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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.

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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!

ariana3@wharton.upenn.edu

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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.

jstaro@sas.upenn.edu 

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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.

ninawang@sas.upenn.edu

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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. 

mahala@sas.upenn.edu

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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.

 

aleana@sas.upenn.edu

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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.

andrango@sas.upenn.edu

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Rachel Norman

SITE COORDINATOR

Rachel Norman is a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania.

ranorman@sas.upenn.edu

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.

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Naomi Karnuah

2020 COHORT

West Catholic High School '20

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Laniyah Little

2020 COHORT

Community Academy of Philadelphia Charter School '22

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Joe Green

2020 COHORT

West Catholic High School '23

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Bobby Little Jr.

2020 COHORT

The LINC '24

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Zahya Whitfield

2020 COHORT

Tech Friere Charter School '24

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Deborah Karnuah

2020 & 2021 COHORT

West Catholic High School '24

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Tobias Edwards

2021 COHORT

West Catholic High School '21

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Mikayla Blackson

2021 COHORT

West Catholic High School '22

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Isabella Bioteau

2021 & 2022 COHORT

West Catholic High School '24

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Niya Wright

2021 COHORT

CAPA '25

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Fanta Dukuly

2021 COHORT

Science Leadership Academy '24

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Brooklyn'e Spraggins

2021 COHORT

Science Leadership Academy '24

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Jose Greene

2021 COHORT

Valley Forge Military Academy '25

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Milan Poole

2022 COHORT

Bonner and Preside High School '24

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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.

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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

Jay Falk Operations Associate Staff Phot
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