PROJECT MISLEAD - Key Persons
Ben is an educator and instructional designer living in Portland, Maine. He is the managing director of Polyphony Lit, an international literary magazine run by high school students publishing exclusively high-school-aged writers of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Ben also works as an educational consultant for schools and families with a focus on developing intercultural competencies and communication skills. Ben's instructional design work while at CIEE was a GoAbroad.com Innovation Awards Finalist in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
Faria Tavacoli is a first year undergraduate student studying Public Health and Creative Writing at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She is a scholarship recipient of the U.S. Youth Ambassadors Program to Brazil with a focus on social justice and volunteerism and has over four years of experience as a volunteer with youth organizations and healthcare centers. She is also a recruitment specialist for #ICANHELP, a national non profit organization educating students to use social media positively.
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations
- Vice President of Project Mislead and Is a Freshman at Duke University
Havish Malladi is the Vice President of Project Mislead and is a freshman at Duke University. He has spent the last three years working at a tech start-up in fields from medicare to disaster relief. He is a recipient of the Watson Memorial Scholarship and the Edison Award for Excellence in STEM Research. Havish has conducted research that has used artificial intelligence to advance fields such as public safety and bioinformatics and was an alternate for the Intel Science and Engineering Fair.
Job Titles:
- Co - Director of Curriculum
A desire to combat global injustices brought Katie Tzivanis to attend The New School and later major in Education Policy and Urban Studies. Katie served as the President of the University Student Senate, spearheading initiatives to eradicate food insecurity on college campuses nationwide. Inspired by a better future, she is actively involved in writing and implementing decolonized, socially responsible curriculum for public high schools.
Khushi Chawla is a first year undergraduate student studying Computer Science and Economics at the University of Virginia. She has been coding for 6 years and has experience with Java, Python, JavaScript (Node.js and React.js), HTML, CSS and GoLang. She volunteered for the non-profit Robotics for Youth for 3 years and worked as the webmaster at the Virginia state-level for the non-profit Kids Are Scientists Too; both organizations aim to teach kids STEM.
Job Titles:
- National Director
- Founder of Project Mislead and a Student at Dartmouth College
Manu Onteeru is the founder of Project Mislead and a student at Dartmouth College. Manu has worked for the Loudoun Medical Group, assisting urgent care practitioners, has conducted research at Radford University on the health humanities, and was named a Donate Life, Student Voice, and Griptape Ambassador. He's written for the Washington Post, and has been featured by Money Magazine and the Washington City Paper. He is the recipient of the Stennis Center for Public Service Leadership Bowl.
Job Titles:
- Director of Legal Relations
Michael Evrard-Vescio is a senior at Florida Atlantic University studying Political Science and Economics. He is the founder of a non-profit organization, the Bright Blue Bicycle Foundation, and brings almost 10 years of philanthropic experience to the team. Michael is also an award-winning researcher, who has co-authored publications for NASA and is currently studying the impact of negative advertising on youth voter turnout. In 2017, Michael's paper, Imagining Peace, was sent to every member of Congress and the President.
Nikkita Collins currently works remotely as an education consultant in partnership with several Chinese consulting firms and schools. Prior to COVID-19, Nikkita lived in Shanghai drafting literacy curriculums based on learners' ages, English-language abilities and field of study. Her sentinel assignment in Shanghai consisted of writing a 60-page early education teaching manual and conducting trainings and in-class management sessions. Nikkita supplements her education consulting by studying online to earn a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology.