SARSA | South Asian Rural Student Aid

Riddhi was born in Syracuse, New York and moved to Bangalore, India at the age of seven.  Growing up in India gave her first hand knowledge and exposure to the lack of opportunities in education for underprivileged children. Riddhi is now a senior at the University of Southern California majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Her passion to encourage and support the education of underprivileged children in India got her involved in SARSA during freshman year. She is now the VP of Finance for SARSA and in charge of planning and organizing fundraisers as well as forecasting and maintaining financial records.     

Sarah Manchanda is currently a senior studying Communication and International Relations.  She is the VP of Operations for SARSA and also involved with USC Helenes, Phi Alpha Delta, and Program Board.  She was born in Cerritos, California and has stayed true to her so-cal roots.  She is a believer in the importance and power of education and a proud member of SARSA.

Amitha is a junior, Neuroscience major at USC and hails from Oakland in Northern California. As the Director of Special Events, she helps to create, plan, and coordinate events, closely working with the Presidents and Vice President of Operations, Sarah Manchanda, as well as all of the other members of the board. In her spare time, Amitha likes to paint, occasionally sampling fruit tarts from a variety of locations in search of the perfect one. 

Over the past three years, Noopur has been given the opportunity to see the great achievements that SARSA has accomplished. Currently, she is a senior majoring in communication and double minoring in marketing and non-profits, philanthropy, and volunteerism. Furthermore, she is on board for the social South Asian club on campus, SCIA, and is working at the movie publicity firm Terry Hines and Associates. As Vice President of Communications for SARSA she is thrilled that she has been given the opportunity to be part of such a great cause. She is slightly obsessed with cupcakes, conversation, painting, dance, and food. One day, Noopur wants to fulfill two of her life aspirations—to own a bakery and to become a teacher.

Nitasha hails from Northern California and is a junior majoring in Industrial & Systems Engineering with a minor in Business Administration. She is an avid dancer, chef, reader, and writer with an enthusiasm for politics and social activism. Her interest in education stems from a summer teaching experience in India where she tutored students in under-served communities and taught English classes. After seeing firsthand the transformative role of education in a child's life, Nitasha hopes her efforts with SARSA can both sponsor education abroad and inspire action at home.

Safeena is currently a junior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Marketing and Consumer Behavior.  In addition to being one of SARSA's Junior Executives, she is the Director of Marketing for P.A.W.S., an organization on campus that helps homeless animals.  She is also employed at the Department of Public Safety on campus.  Safeena was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Sugar Land, Texas.  Safeena has enjoyed her first year working with a philanthropic organization that aids communities both overseas and in Los Angeles.  

Preethi Kasireddy is currently a junior at USC majoring in Industrial Systems Engineering and minoring in Business Administration. Preethi was born in Hartford, CT and has lived and grown up in Hartford, Chicago, India, and New Jersey. She realizes the importance of providing a helping hand because any amount of volunteering makes an impact in ways that we can’t even imagine. She believes that service is more than helping others. It's about being able to immerse yourself in the culture of the service and the people. She takes pride in being a member of SARSA and knowing that its members are helping to positively affect someone’s life. She hopes that SARSA’s growth will continue, as it has done so tremendously over the past year due to the collaboration of such hard-working individuals with such giving hearts. Other non-profit organizations she is involved in include Peer Health Exchange, Society of Women Engineers, and JEP.

Nikunj was born in Phoenix, AZ and grew up in Cerritos, CA. He is currently a senior at USC majoring in Business Administration and Economics and loves cars and cookies. Outside of SARSA, Nikunj is a member of the Marshall Case Team and holds a leadership position with the USC chapter of Global Business Brigades, which is a non-profit volunteer-based organization that leads groups of students on week-long consulting trips to deliver sustainable solutions to micro-enterprises in Central America. Nikunj is proud to be a supporter of SARSA.

Krithika Prabhakaran is a sophomore majoring in Architecture with a minor in Psychology. She is creative, enthusiastic, artsy, passionate, and dedicated. She believes she can use her design skills to help further SARSA's goal. Her interest in education and lending a helping hand comes from her experience in leadership and volunteering in the community. She believes there is no maximum or minimum value to how much a person can contribute back to the community because any amount of service is priceless. She believes that the true gift of giving back to society is when you put a smile on a child's face, and that's what makes everything worthwhile.

Arjun Srinivasan is currently a sophomore at USC double majoring in Computer Science and Business Administration. He loves watching football, learning new languages, taking long naps, and spending quality time with friends and family. His interest in SARSA originated from his volunteering experiences in Los Angeles Community Impact, a student-run service where business students work with non-profits in a consulting role. He is proud to be a member of SARSA because he believes that every child deserves to be educated. He hopes to use his communication skills to further this message and reach out to local communities and companies to gain support for SARSA's cause. He believes that the difference one man can make in his community is enough to spur action in the world.