Do you want any member of our Executive Team to speak at your event? Email your request to Sejal@empoweragirl.org!
Sejal Hathi-
Founder, President, Executive Director
Sejal Hathi is a 17-year-old student at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, CA. Having immersed herself in social change since she was a little girl, Sejal dedicates close to 1,000 hours each year to giving back to her community. She has always been passionate about girl empowerment and peace-building initiatives, an interest that was consolidated during her work with nonprofit organization Girls for A Change. In addition to participating on a GFC action team, Sejal also serves on the National Board of Directors, where she works to organize leadership conferences and develop more service opportunities for young girls.
Sejal also serves on Youth Service America's National Youth Council and National Board of Directors, upon which she organizes various grants and initiatives. Under YSA's sponsorship, Sejal has co-authored a published monograph on Effective Practices for Engaging High-Risk Youth in Service.
She additionally serves as a Board member on State Farm's Youth Advisory Board, which works to distribute $5 million to organizations across North America addressing disaster preparedness, access to higher education, environmental responsibility, driver safety, and financial education.
From helping to organize self-esteem summits for young girls, a mentoring program for girls, and a Darfur Awareness Benefit, to tutoring socioeconomically disadvantaged children, organizing local service days and global action campaigns, Sejal has pledged her self relentlessly to creating a better world.
As a USA Ambassador for the organizations Ashoka and Youth Venture, Sejal moreover strives to build a global movement of youth entrepreneurship and motivate innovative social change among young people. Sejal is also a member of the World Bank's Youth, Development, and Peace Network of North America, working to create greater opportunities for young people to work with the World Bank in international development. In Sejal’s own words: “I feel blessed to be able to give back to the community- my life would never be fulfilled without such service.”
For her efforts, Sejal has received many awards celebrating her work. In 2009, she was named California’s female Presidential Scholar, a national honor for which she is being recognized in Washington D.C. in 2009; a Nestle Very Best in Youth; an ABC7 Top Scholar; and a Coca-Cola National Scholar. She also received the national Spirit of Anne Frank’s Outstanding Scholarship Award, the first place Principal’s Leadership Award, and the Girls Inc. Women Who Dare Award. In 2008, Sejal was named one of CNN’s Young People Who Rock, an Elle Girl Teen Hero, a Comcast Hometown Hero, and a Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition Finalist, and received Soroptimist International's First Place Violet Richardson Award, the Silicon Valley 'It Girl' Award, Taco Bell/Think MTV's Teen Hero Award, and Kohl's Kids Who Care Regional Award. Among other honors, in 2007, she was named a We Are Family Foundation Global Teen Leader, and received the President's Call to Service Award, the highest honor in this series. Furthermore, Sejal was selected in 2008 with 9 other youth from over 20,000 applicants to receive Discover Card's Tribute Scholarship Award.
Angelica Teng-
Vice President, Creative Director
Angelica Teng is a student at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, CA who is known for her creativity and artistry. She is a regular volunteer in her community and is actively involved with Sacred Heart Community Services as a volunteer office assistant, Friends of Children with Special Needs, and the international nonprofit Tzu Chi.
She also channels her passion for global issues into a variety of activities and interests, as evidenced by her position as President of Amnesty International at Notre Dame, Elite member of the internationally known Crystal Children's Choir, and membership in the Environmental Club. Some side interests include playing the piano and dabbling in the arts of Chinese-calligraphy and Japanese flower-arrangement.
Hanna Kim- Treasurer, Fundraising Director
A student at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, CA, Hanna Kim enjoys serving her community. The many places she volunteers at include Friends of Children with Special Needs in Fremont, Sacred Heart in San Jose, and her own church in Sunnyvale.
Her motivation to perform community service is to help others because she believes that any aspect of an individual's involvement in society can contribute to the world's potential to change for the better. In addition to her commitment to service and volunteering, Hanna is passionate about art, ceramics, sports, math, and public health.
Emily Hwang-
Fund for Respect Program Director
Emily Hwang is a freshman from Whitney High School in Cerritos, CA. She is an active member of the Sarang Community Church Special Needs Ministry as well as a Long Beach Special Olympics Fundraising Volunteer. She is an advocate of equal opportunities as well as empowerment for girls around the world, and supports self expression through theatre, art, and literature.
Bubunur Alibaeva-
Sisters 4 Peace Program Advisor
Bubunur Alibaeva is an 18-year-old youth activist in Kyrgyzstan who believes that every single person has the ability to make a difference by channeling his or her talents and passions into the greater good. One event that really impacted her was the death of her father, as he had always been her bastion of support and advice, and his death motivated her to start volunteering in her community so that she could leave her own mark of goodness in her life. She began as a youth reporter for the “Youth Media Center”, for which she wrote reports and articles on teen issues, and also worked with organizations like “EveryChild International” to conduct skill-building workshops for orphans from distant regions of Kyrgyzstan.
Bubunar just experienced being an exchange student in the United States, during which time she harnessed her service abilities by organizing activities for the elderly homes, and thereby winning a grant from “American Bar Association” to raise awareness about teen curfews. As a result of her efforts, she was awarded the “Young Ambassador’s Award” in 2008. Additional projects that she organized include Sharing the Joy, in which she worked with juveniles in the justice system from different parts of Kyrgyzstan to hold concerts, soccer games and some workshops to rehabilitate the youth back into society. Bubunur was recognized with one of the We Are Family Foundation’s Global Teen Leader Awards in 2008.
She is now a student at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, majoring in Regional Economy.
Do you want Sejal, Angelica, Hanna, or Emily to speak at your event, or just have a question for them? Email us at Sejal@empoweragirl.org!
