Our student ambassadors 2020-21
Student Ambassadors serve as a critical link between News Decoder and their school. They promote our program on campus, help organize webinars and workshops and strengthen student and faculty engagement.
African Leadership Academy, South Africa
Marouane El Bahraoui
is a second-year student at the African Leadership Academy from the Kingdom of Morocco. Marouane is a human rights activist and member of Amnesty International Morocco. He loves politics and international relations and aspires to be a political analyst or a diplomat. He enjoys reading about stoicism and surfing.
Michelle (Siya) Hadebe
is a South African second-year student at the African Leadership Academy. She loves politics & governance, & enjoys researching humanitarian, peace and security matters. She is the Deputy Chairperson and Head of Research for the African Leadership Academy Model African Union.
Eugenia M.E.A Rogers
is a Sierra Leonean second-year student at ALA. She enjoys child advocacy and women’s empowerment. She works as a staff writer for Terminal One Online Magazine, a literary publication for youth voices. She focuses mainly on raising mental health awareness.
Avicenne Private Business School, Tunisia
Ranim Elaswed
is a 20-year-old Libyan second-year student at APBS. She loves writing and reading, especially self-development and increasing awareness books. She aspires to be a successful writer and create a reading project for a conscious and educated generation that would target young people and motivate them to read.
Salsabil Taouai
is a second-year student at APBS. Salsabil loves business and entrepreneurship. She enjoys exploring global issues, participating in community service activities and attending conferences. As a Student Ambassador, she is looking forward to becoming a global citizen and discussing international issues with people from all over the world.
Chadwick International, South Korea
Yoomin (Ashley) Lee
is in her penultimate year at Chadwick International in South Korea. She aspires to major in political science and believes journalism is a powerful tool to bring about constructive political and social change. By participating in News Decoder, Ashley hopes to empower her own voice.
Jimin (Rosie) You
is in her final year at Chadwick International. She speaks Korean, English, and Chinese, and hopes that being trilingual will help her be an active global citizen. She aspires to pursue a career in education and believes that being internationally aware is crucial in becoming an accepting and understanding person.
The European School Brussels II, Belgium
Eva Kastrinos
is a Greek/English final-year student & General Director of the Climate Academy. Eva was on the organising committee of the MUN and is interested in a career in education. She hopes to empower fellow students’ voices through journalism & climate change. Instagram: @theclimateacademy @cut11percent
Laura Breuls
is a Belgian/Italian senior at ESB, II. She is the director of Cut11%’s media team & loves writing & photography. Through News Decoder, she hopes to promote interest in journalism, especially when it comes to spreading climate crisis awareness. Instagram: @theclimateacademy @lauvje @cut11percent
Linnea Meinke
is a German and American senior student at EEB2. She enjoys learning about science and math and is passionate about photography and playing soccer. She hopes to work on projects that successfully spread information and bring awareness to climate change.
Friends Seminary, United States
Antonia Giamalas
is in her final year at Friends Seminary. She is a pre-professional dancer at Peridance Capezio Center in Manhattan, New York. As a Student Ambassador, she hopes to inspire other writers to share their observations and stories about the world.
Ariella Shulman
is a senior at Friends Seminary. She is a Biology & Mathematics peer tutor. English is her favorite subject. Outside of school, Ariella is a financial intern with Max Rose for Congress and a competitive equestrian. She hopes to combine her love of social justice, public policy and writing as a News Decoder Student Ambassador.
Charles Gorrivan
is a student at the Friends Seminary school in New York City. He is the editor of the school newspaper and a captain of the debate team. Outside of school, Gorrivan plays guitar and enjoys reading publications like The Economist and The New Yorker.
Samara Friedman
is a third-year student at Friends Seminary. She is a representative of her school’s service committee, the junior editor of her school’s newspaper, the co-founder of the broadcast journalism club, and is a parliamentary debater. She loves to travel, speak French and play piano on her free time.
Gimnasio Los Caobos, Colombia
Isabella Triviño Spin
is 15-year-old Gimnasio Los Caobos student who loves all the opportunities at the school and the learning format. She enjoys sports, and is on the school’s soccer and volleyball teams. She plays the piano, the guitar and constantly writes “little books” about many things she’s learned.
Silvana Yunda Altare
is a 14-year-old, who loves playing soccer, volleyball and cooking. She hopes the projects her school engages with News Decoder in are powerful and meaningful. She believes that she can leave a significant mark on everyone through the News Decoder Podcast episodes.
Greens Farms Academy, United States
Giavanna Bravo
is in her last year at Greens Farms Academy. She chairs GFA’s Model UN & Cuatro Por Venezuela clubs & serves as an editor for her school’s foreign language magazine & newspaper. She studies French, Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. Giavanna is interested in global affairs, political science, anthropology, traveling, & writing.
Herlufsholm, Denmark
Sophie Victoria Pallisgaard
is a second-year student at Herlufsholm school in Denmark. She is passionate about music, dance, tennis, languages, filmmaking and writing. She speaks fluent English and Danish and a bit of Spanish, German, French and Swedish.
Hewitt School, United States
Sadie Dyson
is in her last year at the Hewitt School. She is part of her school’s Service Board, which helps local communities in New York, and The Wave Club, which she co-started, that focuses on addressing global feminist issues. Sadie’s passions include squash, English, and art history, which she writes about on her art blog.
Hanna Rahman
is in her third year at the Hewitt School. Hanna leads her school’s debate club, runs cross country and track, co-leads Cultural Awareness for Everyone committee. Her goal this year as a News Decoder Student Ambassador is to encourage students to write for ND and to educate her community about underrepresented global events.
Indiana University, United States
Ryley Ober
is a second-year student at Indiana University, majoring in journalism with a concentration in news reporting and editing. She is interested in global affairs and plans to become a foreign correspondent after her graduation. She is a varsity athlete on IU’s swim team. In her free time, she enjoys expressing her life through art and writing.
Evan Wright
is a junior at Indiana University, studying international relations & the security environment of East Asia. He is a research assistant for the 21st Century Japan Politics & Society Initiative (21JPSI), & is a student ambassador for the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.
King’s Academy, Jordan
Abdel Rahman Rabata
is in his last year at King’s Academy in Jordan. He participates in Model UN conferences and community service activities. He enjoys researching and watching documentaries about the political status of different regions including the Middle East.
Maria Gommah
is a third-year student at King’s Academy. She’s interested in politics, exploring global issues, music, and photography. She frequently participates in Model UN conferences and the Jordan Modern Parliament (JMP) conference. In her role as Student Ambassador, Maria looks forward to connecting with people around the world to discuss current events.
La Jolla Country Day School, United States
Tavisha Khanna
is a third-year at La Jolla Country Day School. Tavisha is part of the Torrey Mock Trial team & frequently participates in climate strikes to promote sustainability on campus & the wider community. She joined News Decoder to meet new people around the world & learn more about journalism.
Lucy Jaffee
Lucy Jaffee is in her second-to-last year of high school at La Jolla Country Day School in California. She is editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and a blogger, and enjoys reading and writing articles. Jaffee has recently become interested in government and civic engagement, including registering young people to vote.
Miss Porter’s School, United States
Leela Rosaz Shariyf
is an American-French dual national from Brooklyn, New York. She is in her final year at Miss Porter’s and is the Student Head of School. She’s passionate about global citizenship, the history of American cities, and youth activism. She hopes to study cognitive science in the future.
Kaiya Simmons
is in her third year at Miss Porter’s School and is from Long Island, New York. She enjoys studying science, theater and crew. Kaiya also is passionate about serving her community through volunteering at the Stony Brook University Medical Hospital and singing in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York.
Jennifer Pyo
is a third-year student at Miss Porter’s School from Seoul, South Korea. She is interested in international business and trade, which is what led her to become a member of News Decoder. Jennifer loves learning about current events happening around the world and discussing about those events with her family and friends.
Thacher School, United States
Christina MacCorkle
is a U.S. citizen who grew up in China. She is in her third year at The Thacher School. Her favorite subjects are History, English and Studio Art. After high school, she hopes to study Political Science or foreign policy — something that “casts a critical eye on contemporary events.”
Li Keira Yin
is a third-year international student from Shenzhen, China at The Thacher School. Keira loves fencing, horseback riding, musical theatre, visual art, learning new languages, traveling, and volunteering with the Lions Club. Keira hopes to study linguistics, classics, or foreign policy in the future. She is interested in activism and psychology.
Transylvania College, Romania
Ioan Pristavu
is a senior at Transylvania College. He was born in Jerusalem and loves History, Politics and Diplomacy. He knows Hebrew, Arabic and Alearnedittle Latin and aims for a career in foreign service and European politics. He is the Student Body President and the youth advocacy group founder of “The Carpathian Youth Society.”
Sabina Stan
is a scholarship student in year 11 at Transylvania College. She is passionate about computer science, economics and business studies. She loves being active and works out frequently. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her best friend.
Westover School, United States
Monica Lau
was born in Hong Kong but has lived in Beijing for most of her life. She loves to travel the world — she has been to 80 countries — and enjoys taking photographs of the unique places she has visited. Her goal this year as a News Decoder Student Ambassador is to inform more individuals about global issues.
Jennifer Lee
is from Seoul, South Korea and is in her third year at Westover. Her favorite subjects are History and Art. She would like to study Journalism or Graphic Design once at university since she’s interested in writing and producing visual and artistic works.
Elaine (Yuelin) Zheng
is from Shanghai, China. She’s a third-year student at Westover and plans to major in biology, medicine, or neurology in college. Her hobbies include playing piano and volleyball. Elaine’s goal this year as a New Decoder Student Ambassador is to connect more people around the world together.