WE WANT EVERYONE TO BRING THEIR UNIQUE PASSION AND TALENT TO FINDING SOLUTIONS.
Check out the Get Involved page to join our team!
CORE TEAM
Anushka Bhaskar
Anushka (she/her/hers) is the founder of Avritah and a member of the Intersectional Environmentalist Council. Starting in the environmental space at age 10 after learning about the human health effects of plastic pollution, her passion for taking action against systems of injustice that harm both human and earth systems has only grown over the past decade. Now a student at Harvard and founder of the environmental justice and health equity organization Avritah, she hopes throughout her life to uplift the voices of those most impacted by environmental and public health crises and to activate those with resources and access to take action by following the lead of BIPOC youth and their allies. She is deeply passionate about health policy and reforming the healthcare system, an effort that is interlinked to the work that she does in the environmental space. Health policy and medicine are also at the core of Anushka’s academic interests and career aspirations, and she hopes to bring her perspective on their intersections with the environment to her research, advocacy and clinical practice.
Follow Anushka on IG: @queennushie
Contact Anushka: anushka@avritah.org
Aankshika Bheem
Bio coming soon.
Follow Aankshika on IG: @by.aankshika
Hannah Fleischman
Hannah (she/her/hers) is a junior at Smith College where she studies sociology and psychology, with a focus on the convergence of sociological frameworks and the ongoing climate crisis. She believes that the effects of climate change put great strain on the social order, testing the very structures that organize people’s lives and livelihoods, including the medical-industrial complex. Using theories of intersectionality, social movements, cultural studies, and science and technology, she examines the sociopolitical, and economic impacts of climate change, as well as the ways in which marginalized communities are organizing, and adapting. Most broadly, she hopes to create accessible content that facilitates a deeper understanding of pressing issues to allow all to participate in skillful conversations and informed decision-making in the face of global uncertainty.
Follow Hannah on IG: @hannahfleischman
Anchal Bhaskar
Anchal (she/her/hers) is the co-founder of Avritah and has been a youth leader in the environmental space for over 8 years. She is President of the Algalita Marine Research and Education Youth Council (a position in which she helps manage a network of over 3000 youth environmentalists). She has been instrumental in supporting key legislation related to plastic pollution across the United States, and has won community awards for her sustainability work and her intergenerational community service. Anchal is passionate about using the power of data visualization to envision environmental solutions, and has collaborated with genuinely sustainable companies like Earth Friendly Products, to apply data viz to understanding environmental innovations. Anchal believes that young people, especially young women of color, can each find their connection to environmental action through the passions that they already have.
Follow Anchal on IG: @anchal.bhaskar
Beatriz Basurto
Beatriz (she/her/hers) is the proud daughter of farmworkers and is a community voice at Avritah. She is a direct line to on-the-ground efforts to mitigate the health effects of climate change, environmental injustice, and health inequity for vulnerable communities. Beatriz migrated from Mexico at age 3 and now resides in Oxnard, Ventura County. Beatriz works to bring voice to the injustices her local migrant community faces, focusing especially on Indigenous farmworkers. Indigenous farmworkers are especially vulnerable as the rare protections for migrant workers are placed for those who have legal status and are Spanish-speaking, a privilege many Indigenous farmworkers do not hold. She has worked with numerous local non-profit organizations such as MICOP, CAUSE, and CHIRLA, before becoming the Associate of the 805 Undocufund, an organization focused on advocating for the health of farmworkers working through a pandemic and horrific air quality caused by California fires. 805Undocufund works to organize mutual aids supporting undocumented workers and their families.
Follow Beatriz on IG: @bnotbee
Wilson Haims
Wilson Haims is a sophomore at Wellesley College. She is passionate about the intersection of humanity and nature— a multifaceted system that she strives to advocate for and protect. Her primary areas of interest include the social/political dynamics of climate change, environmental justice, sustainable agriculture, and environmental conservation. At Wellesley, Wilson has been an elected representative who advocates for campus sustainability and is a horticultural assistant at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens.
Follow Wilson on IG: @wilson.haims
Ambika Sanyal
Bio coming soon.
Follow Ambika on IG: @iam.bika
Charlotte Wiggins
Bio coming soon.
Isabella Galiteva
Isabella Galiteva is a high school junior currently residing in Orange County, California. She is an environmental activist, and started participating as a speaker in energy and climate related conferences since the age of 9. In her capacity as a climate activist, she has traveled to the COP21 in Paris, the New York Climate March, the Solar Energy Symposium in San Francisco, the 100% Renewable Energy Conference in Irvine, as well as many other local, state, and national meetings and events. In the summer of 2019, she completed an internship as the youth representative of California in the office of the Chair of the California Energy Commission. As part of her internship, she was responsible for drafting a climate youth-engagement plan for the state which she presented at a public meeting at the CEC. Currently, Isabella is partaking in an internship at the University of California Irvine focusing on renewable hydrogen as one of the many solutions to achieving 100% renewable energy and decarbonizing the global economy.
Follow Isabella on IG: @isabella_galit
Jay Chandra
Bio coming soon.
ADVISORY BOARD
Professor Francesca Dominici
Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population and Data Science, Co-Director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative
More coming soon!
Please stay tuned for an announcement regarding our advisory board.