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, and will be attending the University of Chicago in the fall. 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, and will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. 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 Natalie is currently a student at Columbia University. 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 is currently a junior editor for the Columbia Political Review and a podcast reporter and copy editor for the Columbia Daily Spectator. She also hosts a podcast focused on a nationalized, inclusive health curriculum entitled Education from an Equal. In the future, she hopes to become a journalist or a diplomat. 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. Isa will be attending Barnard College at Columbia University in the fall. Mete Bakircioglu
Podcast Director Mete Bakircioglu is a high school senior in Oregon, USA. To empower his generation in his American and international communities outside of IYPF, Mete has created an educational music theory series entitled Shape of Music with the International Children’s Arts Network. His passion for improving his community has led him to work at his city’s chamber of commerce, volunteer for a youth-led winning mayoral campaign, and serve on his school district’s school board. As a member of his school’s speech and debate team, Mete enjoys studying the art of argumentation. Outside of school, he likes to go on afternoon walks with his dog Lucy and listen to podcasts. Mete also enjoys playing piano and violin; he is currently preparing for classical piano Extended Study of Musicianship and Repertoire evaluation through the Oregon Music Teachers Association. |
Dakota Benjamin
Head of Outreach Dakota is currently a high school senior located on the West Coast of the United States of America. Her passion for human rights and criminal justice stems from her love of law and her dedication to criminal justice reform, specifically wrongful incarceration. Having attended a summer law program at Georgetown University, which culminated in a mock trial at the District of Columbia Superior Court, as well as a three-week law program at the University of Pennsylvania, she has maintained an interest in law since a young age. Further, Dakota is the founder and president of the Innocence Project and Criminal Justice Reform Club at her school. Additionally, she works on the board of Violets’ Giving Circle (VGC), a donor-advised charitable fund under a titular 501(c)3 whose mission is to improve the lives and education of underserved women in the Los Angeles area. Dakota’s hobbies include tennis, politics, singing, and writing. 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. Shriya will be attending the University of Pennsylvania this fall. |