Meet Our Team.
A global community filled with students who love to read.
Mirika Jambudi - President
Mirika is a college freshman at Harvard from New Jersey, who loves to read! Through interactions with younger family members and friends, she noticed that many students were not reading physical books anymore and struggling to understand the material. This inspired Mirika to start a series of reading workshops and book clubs for elementary school students in her local community. As her workshops were cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she founded Book Orators as a virtual platform to reach more students and find like-minded individuals.
Shannon Tan - President
When Shannon was younger, she was an avid bookworm and carried around a book with her everywhere. Her love for books allowed her to dream of other worlds and possibilities. As she grew older, she noticed the stigma surrounding reading through interactions with her peers and realized that she needed to do something about it. Through the many Book Orators initiatives, she hopes to bring back the joy of reading to those around her and create a community of youth passionate for the art of reading.
Vihaan Jambudi - Executive Planner
Vihaan is a student from New Jersey who loves to read. Some of his favorite books include graphic novels and sports fiction. After learning about low literacy rates and inequities in access to books, he felt that it was important to encourage younger students to read and provide them with the tools necessary to do so. In his role at BookOrators, he focuses on brainstorming and coming up with creative ways to engage younger students with reading. He hopes that through his work, he will be able to help others see the importance of reading.
Lorraine Tan - Executive Secretary
Lorraine is a Singaporean student in the International Baccalaureate Programme. As an avid reader, she reads 50 to 107 books a year and is ranked as the 11th best reviewer in Singapore on Goodreads. After identifying low literacy rates in many countries through her research and debating sessions at a Model United Nations conference, she felt determined to start and promote more conversations on reading and books. Through her work at Book Orators, she strives to shine a brighter spotlight on books and promote reading for education and leisure purposes.
Executive Team Leaders
Armaity Katki
Graphic Design Director
Armaity is a graduated senior from Georgia. She joined Book Orators because she wanted to not only share her love of books but also combine it with her love of technology to make an impact in the community. Her creativity encouraged her to explore her love for literature. Additionally, she not only loves to read novels, but she is currently writing one too! Armaity is very excited to be part of the Book Orators team.
Elizabeth McBride
Head of Curriculum
Elizabeth McBride is a graduated senior from Sarasota, FL who is interested in law and business. She joined Book Orators to connect with people who share her passion for reading. She understands how meaningful reading is and hopes everyone gets to connect with books the way she did. She can’t wait to get to know everyone and make a difference in her community.
Daniah Alrawe
Graphic Design Director
Daniah is a graduated senior from North Texas. She used to hate reading since English was not her first language, but one time she found a mystery book and could not put it down! She joined BookOrators because she wants to inspire others to regularly read and find the best books for them.
Kate Rivera
Editor
Kate is a student from Northern California. She is passionate about academics, the environment, and giving back to her community. Kate joined Book Orators to share her love of reading and promote literacy to the people of her community. She is really excited to be a part of such and amazing team!
Esther Low
Head Course Developer
Esther is a graduated senior in the IB program. She loves reading, tennis, and going outside. Her favorite book is currently The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Murial Barbery. Esther loves working with children and teaching. She works with media, literature, and teaching a lot.
Dhanya Saravanan
Website Director & Social Media Manager
Dhanya is a 9th grader from Canada. A fun fact about her is that she has lived in a total of 4 countries till now (India, Japan, U.S.A., and Canada). Her favorite books are Furthermore, Phantoms and Shiver. Her hobbies include drawing, biking, and writing. Dhanya joined BookOrators in hopes of letting others feel the joy of reading a good book just like she did when she decided to give reading a chance.
Xuen Wong
Writer and Editor
Xuen is a senior from Malaysia. She is passionate about helping her community, and joined BookOrators to help others discover the joy of reading, while meeting fellow book-lovers! In her free time, you will find her binge-watching K-dramas, whipping up delicious baked goods in the kitchen or reading various genres of books.
Our Book Directors and Course Developers
Nidhi Gongati
Book Director
Nidhi is a book director for Bookorators. She joined because she has a passion for reading and wants to make an impact in her community!
Serafina Hills
Book Director
Serafina is a junior from London, England. She has an interest in helping her community, and wanted to help younger children read more. She herself loves to read, which is exactly why she joined BookOrators to help spread her passion for books!
Shivani Patel
Book Director
Shivani Patel is in Grade 12 from Brampton, Canada. She has always been an immersive reader ever since she was a kid. She loves all books, especially if they have mysteries and plot twists that keep her hooked! With COVID-19 lockdowns, she wanted to find others who share the same interest she has in books and voila! BookOrators has become her savior! She hopes that this new generation can see the beauty in losing themselves in a world of whatever they dream of and hopes this organization can help her in achieving that!
Amna Dar
Book Director
Amna Dar is an 11th grade student from New Jersey. Born in Pakistan, she moved to the United States at age 10. She has enjoyed reading ever since she can remember and through BookOrators, she hopes to share her love for reading with others and promote literacy for students worldwide.
Sreelakshmi Manoj
Book Director
Sreelakshmi was introduced to the dream world of books at the young age of six and has not looked back ever since then. She is currently a high school senior, living in India and hopes to pursue her higher studies in the field of Bioinformatics. Apart from reading, she enjoys watching horror movies and dancing. Through BookOrators, Sreelakshmi wants to spread her love for books and introduce young people to the joy of reading
Paulina Beatriz
Blog Director
Paulina is an 11th grader from St Mary’s Catholic High School Dubai. Her hobbies include; writing, taking pictures, and listening to music. She joined BookOrators because she wanted to find new ways to keep herself productive and hone her writing and communication skills.
Ellie Weiner
Book Director
Ellie is a junior from Charlotte, NC who has a passion for reading. Books have helped her become who she is today, and she hopes to share the joy of reading with others in her community. In her free time, Ellie also loves to write, paint, and go for walks around the city. Her current favorite authors are E. Lockhart and Louisa May Alcott, and she can't wait to help others fall in love with their captivating stories too.
Samara Yadegari
Editor and NY Chapter President
Samara is an eleventh grader from Long Island, New York. She has a strong passion for both reading and creative writing; her favorite authors include Neal Shusterman and Stephen King. She is so excited to help BookOrators in their mission!
Abrielle Robare
Writer and Editor
Abrielle is an enthusiastic student with a love of writing, reading, and the arts. She loves to learn and try new things - her new interests include everything from neuroscience to tarot card readings! She lives full-time in her small Virginia bedroom, among stacks of books from her local library.
Marissa Nguyen
Writer
Marissa is an optimistic person who is obsessively enthusiastic about personal development. Her mantra is “I am a student of life, for life”. Like George R.R Martin once said “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies”. Reading has brought tremendous joy and taken Marissa on countless adventures, and she wants to share this passion with everyone.
Khushi Chaudhuri
Podcast Director
Khushi is a tenth grader from India. She is a passionate STEM student who also loves learning about literature. She enjoys reading books that are part of the sci fi, mystery and romance genre. She wants to encourage other students to read and share her love through BookOrators!
Melody Schmidt
Blog Writer
Melody is a senior from Ontario, Canada. She has always loved to read and dreams of owning a library or bookstore one day. Melody is an active member of both her school and community and enjoys volunteering. She joined Book Orators with the goal of spreading her love of books and passion for reading to other youth.
Jasmine Chen
Editor
Jasmine is an editor for Bookorators. She joined because she has a passion for reading and wants to make an impact in her community!
Melody Schmidt
Blog Writer
Melody is a senior from Ontario, Canada. She has always loved to read and dreams of owning a library or bookstore one day. Melody is an active member of both her school and community and enjoys volunteering. She joined Book Orators with the goal of spreading her love of books and passion for reading to other youth.
Vanshika Agarwal
Social Media (Pinterest)
Shikhraj is the social media manager for the BookOrators Pinterest. She joined because she has a passion for reading and wants to make an impact in the community!
Ola Abuazma
Graphic Designer
Ola is a high school senior from Canada. She likes stories, poetry and everything related to art. She enjoys drawing in her free time, and writing with story prompts. Currently, her favorite author is Sarah J. Maas, and she is new to the Harry Potter fandom. She joined BookOrators because it allowed her to share her hobbies which teaching and informing other people of her community.
Kimberly Cortes
Community Outreach
Kimberly is a 10th grader from Michigan. She joined BookOrators because she felt she wanted to be involved in the change of helping younger generations read more often and gain a love for books as she once did. Her other hobbies are Baking, playing soccer, and traveling! She hopes that she will become an attorney and travel the world one day!
…And more members around the globe!
Yena Lee
Community Outreach
Yena currently lives in Georgia. She is the community director and loves the BookOrators Team. She really enjoys working with everyone!