community service over the years.

Awards:

• 2023: I won the Congressional Award Gold Medal for my volunteering work. The Congressional Award is a national award presented by Congress; to achieve the Gold level, one must do 400 hours of community service, 200 hours of physical fitness work and 200 hours of personal development. I won this award, along with the Silver Medal, Bronze Medal, Gold Certificate, Silver Certificate and Bronze Certificate.

• 2023: I was honored as a Daily Point of Light for my work with Edutine and other volunteer organizations.

• 2021: I earned the Congressional Award Silver Certificate by gaining the number of hours necessary of Community Service, Physical Fitness, Personal Development and Expedition/Exploration.

• 2020 and 2021: I earned the President's Volunteer Service Award Gold Medal for my volunteering work.

• 2018: I won the President's Volunteer Service Award Bronze Medal for tutoring my peers on various subjects.

Volunteer Engagements

I was (2022-2024) the Co-Founder and Co-Head of Art4Neuroscience (previously Neuroscience Art Auction), an organization founded by a group of high schoolers who want to contribute to the neuroscience community. We have a team of 40+ students who work to create art, organize fundraisers to sell it and donate the profits to various neuroscience organizations.

For our 2021-2022 Winter Auction, I

• recruited >15 members for our Art, Public Relations and Web Design committees

• hosted a Winter Art Auction to raise the funds to become an official NPO and start a bank account, raising >$500

• submitted the documents to become an official NPO, obtaining the status in November 2022

For our 2022-2023 (first in-person) Winter Auction, I

• organized the efforts to find an appropriate location for our auction to be held

  • organized a partnership with the Los Altos government to obtain aforementioned location and help promoting the event

• recruited and organized >20 members for our Art and Web Design committees

• headed the Public Relations committee, handling outreach and promotion

• handled logistics of setting up our in-person auction

For our 2023 Summer Art Sale, I

• continued to work with the City of Los Altos

• recruited ~10 more team members for our various teams

• added a new coloring booth station

• handled logistics, outreach and promotion

For our mobile home STEAM classes, I:

• organized a team of volunteer tutors/teachers

• coordinated with the City of Los Altos to run the camp

• worked on curating content

• worked to organize partnership with mobile home

• ran and presented lectures and sessions

We have now passed on leadership of the organization to dedicated juniors and sophomores, and we're excited to see its next chapter!

https://neuroartauction.wixsite.com/home

I am (2021-2024+) a strategy team member and event host with Life Skill Learnings, an organization that provides kids in the US and India with affordable, high-quality lessons. Life Skill Learnings includes a "Learners' Cafe" program, where students can learn from each other!

With Life Skill Learnings, I have:

• hosted three webinars: a DNA extraction lecture/workshop, an Origin of Words webinar and an SAT English prep webinar

• emceed: a session with the world's youngest storyteller, piano recitals, recent Learners' Cafe sessions on topics such as SAT prep, and two Women's Day sessions

• helped implement LSL's 'Diwali Challenge' for kids

• worked on strategies for test prep tutoring, marketing and branding

I am currently (2019-2024+) doing a rotational internship with an organization called Aram Sei. (https://www.aramsei.org/) I work with all of Aram Sei's committees and projects on a quarterly basis.

Aram Sei means 'help others' in Tamil. Aram Sei is an 501(c)(3) certified nonprofit organization that intends to help grassroots organizations gain money to support endeavors that aim to provide basic education and healthcare. I have been interning with them primarily in the fields of finance, web development, volunteer coordination and event planning.

With Aram Sei, I:

• organized our 2023 Grow Together Challenge, which was a 21-day group goal-setting challenge with 100 participants

• drafted and finalized our donor response email template

• collaborated with another intern to fortify and test our data collection and management system

• aided and empowered charitable youth through marketing efforts for our Activating Youth project

• co-organized and co-marketed Aram Sei's 2021 Youth Drive (Aram Sei Youth Drive Ad) (Aram Sei Youth Drive Intern Challenges)

• worked with the Community Engagement team to organize and present at an AAPI Webinar for Teens (South Asians for Asian Unity: Guiding the Next Generation)

• worked on Aram Sei's new Sing In Place Event - Carnatic Music SIP

• presented at Girl Talk, Aram Sei's partner event that inspires girls to build confidence

• worked on Aram Sei's 2022 Grow Together Drive

• worked on Aram Sei's 2021 and 2022 Annual Report

• worked on Curating Volunteer Opportunities for Aram Sei volunteers and supporters

I am currently (2020-2024+) volunteering with North South Foundation as an alumnus. 

North South Foundation is a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization established in 1989. Our mission is to develop human resources by giving scholarships to brilliant but needy students in India entering colleges, regardless of religion, gender, caste or creed.

With North South Foundation, I:

• ran a Science Bee Informational Webinar for aspiring science competition participants

• am a panelist with NSF's Science PROs Session (2021, 2022, 2023)

• gave a presentation on "Cloning: The Science of Duplicates" to 250+ people

• coached the 'Junior Public Speaking' NSF course in fall 2022 (preparatory for the Public Speaking NSF competitions)

• volunteered at NSF's regional and final competitions

I was (2021-2023) a tutor for Edutine, a free online peer tutoring center where students can receive tutoring in a variety of subjects. We connected tutors with those who wish to receive tutoring and conduct the classes fully online. (edutine.com)

With Edutine, I:

• have tutored students from multiple countries on French, Math (Precalculus, Calculus BC), Biology, World History, English, etc.

• have run multiple group classes for two years in a row, such as:

  • Book Club (20 participants)

  • Intro to Standup Comedy (10 participants)

  • Intro to Fitness (10 participants)

I was (2021-2023) the Lead Coordinator of the Public Relations team at Blueprint Oasis. My job was to connect with other interested, similarly motivated organizations for the purposes of creating partnerships and mutually beneficial connections.

Blueprint Oasis's mission is to alleviate food insecurity by making nutrient-dense foods readily accessible to low-income groups by providing them with the resources to grow fresh produce. Additionally, we plan on focusing on spreading awareness about this issue to our community and beyond.

With Blueprint Oasis, I:

• worked on Outreach Waves 3 and 4, reaching out to sympathetic nonprofits for collaboration purposes

• helped organize and presented at Blueprint Oasis's workshop addressing food insecurity and upcoming organization projects

• presented for the entirety of Blueprint Oasis's mini-workshop addressing the dangers of unclear food labeling

• am heading up our Food Labels Project (Food for Thought), raising awareness about the ambiguity of food date labels and their effect on food waste/insecurity

• Worked on our PR Project "Food Truths - From The Community To You" interviewing food insecurity experts from the community

• helped organize Blueprint Oasis's Chipotle Fundraiser

  • am working on the Seed Package Distribution event being organized with the funds from the fundraiser

• worked on Social Media and Club Outreach

• conducted weekly social media shoutouts in which I interact with other organizations' posts on Instagram

• was an active participant in weekly meetings and monthly all teams, as well as individual checkins

I am (2022-2024) part of the Mountain View Youth Advisory Committee as a Member-At-Large.

With the YAC, I;

• headed the Marketing and Communications Committee (reached out to local businesses and YACs in other cities, organized group event such as a ‘Market Day’ teen business fair)

• volunteer at committee-organized events, such as Monster Bash and Teen Wellness Retreat

I am a teaching assistant with the California Tamil Academy, the school where I learned to speak, read and write Tamil.

• 2021-2022: I am the TA for Kindergarten Section K

• 2022-2023: I am the TA for 2nd Grade Section A/B

• 2023-2024: I am the TA for Listening-Speaking 3 (part of our new Progressive School)

I was (2021) formerly an fellow with Rishi Kumar for Congress.

Rishi Kumar is a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives (District 18). Rishi’s motivation is to bring in a new era of people-driven, rather than lobbyist-driven, politics. (rishikumar.com)

• Why am I a fellow with Rishi Kumar for Congress? https://youtu.be/mGHfz1EsRWM

With Rishi Kumar for Congress, I:

• Spoke at the Mountain View anti-AAPI hate rally on behalf of Rishi (200+ participants)

• Organized a campaign-wide Jeopardy contest

• Worked on the following campaign teams:

  • Email teams - sent out messages to supporters and community members

    • Main contributor for AP Government teacher communication mission

  • Website team - helped with a thorough website overhaul

  • Graphics team and video team - created graphics/videos advertising Rishi's campaign and national landmark moments

  • Nextdoor team - advertising for the campaign with Nextdoor posts

• Canvassed various houses in my neighborhood and city, gaining a 30% flip rate

I did (2021) a summer internship with Next Generation Nations. 

NGN is an international organization that addresses social, economic, environmental, and global issues that challenge humanity and the progress of societies around the world. NGN is dedicated to providing education on global issues to one child, one community and one country at a time.NGN was founded with the intent of achieving multidimensional goals in an effort to increase the quality of life of the 7.6 billion individuals living on Earth.

With NGN, I:

• created Instagram/LinkedIn/Nextdoor posts promoting Next Generation Nations' annual competition and spotlighting the winners

• created posts promoting NGN's video release

• created posts for key national holidays and important moments

I was (2021) the Head Manager for the 2021 Neuroscience Art Auction.

The 2021 Neuroscience Art Auction is an art auction founded by a group of art-loving high schoolers who want to contribute to the neuroscience community. As part of our mission, we are looking to play a part by funding and assisting research on new and innovative methods to cure pediatric brain cancer.

• Website: https://neuroartauction.weebly.com/

• Auction Site: https://www.32auctions.com/neuroartauction

With the 2021 Neuroscience Art Auction, I:

• revamped the piece-making efforts after a period of stagnation

  • created corresponding edited timeline

• organized the new piece tracker system

• aided with website information collection

• organized all marketing efforts and coordinated with the team to begin marketing plan

• led efforts to recruit new members for the NAA team

We surpassed our goal of $1000, with $530 in art sales and $500 in donations!