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Samir Chowdhury
Founder and Executive Director
Samir is a senior at McLean High School, in McLean, Virginia. Having spent much of his childhood traveling to Bangladesh and witnessing the detriments of climate change first hand, his personal convictions have led him to pursue climate activism. Outside of YCAT, Samir has led climate endeavors ranging from policy implementation in his school district to life-saving energy research at Harvard, as well as award-winning carbon sequestration research at professional engineering firms. Fully invested in changing the world for the better, Samir is immensely gratified by the past success of YCAT and the future impact it will cultivate.
Michelle Cheng
Executive Organizer
Michelle Cheng is a senior at McLean High School. Outside of Youth Climate Action Team she is an active member of Model United Nations and In her free time she loves rowing, biking, and trying new restaurants. She is so happy and excited to be an Executive Organizer and to be part of an organization that highlights student activism and takes real steps towards change.

Anna
Keyes
Executive Organizer
Anna is a senior at Dulaney High School who serves as an Executive Organizer for YCAT, which she joined to aid in fighting climate change and to advocate alongside her peers with the same interests. She has worked on a national political campaign, an experience which only pushed her to go further. In school, she participates in Mock Trial, HOSA and Science Olympiad, and outside of school, she enjoys playing video games, reading, and writing about her political takes.
Vihaan Mathur
Operations Director
Vihaan is a sophomore at Thomas Jefferson High School, in Alexandria, Virginia. He is an active member of his school's Model United Nations and Ethics Bowl teams where he has developed a passion for speaking and learning about current events. He also co-founded an initiative called Speak to Empower (STEP), which helps young underprivileged students learn about public speaking. He is also a writer and officer for Lenses, a platform where teens voice their opinions through journalism and articles written by teens for teens. As Operations Director for YCAT, he is able to be a change maker and advocate for climate reform while also working with and learning from others to foster a environmentally aware teen population.
Odessa Zhang
Communications Director
Odessa is a sophomore at McLean High School in McLean, Virginia. She is passionate about youth activism, specifically through the climate movement. She is the co-founder of the Speak to Empower (STEP) initiative working to cultivate public speaking and leadership skills in marginalized communities. Odessa is also part of her school's National Model United Nations Team, works weekends at her local Kung Fu Tea, and serves as a local tutor in her community. As the Communications Director, she is constantly inspired to continue the fight for climate justice by YCAT's growing success to an international scale.
Melat Asmerom
Social Media Director
Melat Asmerom is a senior at McLean High School. In addition to YCAT she is involved in a multitude of other clubs like DECA, Big Mac Program, and McDance-A-Thon at McLean. She is really passionate about social justice and environmental justice and the intersections between those two. As Social Media Director of YCAT, she leads her team to make graphics regarding these intersectional topics on YCAT's Instagram and other platforms. She really enjoy learning more about these climate related topics both inside and outside of YCAT.