Mission Statement
The International Youth Politics Forum is a student-run and founded NGO. We are from different parts of the world, but have come together with one goal: to educate the globe on international issues and expand students’ worldviews. Our platform endeavors to bring readers a reliable source that provides articles and papers on current international events and issues. IYPF brings together multiple perspectives to help the world’s youth see global issues from multiple sides, using strategies ranging from comparing relevant data to creating parallel columns that portray each side of an issue in a meaningful way. The IYPF targets students in order to educate the new generation to prevent misrepresentations of cultures and backgrounds from occuring in the future, and to teach future diplomats and government actors how to see different sides of issues and to compromise in an increasingly polarized world.
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Avinash Sholevar
Founding President & Editor-in-Chief Avinash is currently a high school student located on the East Coast of the United States. While visiting Ecuador in 2018 for a Spanish immersion program, he was able to experience a different culture through medical volunteering in rural communities in the Andes. This experience further cultivated his interests in international and multinational politics in relation to how they impacted the common citizen. Avinash has further fostered his debate skills by participating in his high school’s Model Congress. He has attended multiple conferences, winning awards for his work on the select Supreme Court at Penn and others at Harvard. More recently, Avinash has participated in a Penn Law introductory course with a focus on human rights, along with the Yale Young Global Scholars program. He also enjoys working for his local court system and volunteering for his local Representitive to the U.S. House. His hobbies include politics, traveling, tennis, playing the cello, and writing. Anushka Bansal
Co-head of Trade and Economics Anushka is a seventeen-year-old and a senior in high school from New Delhi, India. She is an enthusiastic public speaker, a prolific writer, and a trained classical dancer, with an undying thirst for learning from her peers and mentors across the globe. She is the Founding President of her school’s Literary Club, is the COO/Co-Founder of a Zap-E-Scrap (a social enterprise in her city), and also has a TEDx talk to her name. She is currently working on a research paper with a professor from the University of Delhi to analyze the effects of social demographics and gender on financial literacy among high school students in Delhi. Anushka is particularly fascinated by the behavioural aspects of economics, and she enjoys delving into the juxtaposition of her many interests to create social impact. Maya Jain
Head of Cultural Relations Maya Jain is a junior from Toronto, Canada. Her interest in exploring International Relations stems from her multicultural household, where her mom is from Hong Kong and her dad is from India. Moreover, she is currently an organizer for a volunteer fair hosted in her city, designed to connect and inspire students with volunteer opportunities and to give back to both their global and local communities. She attended the Yale Young Global Scholars program, which further increased her interest in global issues. Maya is involved with volleyball, speech, and MUN at her school, and she is interested in how cultural divides intersect with global politics. |
Natalie Goldberg
Vice President & Podcast Director Natalie lives in the United States of America on the west coast. Her curiosity in international relations stems from her interest in the effect that the United States’ imperialist tendencies have had on the Middle East, and the possible ways to alleviate those negative effects through diplomacy. She has captained her school’s Speech and Debate team and MUN chapter, and she also has a podcast focused on a nationalized, inclusive health curriculum entitled Education from an Equal. In the future, she hopes to become a diplomat in a country in the Middle East or a French-speaking, African country. Natalie looks forward to attending Columbia College in the fall. Isabella Bernstein
Head of Human Rights Isabella is a senior who lives in Moorestown, New Jersey. Throughout the year, she spends her time working for a local nonprofit, CommUnity South Jersey and Philadelphia. An active journalist and editor for her high school’s newspaper, she highly enjoys informing others about local, national, and global issues. Currently, she is the lead defense attorney for her high school’s Mock Trial Team. Participating in Mock Trial, the school newspaper, Model United Nations, and other cultural clubs has broadened her views on what it means to collaborate with people of all backgrounds. Her Filipino and Jewish roots have helped guide her opinions on issues such as government-citizen communication, human rights, medical equity, and sex/gender discrimination. Jane Cohen
Head of American Affairs Jane lives in New Jersey and is currently a high school student. She is interested in United States History and national medicine, particularly in the science and global effects of biological threats and outbreaks. Jane has participated in several protests and political events, due to her interest in law-making and politics. She also participates in Mock Trial and Science Fair at her school. She leads the Mock Trial team as the lead prosecutor and enjoys debating modern politics as well as legal ethics. Regarding science fairs, when experimenting Jane focuses on the subject of microbiology, due to her fascination with disease and global policy. Jane volunteers weekly at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, educating young children on the importance of ecosystems and a variety of wildlife on the planet. In college, Jane would like to study political science or global medicine. Eventually, she would like to earn a law degree. Outside of school, Jane dances, focusing in both modern dance and traditional ballet, draws and listens to music. |
Claire Fennell
Head of Outreach Claire is a college student currently located in Oregon, USA. She became interested in politics and international relations through speech and debate, where she learned to use her voice for advocacy. Claire is passionate about marketing and graphic design, and saw an opportunity to use her skills to reach the next generation of politicians and thinkers through the IYPF. She has worked on projects in marketing and strategic development as an intern at Adidas, and is the author of a middle grade novel, The Watchmaker’s Apprentice. In the future, she hopes to work in marketing for nonprofits and political campaigns. Claire looks forward to attending NYU's Stern Business School. Shriya Shah
Head of Trade and Economics & Cofounder Shriya is a junior from Toronto, Canada whose interest in human rights advocacy and international relations stems from her involvement in debate, mock trial, and Model United Nations. She has competed internationally for all three, competing for debate at Harvard University and the World Schools Debate Academy in Slovenia and for mock trial at the Empire World Championships as an attorney. Over the past two years, she has furthered her interest in global socioeconomic issues through delivering a TEDx talk and working as the Vice President of the Oakville Leo’s, where she has helped underprivileged youth gain access to sports gear. She is interested in the intersection of global politics and its impacts on marginalized groups, specifically women and youth, while specializing in human rights violations around the world. Furthermore, as someone who is proficient in 5 languages, she is interested in the intersection of language and the role that it plays in international affairs. Juhi Tanniru
Head of Submissions Juhi is a high school senior from the west coast of the United States. Her interest in international relations is rooted in her Indian-American identity: she takes pride in her Indian culture, and enjoys comparing it to the American environment she has grown up in. Finding the way that cultures from around the world intertwine to create fascinating societies has encouraged Juhi to learn more about the histories of many religions and countries, and as the Treasurer of her school’s French Society, she has interacted with different cultures and people. Juhi has used the knowledge gained through these endeavors to advance her own perspective on world affairs, especially those related to India. Apart from international relations, she is passionate about singing, dancing, playing the piano, and helping her community through tutoring underprivileged students in her neighborhood. |