Meet the LOUDwomen Ambassadors
Hemali Gauri
She/Her
Fayetteville, AR
Haas Hall Academy Junior
Hemali has participated in Debate and Model United Nations events for years and, in doing so, has recognized some of the challenges women/minorities face. She hopes to continue to use LOUDwomen to spread awareness and empowerment to the community. In the future, she plans to pursue a career that incorporates technology & medicine.
Georgia Liu
She/Her
Little Rock, AR
Little Rock Central High School Senior
Georgia is super excited to work on the LoudWomen team and to make meaningful relationships with the people around her state, which is an experience she feels like she has missed out on due to COVID! Georgia is passionate about changing the face of social justice and spreading the message that everyone's voice matters, regardless of their background. She is involved in speech and debate, tennis, orchestra and loves to read and bake in her free time, and is planning on attending law school and practicing entertainment or tax law.
Nayana Swain
She/Her
Bentonville, AR
Bentonville West High School Junior
When she isn't arguing or at yet another Speech & Debate tournament, Nayana is learning more about her passion - astronomy. She's very involved in organizations within and out of school including Speech & Debate, Model United Nations, Science Academic Achievers, Chamber Orchestra (she plays viola!), and her very own organization - Aspiring Astronomers of Arkansas. She loves and dedicates much time to Speech & Debate and participates mainly in Extemporaneous Speaking. In the future, she wants to major in astrophysics and hopes to combine her interest in Speech and her passion for astronomy to help reduce gender disparities in the world of STEM as well as the space industry. Nayana enjoys painting, writing & reading poetry, being a forever Shawn Mendes fan, and watching Criminal Minds.
Rachel Saulsbery
She/Her
Bentonville, AR
Bentonville High School Junior
Rachel plans to pursue an early childhood education degree because she is passionate about providing mentorship to those who lack the ability to receive the academic education they deserve. Rachel enjoys rock climbing, doing puzzles, socializing, and hanging out with her two dogs.
Allie Fisken
She/Her
Little Rock, AR
Little Rock Central High School Sophomore
Allie Fisken is involved in a lot of clubs at school including Beta club, National Honor Society, Art club, Ecology club, Junior Civitan and more. In her free time, Allie loves to spend time outdoors either wake-surfing or hiking. In the future, she wants to go to college in a new place to experience new cultures. Allie wants to study real estate and art in college. She is passionate about utilizing her freedom of speech whether helping others, using her voice especially when others cannot, or spreading awareness about a topic. She is thrilled to work with new people, initiate change, and become more educated through LOUDwomen. Allie is very excited to be an ambassador for LOUDwomen this year!!
Bennett Young
She/Her
Jonesboro, AR
Jonesboro High School Senior
Bennett Young is an active member of her speech and debate team, competing in Public Forum and Big Question debate. She is also the Jonesboro High School Cheer Captain. She enjoys being with all her teammates and watching true crime documentaries. She plans to pursue a career in TV journalism and have many pet cats.
Iffat Anisha
She/Her
Centerton, AR
Little Rock Central High School Senior
Iffat has a passion for bringing positive change into the world, which she makes use of as the advocacy lead of her school’s Students Demand Action, which strives to improve gun safety. Iffat also engages in social advocacy initiatives around climate change and women’s rights in the workforce. After moving from New York City to Arkansas during her junior year, she has become a very active member of her school’s Speech and Debate team, from where she competes nationally in Congressional Debate and several speech events. Iffat hopes to major in political science and later pursue law. In her free time, she enjoys painting, traveling, and trying out new restaurants.
Nivriti Deshpande
She/Her
Bentonville, AR
Haas Hall Academy Sophomore
Nivriti plans on targeting a career as a Certified Public Accountant. Currently, Nivriti is an active member of her school's chapter of Beta and actively tutors in the Academic Support program that her school offers. Outside of school, she is a volunteer teacher at Aplus NWA, a Kishore Sevika (a teen volunteer) for HSS (Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh), and a volunteer at the library. She has always been passionate about community service and meeting new people to make a change for the better. Through her engagement with her community, she has gained experience with taking part in drives and fundraisers and has had first-hand experience with hosting one for the Sporting Arkansas soccer club in Centerton at her school. She teamed up with the players to raise funds for their Presidential Cup tournament in Dallas. In addition, she enjoys singing and is a Junior level certified Indian Classical Vocalist. She enjoys being a Swiftie and a Styler! In her free time, Nivriti enjoys volunteering, trying to find some new community service opportunities, and learning new languages. As a LOUDwomen Ambassador, she cannot wait to meet new people, educate herself, and play a vital role in the change with the experience that she has in hand!
Rayana Holikova
She/Her
Bentonville, AR
Bentonville High School Freshman
In the near future, Rayana aspires to attend college in the Northeast and major in neuroscience. Through her career and activities, she wishes to create healthcare and social equity with both personal changes and widespread reform. She loves to compete, whether it be in robotics or Lincoln-Douglas debate, but in her free time, Rayana likes wearing headphones and sitting on her windowsill. Currently, she is collaborating with the Museum of Native American History to create a national celebration on battling climate change with traditional, Indigenous methods. She is very grateful for all of her organizations' generosity, and she hopes she can contribute as much to them as they did for her.
Ria Gupta
She/Her
Keller, TX
Keller High School Sophomore
Ria is from Texas and plans on majoring in Business and minoring in both finance and entrepreneurship. She is passionate about animal rights, environmental sustainability, and empowering young girls to get an education. Her goal is to reduce the use of plastic, especially with large scale companies. She has recently joined a student forum with her community's police department and plans on opening her own blog. She has started tutoring kids to share her knowledge with students who do not have the same access to education. She has recently switched from Public Forum debate to Lincoln Douglas and aims to continue this passion. Ria enjoys going to Speech and Debate tournaments as well as scuba diving/swimming in the ocean.
Sanjana Macharla
She/Her
Bentonville, AR
Bentonville High School Sophomore
She is a comfort-seeking and ambitious, her future plans aren’t set in stone but she wants to pursue computer science and make joyful content like games to comfort people who might have it rough because she believes everyone should have a happy childhood! Some of Sanjana’s hobbies are crocheting, art (such as painting and drawing), cooking and baking, immersing herself into all types of media (like shows, books, mangas, podcasts etc!), and daydreaming about everything from goals of providing a source of comfort and making the future a better place to thinking of how to make her pinterest feed real. She also has coded this website.
Savannah Crimmins
She/Her
Bentonville, AR
Haas Hall Academy Freshman
Savannah plans on joining the film club and publications while seeing what other extracurriculars she can discover throughout her years in high school. During the summer, Savannah works as a camp counselor at a paddle board camp, teaching kids how to paddle and showing them the basics of teamwork and the importance of spending time outside. She has always been passionate about activism and leadership and hopes that through LOUDwomen she can push herself to do more of it within the community, and be able to advocate for women’s rights and educational justice. In the future, Savannah hopes to attend the United States Naval Academy and hopefully broaden the range of female students. Her other interests include music, film, and her cat Petunia.
Samantha Smith
She/Her
Little Rock, AR
Mount St. Mary’s Academy Sophomore
Samantha is very excited to continue her ambassador position! She is especially passionate about social justice and making information on such issues widespread throughout her community. Samantha firmly believes in creating everlasting change through policy and reform and will apply these principles through her LOUDwomen position. She is also working on the Programming Policy Project team, and is a member of her school's Model UN organization. In her free time, Samantha enjoys playing volleyball, reading Colleen Hoover novels, and playing with her dogs.
Tehani Chandrasena
She/Her
South Hadley, MA
Mount Holyoke College Sophomore
Tehani is majoring in International Relations with minors in Psychology and Law, Public Policy and Human Rights. She was born in Los Angeles, California but grew up and lived most of her life in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tehani is passionate about advocating for gender equality and fixing educational inequity, specifically in the Global South. She has been a part of social service organizations for most of her high school life and has initiated many projects related to empowering women and the girl child. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Zonta Young Women in Public Affairs International Award in 2021. Tehani loves to dance and is a part of the Mount Holyoke Jhumka Dance Team, apart from that she loves chai lattes and listening to Lauv! In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in Public Policy and/or Law!
Zae Brewer
He/Him
Atlanta, GA
Kennesaw State University Junior
Zae is a political science major and intends to go into a career of public service, military, law, and federal agency. He is a Georgia boy, and he hopes his second year as a LOUDWomen Ambassador will help him serve his country, state, and community in many ways. Currently he serves as the Chancellor of Students, President of the Young Democrats of Kennesaw State University, President of the Kennesaw State Red Cross, and Political Action Chair of the Kennesaw State NAACP at Kennesaw State University. In the past he was a Fellow for the Democratic Party of Georgia, Director for the State of Georgia in the ProjectNextGen Nonprofit, and a Campaign Intern for Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux. Some of his achievements include being a United States Senate Youth Program Delegate from Georgia in 2021, being awarded the “Emerging Leader” Award by Kennesaw State University earlier this year, and being an Atlanta Journal Constitution Cup winner in 2021. In his downtime, Zae loves to paint, read, play video games, binge shows, and make memories with friends!
AnnElise Briese
She/Her
Rogers, AR
Haas Hall Academy Rogers Senior
AnnElise wants to go to college at the University of Arkansas and major in Biology and minor in Spanish! She is currently captain of her school's cheer team and on Beta Club. Her favorite subjects in school are medical sciences and English. She is a working makeup artist at an Aveda Salon in Rogers. Makeup has been a passion of hers for over 3 years. Fashion and cosmetics are a core part of her personality and she is fascinated by how they can revolutionize others' confidence and self-image. Her hobbies include traveling, shopping, and socializing. Ultimately, AnnElise is committed to becoming a Dermatologist and opening a business in NWA. She is so excited to be a LOUDwomen Ambassador and is looking forward to creating a safe space for young adults to feel included and recognized.
