Seunghyeon Kim
organizational team
Seunghyeon Kim is a highschool senior in South Korea, who plans on majoring in sociology. She is a representative of the LGBTIQ+ and feminism club and she is an activist of Wetee(the youth women’s rights organization) and Youth4climateaction in Korea. She likes writing and dancing, being fascinated with enjoying various Spanish things. As Seunghyeon is a member of the organizational team, she wants to make a voice in society.
Naomi Bekuretsion
podcast host
Naomi Bekuretsion is a 17 year old Eritrean American currently in her senior year of high school, and living in north Jersey. She enjoys reading (her favorite book is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi), writing, and learning about astrology- the first two of which highly inform the content you’ll be hearing in her upcoming podcast. Naomi’s favorite emoji is the orange heart, and she absolutely loves coffee! Advocacy through storytelling is something she values very deeply, and has motivated her involvement with APC.
Kiarra Osotio
marketing team
Kiarra Osotio is a Filipina American who loves to spend time with her loved ones. At her high school she is class president and loves student council. She takes on the marketing lead position at APC. She also enjoys meeting new people and getting to know them. In her free time if she’s not spending time with her family and golden doodle Gunther, you can catch her re-watching Jane the Virgin. A fighter for what she believes in, she never fails to speak up when she believes something is not right. She has a passion for marketing and loves her APC family!
Hailey Hua
social media team
Hailey Hua is a 15 year old Asian American from California. She’s a part of Afro Puff Chronicle’s social media team, and does a weekly segment called Mental Health Mondays. In her free time, you can find her reciting monologues and drafting articles. She’s a strong activist for racial equality and expresses this through her writing. In her free time, you can find her binge watching Netflix shows and (failing) at arts and crafts projects.
Benecia Jude
content creator
Benecia Jude is a senior from California. As a content creator, she curates, designs, and writes many of the posts for Afro Puff Chronicles. In her free time, she enjoys painting, singing, and music. She enjoys writing, especially in creating introspective poems about social and political issues. She is also very passionate about educational equity and works in an organization called Justice in The Classroom. She is very excited to contribute to the APC team.
Alina Ahamed
writing & virtual events team
Alina Ahamed is a high school sophomore in Hong Kong of Indian descent. She is determined and passionate about making an impact in society and it has always been a top priority to her, and she genuinely believes all the experiences and opportunities she’s gotten so far have benefitted her in so many ways. “APC is a place where I can be proud of my color and identity and collectively work towards our mission, thus my reason for being part of such an incredible organization.”
Arya Desai
Social media & writing team member
Arya Desai is from Burbank, CA. She is 19 years old and is currently studying theatre at the University of Southern California as a Freshman. She loves singing, acting, ballet, and anything to do with the arts. She also enjoys creative writing, debate, and writing for her school newspaper as a journalist. Arya Desai is a staff writer/social media content creator for APC insta reels, creator of the weekly Top 5’s insta story series, and writer for APC infographics.
Jaya Ravi
Social Media & Writing Team Member
Hi! My name is Jaya Ravi and I am a part of the social media & writing team. I am a college junior at UW studying business administration and elementary education. I hope to work at an organization like Unicef where I can utilize my marketing and teaching experience. In my free time, I enjoy traveling, painting, and hanging out with friends and family.
Karina Fathani
writer
Karina is 16 years old Indonesian girl who currently a Junior in High School. She is passionate about the literature world of writing and reading. She likes to discuss social issues, cultures, beauty standards, communication, and science. She loves to do social science research, reading non-fiction books, doing sports, or drinking hot chocolate in her free time. As a woman of color, she wants to spark a better change in society and inspire fellow youth out there to embrace their culture and be part of something impactful to others, this is why she joined the APC to raise awareness, empower women, and spread positivity together!
Lilian Chong
Marketing
Lilian Chong is a fifteen-year-old Burmese gal from the suburban Los Angeles area. Growing up as a Burmese-American, she often found it challenging to embrace her cultural heritage and identity. But as soon as she discovered an organization working to voice and empower women of color, she has retrieved her lost identity and is now thriving to help represent her culture a little more. She wants to continue advocating for underrepresented political values such as education and gender equity. In her leisure moments, you can find her cuddling into a ball on a heart-touching anime or k-drama or baking away sporadically in the kitchen on weekends. You can find her baking blogs along with recipes on her website, delightfullyours.weebly.com.
Meera Baswan
Podcast team
Meera Baswan is a high school sophomore from Toronto, who is extremely passionate about social issues around the world. She is of Indian origin, and is proud of her heritage and culture. She is a strong advocate for equal rights for coloured women, and is motivated to teach others about the importance of equality. She is currently part of the podcast team at APC, and is working toward creating podcasts that reflect the role of coloured women and girls in today’s generation. She is so excited to work as a member of APC and hopes that she has the opportunity to reach many other coloured females.
Sana Williams
Graphics team
Sanaa Williams is a 17 year-old senior in high school from New Jersey. She is very interested in art and science and hopes to pursue both in college. She also has a passion for travel and Spanish language studies. She has extended her studies of Spanish language and culture to various locations across the globe including Spain, Chile, and Puerto Rico through exchange programs and international educational opportunities. In her free time Sanaa enjoys watching movies, exercising, listening to music, and cooking homemade recipes.
Alina Padilla
Writer
Alina Padilla is an 18-year-old college student from Los Angeles. She has spent the past few years advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and representation, better education regarding mental health, and feminism. She is currently studying political science and is a member of Diversify Your Narrative and a writer for Afro Puff Chronicles.
Chelsea
Graphic Designer & Illustrator
Chelsea is a 20 year old Economics undergrad from Singapore. She enjoys reading and learning about the different opinions surrounding social issues. As an illustrator at APC, she creates front-page graphics for the team’s Instagram posts. In her free time, you can find her playing the piano, watching Netflix shows, or talking to her dog.
Emma To
Director of Video
Emma To has always had a fascination with all things arts related. Though her school was very academic, she would always find a way to express her creativity and allow herself to follow her passions. She is going to be studying Film at UNSW in Sydney, Australia and absolutely cannot wait! She is an avid baker and dreams of owning her own cafe one day.
Ashlee Diggles
Writing and Podcast Team
Ashlee Diggles is a 17-year old senior, at a high school in southern Arizona, who plans on majoring in pre-medicine and pursuing a Medical Professional degree. Her hobbies range from playing Xbox games (her favorite is Rainbow Six Siege!) to volunteering to help local politicians in their campaigns. On an average weekend, you can find Ashlee binge watching animes on Crunchyroll. She began watching One Piece in seventh grade and ever since, it has been her favorite show. She is also the founder of an Anti-Racist Curriculum campaign in her school district, which is a student-led push for diversity and adaptation of more BIPOC texts in classrooms. She is deeply invested in advocating for underrepresented minorities and ensuring that all voices are heard. Ashlee intends to use this side of her to enhance APC to its fullest
Geri Mishra
Content Creator
Geri is a content creator for APC based in Central Indiana. She is 17 years old and likes to write, create music, and obsess over old TV shows.
Gabrielle Susanto
Virtual Events Team Member
Gabrielle Susanto is an 18-year-old who was born and raised in Indonesia, she recently moved to San Diego
in January 2020 in hopes of finding better education. Growing up in a relatively close minded culture, she hopes that she is able to educate the people around her and make them see our society in a new light. She is a communications major and you can definitely find her writing, cooking, baking, and playing with her dogs in her down time. She hopes that she
might be able to travel around the world and write blogs about it as a side job in the future.
Nadia Smothers
Writer and Social Media Team Member
Nadia ‘Jordie’ Smothers is the author of her first poetry book Tomboy Beanie and is a freshman and college student in Chicago, Illinois. She is a poet, who also studies social activism and journalism, and prides herself on giving back to her communities. She studies culture studies and writing with the goal of being an established author and working in activism more, as well as, federal government.
Qashka Rulino
Graphic Designer & Illustrator
Qashka is a student at New York University from Jakarta, Indonesia. She's a self-proclaimed idealist and optimist, and for that, she is enamored by many things, more specifically design, technology, art, philosophy, social justice, and the intersection between them! She drinks tea every morning and is currently growing her (quirky) mug collection to drink her morning teas in. Her favorite animals are orangutans, her favorite color is blue, and her comfort characters would be Rachel Green from Friends and 2013 Louis Tomlinson. In her free time, you can find her watching stand-up comedy on Netflix or listening (crying) to Frank Ocean.
Yewon Kee
Organizational Team
Yewon Kee (she/her) is a 16-year-old high schooler in Florida. As a Korean-American, she thinks embracing other cultures is a priority that is blatantly ignored in society. Yewon is in love with the idea of sisterhood and solidarity, and
wants to be able to bring healthcare to all. Through amazing platforms such as APC, she wants to do everything she can to bring light and positive vibes towards all communities.
Tyra Hughes
Social Media Team Member
Tyra Hughes is a 17 year old senior at West Orange High School who loves all things writing, journalism, and multimedia storytelling. Since 2018, she has been the Co- Editor in Chief of her school newspaper, The Pioneer and is also the student council Secretary of her school. In her freetime she enjoys writing creative nonfiction and making short films, commentary videos and documentaries for her Youtube channel Her Expressive Mind. As an overall content creator, writer, and journalist, she is passionate about spreading self awareness and highlighting underrepresented voices in the media.
Sophie Cheng
Social Media Team Member
Sophie Cheng is a Chinese-American 15-year-old Sophomore in high school from Washington State. At APC, she is a part of the Social Media team where she runs APC’s community spotlight story every Saturday along with being a part of the Marketing team. She is passionate about advocating for Asian-American and female representation in media, and hopes one day to go to NYC for college. Usually, you can find her watching anime in her room, having her nose stuck in a book, and scrolling through Depop and Pinterest for fashion inspiration and clothing she’ll never be able to a
Siddrah Alhindi
Social Media Team Member
Siddrah Alhindi is a Syrian-American, Muslim girl living in New York. She is a Macaulay Honors sophomore at Baruch College and is currently majoring in journalism and planning on minoring in film. She has various experiences in the media field ranging from an Instagram Fellowship to having her work published in several publications such as BuzzFeed News, The Macaulay Messenger, and Afro Puff Chronicles!
Grace Fujii
Graphic Designer & Illustrator
Grace Fujii is a 23-year-old graphic designer and photographer from California. They graduated from UC Berkeley in fall 2019 with a degree in Astrophysics. In their free time, Grace enjoys watching movies, listening to music, playing Animal Crossing, and connecting with other creatives.
Malavika Rajesh
Social Media Team Member
Malavika Rajesh is a 16-year-old Indian living in the United Arab Emirates. She is the author of a cybercrime thriller, 'Watch Out!' and also holds writing positions at youth-run multimedia outlets Pressing the Future, Afro Puff Chronicles and The Global Eye (which will be released shortly). She has also won numerous awards for her writing. She believes in bringing to the forefront the kind of stories that aren't heard always but have the greatest impact and aspires to be a journalist covering gender inequality and other civil rights issues.
Natalie Carroll
Graphic Designer & Illustrator
A journalism graduate from Boston University, Natalie is a 23-year old illustrator, dog owner and photographer based in London, UK. During the day she works as a PR account executive, but in the evening she is reading, trying a new recipe, or working on illustration commissions. Having grown up in South East Asia, Natalie has traveled the continent visiting new cultures and food - She hopes to one day write for a travel or city guide, where she can continue to explore what the world has to offer.
Kaelyn Dunnell
Podcast Team Member and Editor
Kaelyn (she/her) is an African-American, biracial, high school senior currently living in Southern California. Kaelyn is also a writer and artivist, who uses her work to explore her own racial and gender identities and what they mean in the context of 21st century America. Her work can be found on her website kaelyndunnell.com. When she’s not writing, Kaelyn enjoys activism, dancing, and spending lots of time with friends and family!!
Jazzie Jelks
Virtual Events Team Member
Jazzie Jelks is a 16-year-old homeschooled artist, writer, dancer, and entrepreneur from Alabama. She is incredibly passionate about exploring the diverse nature of the human experience through the lens of self-love and self-expression. Aside from focusing on school and contributing to Afro Puff Chronicles, she is currently creating a blog/platform to help fellow high-vibe creatives and trailblazers (re)discover what makes them unique. Jazzie is devoted to helping create a world where we are all deeply in tune with ourselves and the magic of this world in which our souls have chosen to live, using her unique perspective and creative gifts to inspire others to embrace their uniqueness and create lives based around what they love as opposed to following current mainstream societal standards.
Daniela Gonzalez
Organizational Team and Translator
My name is Daniela Gonzalez. I am from Mexico and am currently in high school. I am interested in science and history. In my free time I enjoy to practice yoga, watch netflix and play soccer. My role in APC is to help translate and post articles.
Bimi Dairo
Writer and Podcast Team
Bimi Dairo is a 14-year-old African-American living in Georgia. She is one of the writers on the APC organization and works on the podcast team. As a passionate feminist, Bimi strives for equality in the STEM field and hopes to accomplish greater things at MIT. She also likes to code different projects in her free time, along with learning foreign languages.
Althea Ocomen
Writer and Social Media Team Member
Althea Ocomen is a 14-year old high school student currently residing in the Philippines who is extremely interested in reading, writing, and learning new things. She is a member of the Social Media team and a Writer at the Afro Puff Chronicles. She hopes that through contributing to this organization she is able to empower individuals all over the world to be courageous in the face of adversity.
Sandy Nguyen
Writer and Virtual Events Team Member
Sandy, 25, is currently located in AZ, and working in her higher education. She loves exploring wellness, creative writing, food, connecting with cultures, learning languages, conscious sisterhood, upholding intersectional feminism and plants. She aims to champion and protect the spaces that BIWOC of all identities and backgrounds have to exist, lead, flourish, celebrate our passions, and reclaim our narratives