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Meet the Faces Behind LOUDwomen

our founders

Priya Thelapurath
She/Her
Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer 
Harvard University 
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Priya is a senior at Harvard University from Bentonville, Arkansas. She is pursuing a joint concentration in sociology and computer science because she is passionate about addressing inaccessibility and educational inequity using innovative technology. Priya enjoys bullet journaling, drinking chocolate milkshakes, and dancing with her college Bhangra team! She hopes to pursue a post-grad career in Law.

thelapurath.priya@gmail.com 

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Executive directors of Chapters

Sinchana Nataraj
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Chapter
Bentonville High School Sophomore
Arkansas

Sinchana is a rising sophomore at Bentonville High School and plans on pursuing a career in the medical field. She is currently involved in Speech and Debate, HOSA, DECA, FBLA, and the Indian Students Association at her school. In her 7th grade year, she was involved in the LOUDwomen Youth Debate Forum, where she fell in love with every aspect of debate and public speaking, and became a very outspoken person. And finally, Sinchana loves dancing, traveling, listening to music, and watching various movies and sports. By being a part of the Exec team, Sinchana hopes to connect with others in her community and create the same impact on others that LOUDwomen made on her.

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Jyothika Arunkumar
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Chapter
Haas Hall Academy Senior
Arkansas

Jyothika Arunkumar is a Senior at Haas Hall Academy Bentonville. In the future, she plans on pursuing a career in Medicine or possibly, Political Science. Currently, she is a State Executive Council Officer for Arkansas HOSA and the President of her school's chapter of Unicef. Outside of school, she is a member of the Mayor’s Bentonville Youth Council, a fellow for the ECAASU High School Program, and an intern at the University of Arkansas’ Mechanobiology and Soft Materials Lab. Jyothika has been a part of LOUDwomen for 2 years and has previously been the Executive Director of Ambassadors. In addition, Jyothika takes part in various other school clubs and external organizations to promote community service and equity. She has a specific passion for issues regarding gender/race equity and educational inclusiveness and hopes to take steps to eliminate stereotyping and discrimination. Jyothika also enjoys dancing, journaling, and watching Marvel movies. By being a part of the LOUDwomen Exec team, she hopes to educate herself, work with new people, and initiate change for the betterment of our community. She is excited about LOUDwomen’s new chapters initiative and cannot wait to lead the 2023-24 LOUDwomen chapters!

Executive directors of Communication

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Kennedy Marrs
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Communications
University of Mississippi

Kennedy is a freshman at Ole Miss, where she is majoring in Southern Studies. Kennedy is from Bentonville, Arkansas. She is passionate about education policy. Kennedy loves lavender lattes, listening to live music, and building Lego sets. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in education!

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Pegah Vasighi-Ansarifar is a junior at St. Andrew’s Episcopal school in Ridgeland, Mississippi. Her passions lie in community service and community outreach programs with the goal of constantly bettering her state of Mississippi. Because of this, she has found a deep passion for reforming Southern policies and changing the quality of life in her state. She hopes to lead the future to a more inclusive and meaningful environment, by especially focusing on uplifting the voices of women of color. In her free time, Pegah loves to tell bad jokes like: Why can't you eat a clock? Well, it's time-consuming! Pegah also finds joy in cheating at Monopoly whenever she is able to.   

She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Communications
St. Andrew's Episcopal School Junior
Mississippi
Pegah Vasighi-Ansarifar

Executive directors of Youth debate forum

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Samyukta Vimalraj
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Youth Debate Forum
Bentonville High School Senior
Arkansas

Samyukta Vimalraj is a senior at Bentonville High School in Bentonville, Arkansas. She is an active member of her Speech and Debate team and even serves as the Queen Bee that assists in running the tournaments that BHS hosts. Samy has competed in various styles of debate throughout her career such as Big Questions, Public Forum, Congress, and Policy. She was selected to attend the Dartmouth Debate Institute in 2021. Outside of debate, Samy is very involved within her school and community as District VII Reporter for FBLA, VP of Marketing for DECA, and a member of NHS, Spanish NHS, ISA, and Model UN. Samy is super excited to be a part of the LOUDwomen Community and help YDF grow!

Executive Directors of Finance

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Nivriti Deshpande
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Finance
Haas Hall Academy Junior
Arkansas

Nivriti is a junior at Haas Hall Academy Bentonville. She has always been passionate about issues regarding gender and racial equality within educational, corporate, government, and medical institutions. She hopes to pursue a career in business or medical law. Nivriti is involved in various clubs at her school that encourage community involvement and leadership, including Student Council, Beta, Hosa, Debate, and Model UN. Outside of school, she is an active member of the Mayor’s Youth Council, a fellow of ECAASU’s High School Program, Chief Financial Officer of Birdbath Tutoring, and has previously been an Ambassador and Policy Researcher for LOUDwomen. Through her involvement in our community with LOUDwomen and other organizations, she developed a deep passion for advocacy and community service. In her free time, Nivriti enjoys listening to music and hanging out with her friends. By being a part of the LOUDwomen Exec team, Nivriti hopes to combine her passion for community service and advocacy to play an active role in serving LOUDwomen with her fellow Exec team members! 

Ria Gupta
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Finance
Keller High School Junior
Texas

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.

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Finance fellow

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Trey Roark
She/They
Finance Fellow
Wake Forest University 

Trey Roark is a Senior at Wake Forest University! She plans to continue their financial career by studying Actuarial Science, majoring in Statistics, and double minoring in Japanese Language & Culture and Computer Science. They're involved in the Association for
Women in Mathematics, LGBTQ+ in Stem, the Society of Actuaries (SOA), and many other activist organizations in North Carolina and abroad. She enjoys academic dialogue/research, queer studies, and Disney Pixar movies. In the near future, Trey hopes to achieve a graduate degree at the University of Toronto and eventually achieve a Ph.D. in Statistics.

executive directors of ambassadors

Rachel Saulsbery
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Ambassadors
Bentonville High School Senior

Rachel is a senior at Bentonville High School. At school, she is the President of HOSA and is a student in Education Innovation for Ignite Professional Studies. Next year, she plans to pursue a master's in early childhood education as she is passionate about providing mentorship to those who lack the ability to receive the academic education they deserve.  Previously, Rachel was a LOUDwomen Ambassador and wrote many articles on issues such as the education system, climate change, and gun reform. Through the LOUDwomen Executive Team, Rachel hopes to allow individuals' voices to be heard on issues they are passionate about, as well as create a community where all feel safe and supported.

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Sanjana Macharla
She/Her
Executive Co-Director of Ambassadors
Bentonville High School Junior
Arkansas

Sanjana is a rising junior in Bentonville High School. 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 or to use computer science to preserve marine life! She works hard advocating for gender/race equality and environmental justice in her community and has experience in leadership in both school and out of school in organizations/clubs regarding social equality and environmental justice (ex: Girls Who Code, Zero Hour, etc). Other than that, she is interested in the access to education and mental health resources, inclusiveness of women in STEM, community service, and the simple joys of life. Some of Sanjana’s hobbies are crocheting, art (such as painting and drawing), cooking (finally baking because I finally made a crusty loaf of bread), immersing myself into all types of media and opinions (like shows, movies, books, mangas, and podcasts), and daydreaming about everything from my goals of providing a source of comfort and making the future a better place, pondering about wisdomful thoughts, and thinking of how to making my pinterest feed real. Most importantly, she can't wait to lead the 2023-24 LOUDwomen ambassadors! 

executive director of Internal Affairs

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Colette Tesoro
She/Her
Executive Director of Internal Affairs
Harvard University

Colette is a sophomore at Harvard University studying Religion and Government with a secondary in Spanish. As someone from Centerton, Arkansas, she is passionate about issues that impact the South, and sees education as a crucial step towards mending inequities that exist in the region. Colette loves the outdoors, and is happiest backpacking or hiking while listening to folk music. After college, she hopes to pursue a career in law or policy work.  

Advocacy Fellow

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Savannah Crimmins
She/Her
Advocacy Fellow
Haas Hall Academy Sophomore
Arkansas

Savannah is a sophomore at Haas Hall Academy in Bentonville, Arkansas. She is involved with track & field, and cross country at school. Savannah is highly passionate about women’s rights and finding ways to promote activism throughout the community. Although she still has a few years ahead of her, she hopes to study and hopefully pursue a political career. For LOUDwomen, Savannah has previously held roles as an ambassador and worked on the policy project for reproductive rights. Her other interests include reading, listening to Taylor Swift, playing guitar, and spending time with her cat, Petunia. She looks forward to what she can accomplish with LOUDwomen! 

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