Our Team
Our program is administered by passionate staff and students from the University of Pennsylvania Netter Center for Community Partnerships and facilitated by talented high school interns.
Ariana Jiménez
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Ariana Jimenez is a student at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania studying business economics and public policy and management. Ariana runs after school programming, and she previously managed the 2021 Civic Engagement Summer Program. She has a passion for civic education and improving youth voter turnout. In her free time, she plays guitar and loves to sing. Ariana is excited to continue to work with Philadelphia high school students!
Jack Starobin
ASSISTANT PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Jack Starobin is an undergraduate student of political science and economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a strong interest in the influence of media on public opinion and political outcomes, as well as an interest in voting rights and voting access. In his time at Penn, Jack has assisted professors in researching the effects of mail-in balloting on Pennsylvania's 2020 election results, the effects of personal and social identities on whether social media posts go viral, and the influence of think tanks on policy outcomes in North America. In his free time, Jack enjoys going for long runs and writing poetry with his friends.
Nina Wang
SITE COORDINATOR
Nina Wang is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying linguistics and potentially international relations. She is passionate about engaging with youth to promote civic education and is excited to work with High School Voter Project to increase youth voting turnout! In her free time, Nina enjoys solving crosswords and dreams of being a cat-owner.
Mahala Garcia-Bartch
SITE COORDINATOR
Mahala Garcia-Bartch is an undergraduate in the College studying political science, with a concentration in international relations and Latin American and Latino studies. As a native Philadelphian, she firmly believes in creating youth leaders through voter education and civic engagement programs for local high school students. She has done work with a voter registration team in high school, educating peers on the importance of democratic participation and teaching them how local government works. Her other interests include singing, running and listening to music.
Aleana Nguyen
SITE COORDINATOR
Aleana Nguyen is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania studying Health and Societies hoping to repair healthcare disparities. She has a passion for civic engagement, and hopes everyone understands why their vote matters, why it is important to have a say in their government. Aleana has worked with a non-profit organization called VietLead in high school that worked to expand local, collective, democratic practices in Black, Brown, and Southeast Asian communities through Voter Registration programs, Voter Education workshops, and advocacy to end disenfranchisement to all voters. In her free time, she loves to play with her dog Max and bake.
Valeria Andrango
SITE COORDINATOR
Valeria Andrango is a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania studying Political Science and Latin American Studies. She hopes to utilize her background as an Ecuadorian immigrant of Kichwa heritage to bring to the forefront indigenous rights and indigenous language revitalization through civic engagement.
Rachel Norman
SITE COORDINATOR
Philadelphia Youth Network Interns
Our Civic Engagement Summer interns come from across Philly to learn about civic engagement and register their peers to vote through the Philadelphia Youth Network WorkReady Program.
Naomi Karnuah
2020 COHORT
West Catholic High School '20
Laniyah Little
2020 COHORT
Community Academy of Philadelphia Charter School '22
Joe Green
2020 COHORT
West Catholic High School '23
Bobby Little Jr.
2020 COHORT
The LINC '24
Zahya Whitfield
2020 COHORT
Tech Friere Charter School '24
Deborah Karnuah
2020 & 2021 COHORT
West Catholic High School '24
Tobias Edwards
2021 COHORT
West Catholic High School '21
Mikayla Blackson
2021 COHORT
West Catholic High School '22
Isabella Bioteau
2021 & 2022 COHORT
West Catholic High School '24
Niya Wright
2021 COHORT
CAPA '25
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Fanta Dukuly
2021 COHORT
Science Leadership Academy '24
Brooklyn'e Spraggins
2021 COHORT
Science Leadership Academy '24
Jose Greene
2021 COHORT
Valley Forge Military Academy '25
Milan Poole
2022 COHORT
Bonner and Preside High School '24
Kaylee Easy
2021 COHORT
Parkway West High School '25
Former Teammates
As a largely student run organization, every year some of our staff graduates and goes on to do great things. Here they are by the year they joined the Netter Center.
2019 Jay Falk, Founding Program Director
2020 Kaday Kamara, Assistant Summer Program Manager
2020 Marissa Friedman, Assistant Program Director
2020 Diamond Walker, Site Coordinator
2020 Naomi Karnuah, Assistant Site Coordinator
2020 Julia Brickfield, 2021 Program Director
2021 Abigail Dym, Curriculum Director
2021 Taylor Prescott, Assistant Summer Program Manager
2021 Shannon DiFulgo, Site Coordinator
2022 Christine Park, Site Coordinator
