LeadershipLeadership
SARSA brings together students from incredibly different backgrounds and experiences through their common goal: to support those that need support. Below, you will find summaries of our e-Board; the seniors will also describe their reasons for joining SARSA. :)
Presidents
Nitasha Ranganath
Senior, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Why SARSA? Accessible, quality education is one of the biggest challenges in both developing and developed countries alike. SARSA is an important addition to numerous nonprofits with a similar priority because we are students helping students.
Fondest memory: Volunteering and traveling abroad on the Alternative Winter Break trip.
Safeena Walji
Senior, Psychology, minor in Marketing
Why SARSA? I have always been a strong advocate of education, and knowing that children in third world coutries and rural areas lack the opportunities and resources we have is disheartening. SARSA's determination to raise funs to further education in rural South Asia, as well as engage in local community service projects, resonated with my passion, and since my sophomore year, I have been an active board member for this philanthropic organization.
Fondest memory: We took a winter service to India and taught children English for one week. The trip was overall very memorable and eye-opening, but one aspect of it sticks out in particular: when we met the children's parents and explained the importance of educatoin for their children. They were so grateful that we had traveled across seas to educate their children and donate funds to their school. They expressed that our efforts gave them hope that their children could lead better lives than them. That moment was very touching for both the parents and our group as a whole.
Finance/Funding
Hayley Pallan
Funding Chair
Junior, Economics, minor in Accounting & Mathematical Finance
Fondest memory: Going to India on SARSA's first Alternative Winter Break trip !
Preethi Kasireddy
Director of Finance
Senior, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Why SARSA? I am passionate about helping people because I want to make a difference in someone's life, even if only in a small way. SARSA gives me the chance to give back to a cause I truly support. I tis very rewarding to know that I have the ability to help educate the poor children in India.
Fondest memory: E-board bonding retreats!
Marketing Chairs
Ashley McNutt
Website Maintenance & Marketing
Sophomore, BME, minors: Enterprise Resource Planning, Religion
Fondest memory: Dance Marathon with former President, Riddhi Jain! :) I was able to raise double SARSA's fundraising goal within 3 days. This money went to LA Children's Hospital.
Surabhi Srivastava
Social Media Maintenance & Marketing
Sophomore, Public Relations
Fondest memory: Watching the documentary from the India trip was a really satisfying experience. Even though I didn't go on the trip myself, it was amazing to get a chance to see the faces of the people we are helping and the difference we are making through what we do.
Relations
Alekya Reddy
Internal Chair (reaches out to other student orgs)
Sophomore, Global Health
Fondest memory: Hanging the giant banner of handprints that we made for banquet last year using two huge bamboo trees!
Sana Shuja
External Chair (Currently running our mentorship program)
Sophomore, Social Sciences emphasis in Psychology
Fondest memory: Participating in the Partnership Walk last year was great. The activities and events that they had before and after the actual walk made me realize how big the South Asian non-profit community in Southern California, of which SARSA is a part, actually is.
Event Managers
Anjlie Gupta
Sophomore
Fondest memory: The banquet that we held in Spring 2011, because it was te culmination of a whole semester's worth of effort into an event which really helped raise both awareness about and funds for our organization.
Reema Patel
Junior, Social Sciences emphasis in Economics
Fondest memory: Sahaara Banquet Fundraiser !!
Somya Sharma
Sophomore, Biomedical Engineering (Biochemistry)
Fondest memory: Seeing everyone's efforts culminate and translate into great success at the Sahaara banquet last year.
Junior Executives
Ambika Parti
Health and Humanities
Fondest memory: The first general meeting of the semeseter. After watching the documentary, I knew with certainty that I needed to be a part of this organization.
Anuja Shah
Junior, Global Health Studies
Fondest memory: Attending the Alternative Winter Break SARSA trip to India where we taught children who were attending Nai Disha--a nonprofit organization providing children an education for free. I had an amazing time meeting these children and learned a lot about how people live in India.
Ashima Sharma
Sophomore, Chemical Engineering
Fondest memory: The Sahaara Banquet was the first time I was introduced to the cause SARSA supports and more importantly, the amount of passion USC students and alumni have for helping others. The banquet was especially great because it provided entertainment while still maintaining the meaningful message and mission of SARSA.
