Ashika Srivastava
Speaker
Ashika Srivastava is a 17-year-old junior in high school. She is very passionate about STEAM and its intersection with other areas such as social justice, humanities, and ethics. Her main passions lie in communications and the field of biology and she hopes to be able to pursue a career combining them. Ashika has been participating in Speech & Debate since 9th grade which has helped her acquire experience with public speaking. Additionally, she has given numerous speeches at various occasions, including a panel that informed middle schoolers about high school.
Caleb Smith
Speaker
Caleb Smith is a high schooler who loves to inspire his generation through utilizing videography to capture and portray compelling stories. At 12 years old, he started making inspirational videos, and this year, he decided to encourage people during this crazy year by creating videos for Instagram. He is also currently involved in Journalism and enjoys writing, especially opinion pieces.
David Hernandez
Speaker
David Hernandez is currently a junior from Miami, Florida. Over the years, David has an immense passion for subjects like cardiology, virology, and biochemistry. This love of learning has allowed him to immerse himself in textbooks such as Klein's Organic Chemistry and Campbell Biology. He was accepted into the New York Academy of Science, where he plans to solve issues in telemedicine and build a haptic device to better the field. Apart from being well-versed and accomplished in the sciences, David established himself as an experienced trumpet player, his band earning the recognition of being the founding class to receive straight superiors, earning the title of the top bands in Florida. His dream is to one day become an invasive/interventional Cardiologist and hopefully make an impact on people’s lives.
Riya Deshmukh
Speaker
Riya Deshmukh is a junior at Northview High School in Georgia. She is a recipient of the United States President's Award for Educational Excellence and has spoken at multiple events in the past. Riya is passionate about many things, including dance, running, and learning different languages. She has been studying and performing kathak (an Indian classical dance form) for 6 years, is a year-round runner and member of Northview's Varsity Track team, and has received awards from national-level competitions in foreign language. Apart from being a voracious reader, Riya enjoys spending time with friends and family.
Rushank Goyal
Speaker
Rushank Goyal is a high schooler passionate about using emerging technologies for social impact and solving the world's biggest problems. To that end, he has worked on projects with agencies like the United Nations Development Programme and India's National Health Mission, alongside several personal projects. He is also a published researcher, with two research papers in the field of AI-based medical diagnosis. He has dabbled in entrepreneurship, too, founding Betsos—his edtech-themed first startup—when he was 12, and winning Chromebooks at the International Conrad Challenge for one of his edtech-related products. In the past, he has spoken at 20+ events with 3000+ total attendees, including summits like a Rotary International summit on social impact. In his free time he loves playing badminton, doing multivariable calculus, and reading and writing non-fiction literature.
Varsha Holsambre
Speaker
Varsha Holsambre is a junior at Northview High School and an aspiring software engineer. She enjoys learning and utilizing programming languages to solve complex problems in and outside of the classroom. Varsha is enthusiastic about public speaking and is always looking for opportunities to expand her skills and share her ideas, hoping to encourage people to look at things in different ways. In her free time, Varsha is passionate about exploring new styles of dance and creating choreographies with her sisters. She also enjoys grabbing a good book and embarking on fictional adventures to new realities.