Contributors

Cai Redmond recently graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Classics. Currently living in the heart of Silicon Valley, she is passionate about writing, film, costuming, and playing the tuba. She aspires to be a screenwriter and is interested in how artists and writers express their views about current political and social issues through their craft. Cai has been baffled, inspired, and supported by some amazing women in her life, and wants to help other young women find their passion and to support them in achieving their goals. She is excited to work with the GenHERation team in doing just that, empowering young women and helping them find their voices.

Celeste Montaño recently graduated with cum laude honors from UCLA, where she double-majored in English and Spanish. During the last three years, she has nurtured a passion for activism and mentorship as part of the girl-fueled organization SPARK Movement, which lent Celeste the resources to spearhead a successful online campaign petitioning Google to celebrate more historical women and people of color on their front page. She also participated in the subsequent partnership between SPARK, Google, and Google’s Field Trip app in order to increase visibility of overlooked women in history. This past May, she completed an internship with LA-based nonprofit WriteGirl and contributed to the organization’s biennial printed anthology. Celeste’s favorite pastimes include fangirling about musical theatre and browsing tumblr—although now that she’s no longer in school, she’s also rediscovering what it’s like to read and write for fun.

Claire Pacek is from Pittsburgh, PA and spent her freshman year of college at Washington & Jefferson College. She is now pursuing a degree in economics at the University of Pittsburgh and hopes to one day be her own boss. Claire loves reading, Taylor Swift, dogs, and U.S. history. She is passionate about helping people and helped organize many fundraising events as secretary of her high school’s chapter of the National Honor Society. A lover of music, Claire was an active member of her high school’s choir and plans to continue her amateur career as a mezzo-soprano at Pitt. Claire was a member of W&J’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity and loves hands-on activities. She is very eager to empower girls through information along with the GenHERation team, for Claire wholeheartedly believes that Beyoncé was right: girls do, in fact, run the world.

Cristina Herrera was born in Venezuela and is currently a junior at Stanford University, pursuing a major in English with Creative Writing Emphasis and a double minor in Translation Studies and Modern Languages. As president of the National Honor Society at her high school in Venezuela, Cristina was lucky enough to help her community by organizing charity drives with the members of the society and by attending community service outings with local orphanages. At Stanford University, she is one of the founding members and current president of the Stanford Creative Writing Society. Last summer, Cristina interviewed kidnapping victims in Venezuela for a book she is writing (and which will take many years to mature into publishable material). She is also participating in a schooling internship while abroad, teaching English to students of an elementary school in Paris.  Through her writing, she hopes to be a voice both for her country, which is undergoing many different types of hardships, and for women. Cristina has a long-lasting addiction for dark chocolate, and a newfound addiction for bubble tea. Taking long showers, going to bed late, and being frequently late to events are habits that she still hasn’t been able to change.

Evangeline Giannopoulos is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying Communication and Consumer Psychology. On Penn’s campus, Evangeline is the Outreach Coordinator of Alternate Spring Break, a committee head for Women in Leadership Series, and a campus ambassador for the startup LOLA. As a Girl Scout for life, Evangeline has always had a penchant for making a meaningful difference in this world and has specifically evolved a deep passion for gender rights. She admires the mission of GenHERation and is thrilled to be a part of the team as a contributor.

Ines Gerard-Ursin is a rising junior at Stanford University, where she is majoring in Computer Science. She hails from Oslo, Norway/Brussels, Belgium/Los Angeles, and because of her international upbringing, she is very interested in cultural differences in the way people think about equality, education, and gender. At Stanford she loves being able to participate in Swingtime, Stanford’s only swing dance performance group, the marching band, where she plays alto sax , edusalsa.com, a website devoted to helping students get the most out of their education at Stanford, and various other random endeavors (like helping organize/host a Nepal fundraiser, arranging puppy visits to freshmen dorms, and making/displaying her drawings). She is super excited about contributing to GenHERation, and will continue to mentor and work with undergrads as a Peer Health Educator at a freshman dorm next year.

Katie Campbell, from Hookstown, Pennsylvania, is a sophomore at Washington and Jefferson College where she is majoring in English. She loves reading, writing, dancing, and learning about other countries and cultures. Katie has been in many leadership positions throughout high school and into her college years. She was captain of her high school’s majorette squad, treasurer of her high school’s chapter of National Honor Society, an executive committee member for her high school’s Teen Leadership Corps, organizer for a science fair at her high school, she will be a section editor for her college’s student newspaper next year, and she has taken on the position of Coordinator for the W&J Dance Team Spring Fling Dance Competition. Katie is very excited to join the GenHERation team and to empower girls just as she was by some of the women in her life.

Katie Sun is currently a high school senior at Mission San Jose High School.  At school, her activities include being an editor on the literary and art magazine and participating as a writer, photographer, and section editor in the school newspaper. She became interested in women’s and girl’s empowerment through participation in an Apple program focused on encouraging female participation in Silicon Valley. In her free time, she studies piano performance with a college professor, devotes time at an art studio, goes hiking and backpacking, and volunteers at a hospital. Katie looks forward to being a part of the GenHERation effort!

May Huang is a freshman at The University of Chicago. She was born in Taiwan and currently lives in Hong Kong, where she writes for the South China Morning Post’s Young Post, and occasionally contributes to www.qwiklit.com. Passionate about reading and writing, she was the writing editor of her school’s literary magazine and won the Hong Kong Young Writers’ Award for poetry in 2013. In her free time, she enjoys playing the violin, hiking, and writing book reviews on her blog. In the past, she performed a spoken-word poem and arranged a piano medley of feminist songs during Women’s Week at her school. She is always inspired by the women in her life and strongly hopes that, as Yosano Akiko wrote in his poem The Day the Mountains Move, “All the sleeping women/Are now awake and moving.”

Mira Bajaj is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying Computer Science from Florence, South Carolina. She first became interested in Computer Science after going to the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential high school where she took her first programming class. Since working at a NCWIT-sponsored camp for middle school girls, Mira has become passionate about spreading STEM and leadership, especially to young girls. She has continued this passion as a TA for the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program in the summer of 2015. In her free time, she loves finding new music and traveling. Mira is ecstatic to continue to work with women’s empowerment through GenHERation and she can’t wait to see how this movement can make a difference.

 Rebecca Zuo is a current sophomore at East Chapel Hill High School, where she is a member of the social justice academy, the science club, and the swim team. She enjoys reading, playing volleyball, and helping others.  She has interviewed successful women in the past and was left in awe by not only their mastery in their fields, but also their ability to influence the future generations. This experience has made her even more passionate about encouraging young women to achieve their goals. Rebecca is very excited to join GenHERation because she believes that knowledge and information is the ultimate leeway to empowerment.

Susan Packer is a senior attending Temple University, majoring in English. She grew up in Conshohocken, PA (right outside of Philadelphia) and received her Associate’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Montgomery County Community College in 2012. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with family and friends. She likes trying new restaurants, whether it is in the city or locally, going to the movies, bowling, and reading. She also loves to travel! She has been to Italy (Rome, Venice, and Florence) and Ireland. Spain is next on her list. She is fluent in basic Spanish and would love to learn more about Spanish culture.  She is very excited about having the experience of interning for GenHERation and educating young girls.