Director

Jaiden Leary

Passionate about politics, whether it’s running political campaigns, passing legislation, or reading political theory. In his free time he works out, writes, and runs The Journal for Youth Voice. He is also The Weeknd’s biggest fan. 

Founder

Irene Kim

Passionate about youth involvement in politics, philosophy, and public policy.

Editorial Board Director

Cade Kuznia

Editor, Writer, and multireedist-a player of both the saxophone and the clarinet.

Outreach Coordinator

Nicole Orellana

Passionate about immigrant rights, civic engagement, and queer representation in politics, Taylor Swift & Clairo are my favorite artists!

Club Manager

Evan Wang

Passionate about debate, video games, local politics, and international affairs In his free time he does a lot of debate, plays a lot of video games, and loves playing volleyball. He is also an avid Keshi fan.

Sophie Tipper

Editor, Writer, Outreach Coordinator, and dual citizen concentrating in international politics, global policy, and environmental policy. Her talents extend outside academics; she has run cross country at Junior Olympics two years in a row.

Boyana Nikolova

Writer and outreach coordinator passionate about explaining past political trends and their influence on the world today, whether it be the history of instability in Eastern Europe or the past century of US competitiveness. Outside of this, she’s played piano for 8 years and loves forensics and math!

Ohas Upadhyay

Writer concentrating on the nuances and complexities of both domestic and international politics. He’s been involved in journalism since he was young–he was on NPR when he was six!

Malaya Morris

Writer focusing on local politics and legislation and their respective impacts on youth. Her fun fact is that she can never come up with a fun fact!

Amelia Thompson

Passionate about financial and monetary policy, civic education and global politics. She plays soccer, loves staying active with running and the gym, and participates in youth in government and other civic organizations. She also loves movies — her favorites are the Breakfast Club, the Usual Suspects and Inception.

Jasmine Shao

Debater with a passion for social justice and international relations. A junior in high school, she loves to read, bake, learn from others, and play with her cat!

Mehek Saini

Mehek is passionate about international law, global affairs and foreign relations — especially when concentrated in the Middle East or Southeast Asia. In her free time, she enjoys creating portraits, making coffee and crafting. She is a big history nerd and aspires to be a polyglot, currently at 5 languages!

Rodrigo Oporto

Interested in multiple fields from global politics and science to media and fiction. Currently a Filipino hoping to reach enlightenment by cultivating across multiple fields (e.g. badminton, debate, art).

Ainslie Mohr 

Passionate about world history, US politics, and social justice movements! She spends most of her free time as a cross country athlete, skier, and reader. She loves exploring different global cuisines! 

Moira Hagerty

Writer Passionate about women’s rights, global politics, and pop culture. In her free time she’ll be dancing, watching sports, reading, or going to a concert.

Henry Barger

He likes exploring ideas, whether through debate, journalism, or music. And enjoys breaking down arguments, telling stories that matter, and turning poetry into choral arrangements. He believes
finding new perspectives—whether in a discussion, an article, or a song—is what keeps things interesting. And inspiration comes from everywhere, even the little moments we wouldn’t typically think of, but it all blends together making a complete drive.

Ashmaan Aslam

Passionate about technology, youth-led change, and finding ways to make quality education more accessible for everyone. Most of the time, you’ll find him coding, painting, or playing video games. He likes building things that make a difference, and believes tech should be a source for fairness, not just profit.

Eliana Bernberg

Passionate about writing about domestic policy issues and environmental studies! She has two dogs and a cat, and also coach soccer to little kids.

Rafid Ahmed

Passionate about global politics, economics, and human rights. When he’s not writing, you’ll find him working out or engaging in fierce debates—always in pursuit of better laws and a better world. A proud fan of The Weeknd, he believes the GOAT deserves the crown.

Jannat Van Duffel

Passionate about women’s rights, political philosophy and current affairs, she loves Clairo, cinema and writing. A soon to be student of politics and international relations, she likes exploring new ideas and understanding through research and reading. Her interests lie in geopolitics, diplomacy and feminist perspectives, but she takes being a Harry Potter fan a huge deal.

Lily Letourneaut

Passionate about youth leadership, competitive speech, and fencing. In her free time, she coaches her school’s fencing team, competes in Extemporaneous speech, and engages with her community by running a local French Alliance event. She also loves learning new languages, speaking Spanish, French, and Serbian in addition to English. She believes a strong voice and a sharp foil can change the world!

Rhyan Johnson

Passionate about public policy, domestic affairs, and history. She loves piano, choir, tv dramas, and swimming! And she also enjoys meeting new people and traveling!

Nancy Vega

She is from Minnesota and is passionate about climate change, civil liberties, and politics overall. Aside from being involved in environmental and other community-based groups, she plays guitar, loves music, and enjoys spending time with friends and her dog.

Jihyun Ko

A high school student passionate about climate justice and civic engagement, she’s especially drawn to youth-led work in sustainability and local policy. When she’s not biking around town or organizing for a better future, she’s probably searching for the next best flavor of Ben & Jerry’s, or just enjoying something sweet!

Joshua Lee

Joshua is a motivated junior at Sunny Hills High School with a passion for business, public policy, and entrepreneurship. Focused on addressing socioeconomic inequity through advocacy and policy, he has led youth initiatives for multiple nonprofits, gaining experience in leadership, public speaking, and conference directing. Outside of work, he enjoys deep conversations on philosophy, theology, and politics, and exploring scenic view spots.

Perryn Cote

Passionate about national politics and the justice system. He competes in Debate and Mock Trial, and is currently a Life Scout. He also has three cats and enjoys lifting weights.

Abrar Mahir

Passionate about earth and space science and loves to haggle about politics and a little bit of history. Overall, a wannabe polymath who also loves to play campaign based games.

M. Taylor

Passionate about global politics and the arts, with special emphasis in bringing youth and minorities to both the table and the stage. M is an acting and dance major who has a background in social justice advocacy, working to bring the two together to stage works that bring advocacy and equality to the forefront. Thank you for reading and supporting our journal!

Andrew Ma

Debate kid, but scientist at heart. Equal parts STEM and humanities. Specific interests include climate change, AI, semiconductors, aviation, and geopolitics. Andrew also plays cello, piano, and has even sung the national anthem in the Washington senate!

Boris Nezlobin

Passionate about effective and engaging writing, computer science, playing video games, and oxford commas. I love programming and I’m not entirely against being employed.

Lux Grey

Passionate about making music, writing, skateboarding, and my college major (speech, language, and hearing sciences) Bio: Hi, I’m Lux! I’m an incoming college freshman in Amherst, Massachusetts. I’m an aspiring speech therapist who enjoys skateboaring, writing, and noodling on my violin in my off time.

Adriana Pena

Passionate about global politics, domestic policies, space, and science. In her free time she reads science fiction books and plays animal crossing.

Sophia Zhang

Passionate about everything science, environmental justice & policy, and social justice movements. She likes to explore the intersection between scientific development and societal integration. In her free time, she loves listening to music, spending time outside in the mountains, and thinking up art ideas on Pinterest.

Ivanka Nkwanzi

Passionate about everything science, debate, social justice and history! A senior in high school, she loves digging into new ideas, asking questions people don’t usually ask, and learning from others! Whether she’s writing, researching, or having random deep talks with friends, she’s always chasing insight. In her free time she enjoys listening to and creating music, participating in debate programs like MUN and reading!

Grace Song

Passionate about human rights, equity, science, and philosophy. When not in school, she enjoys skateboarding, art, and investigating into old corners of the internet. She enjoys a plethora of music and can never decide on favorites!

Sara Jarrar

Passionate about engineering, business, climate, cross-cultural relations, and negotiation. In her free time, Sara loves to go running, listen to music, attend conferences, and do research. She is also a huge Harry Potter fan!

Cayden Harman

He loves American history, philosophy, Balatro, and Basketball. Cayden is always looking for a new perspective in life, no matter who it may come from. He’s headed to Columbia Missouri to study philosophy and political science.

Travis Denson

Passionate about education and quality access to the fine arts in school. In his free time he practices the oboe, goes to the gym, and takes care of his parrot, Barney. A rising high school senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he plays the oboe and one fun fact about him is that he is obsessed with the Star Wars prequels.

Dwaraka Bolla

In her free time, she loves to listen to R&B while reading! And tends to have a passion for music, healthcare, and research. She also have a lot of hobbies but loves to dance, eat, and cook!

Joya Liu

Joya is a Junior at Stuyvesant High School in NYC with a passion for literature, cultural commentary, and political organizing. Aside from being involved in her school’s speech team, publishing her fiction works, and running a non-profit fighting period poverty, she watches an unhealthy amount of movies and doomscrolls on pinterest. Her favorite political book is Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. She plays bananagrams competitively.