The team:
Iris Fan is currently a rising junior at Jericho Senior High School in New York. As a first generation Chinese-American, she seeks to bring awareness to global issues and empower Asian Americans whose voices are often oppressed in western media. She strives to educate minority youth to help them make their voices heard. In addition, she is passionate about ending stigma surrounding mental illnesses and actively works on research in this area. In her free time, Iris enjoys debate, swimming, and baking.
Iris Fan: Co-Founder & Brand Manager
Meet one of our co-founders and executive director Ashley Lu. She is the head of editing and is super excited to be a part of the team! She is currently a Junior at Jericho Senior High School. She is an ambitious student who passionately participates in youth-led political organizations in her free time in order to help voice out the helpless and cause change. She enjoys listening to differing perspectives and coming up with solutions. On the side she enjoys meeting and working with new people and going to church.
Ashley Lu: Co-Founder & Executive Editor
Kaitlyn Thitibordin is a rising senior in Jericho Senior High School, born in the Big Apple and raised on Long Island. She is a first generation Thai-American that has actively advocated for women’s rights and equality for Asian Americans and loves to write. Kaitlyn has written a book on the stigmatization of Generation Z in her book "it’s a gen z thing" in hopes to shed light on the youth she grew up around. On the weekends, Kaitlyn enjoys teaching kids how to swim and trying to keep her dad from having a heart attack while she learns how to drive.
Kaitlyn Thitibordin: Co-Founder & Creative Director
As the youngest member of the team, Ashlyn Thitibordin is an important asset to the Project Angel Island. Innovative, resourceful, resilient, and crafty, Ashlyn is the creative core of the group and loves to spend her free time sewing and inventing. She attends Jericho Middle School and has sold homemade trinkets like stickers and charms on Etsy. Ashlyn looks forward to succeeding the cofounders once they graduate and keeping the Tough Cookies Project alive.
Ashlyn Thitibordin: Co-Founder & Production Manager
Claire Lee is currently a sophomore at Jericho Senior High School. She is passionate about global human rights and environmentalism, especially in the textile industry, and also takes an interest in sustainable consumerism. She strives to advocate for and speak out about social change using an academic platform in debate, and is always willing to learn.
Claire Lee: Director of Graphic Design & Human Resources Manager
Rachel Park is currently a sophomore and attending the Jericho Senior High School. She has attended mission trips provided by her church to serve and help poor and lacking countries such as Nicaragua. She also expresses her generosity through volunteering as a teacher assistant at summer schools. She is passionate of providing aid for those who doesn't have a lot of access to education and basic needs. During her free time she loves to do photography, baking, and reading.
Rachel Park: Head of Marketing
Himani Mehta is currently a sophomore at Jericho High School. As a first-generation Indian-American, she is passionate about both South-Asian representation in mainstream media as well as women’s rights. Her involvement in both debate and political campaigns has given her strong speaking and writing skills, which she regularly employs to express ideas both in and out of tournaments. Himani uses her passion for women’s rights and engineering to push further representation of minority women in STEM fields. In her free time, she enjoys reading, tinkering, and performing classical music for seniors.
Himani Mehta: Writer
Jing Li is a sophomore at Northern Valley Demarest High School in New Jersey, born in Brooklyn NY. She enjoys reading narratives of minorities, primarily asian Americans to be more educated on her own ethnicity. She advocates for the empowerment of asian american females by noticing and breaking harmful stereotypes. She loves to meet new people and hear their perspectives of social issues. In her free time, she bake, knit, and practice golf.
Jing Li: Marketing Assistant
Jillian Miu is currently a sophomore at Jericho High school. Over the years, she has done a lot of community service opportunities. One of her favorites is a trip to the Dominican Republic to teach students English! At her previous school in Massachusetts, she was also a member of the Diversity Committee, which is a group that brings awareness to all aspects of the community in order to create a stronger, more tight-knit school. In her free time, she really likes to go for runs (xc is her favorite sport!), play the piano, and drive!
Jillian Miu: Product Designer
Jenn Baek is currently a rising sophomore attending the Jericho Senior High School. She is an avid writer and hopes to use her pieces of writing to ultimately fight prejudice and bigotry. In her free time, she is often found baking, reading the newest issue of Time Magazine and swimming.
Jennifer Baek: Head of Finance
Sara Fan is one of the youngest members of the group. Although she is young, she is excited to be helping out whether that be coming up with new ideas or helping out with production. She enjoys making jewelry and making handmade items in her free time. She makes handmade earrings and sells them on Etsy in her free time.
Sara Fan- Production Assistant
Felicia Quan is a rising senior at Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts. She is an advocate for abortion rights and racial equality and is currently writing a thesis paper about the accessibility of abortion. She enjoys drawing and designing, swimming, composing and playing music, and debate, and is a co-captain of her school’s speech and debate team and president of band.
Felicia Quan: Graphic Designer