Risera Leadership Team
Aarushi Mehrotra
President & Co-Founder
Aarushi is a high school student at Walter Payton College Prep. She founded Risera because she wants to help students feel confident in their STEM abilities, empowering them to explore careers in STEM fields. She has been teaching mathematics and computer science in several nonprofit organizations from which she found her passion for spreading knowledge. Aarushi is passionate about STEM, is a co-captain of her school's Science Olympiad team, and has competed in math competitions since 7th grade. She is interested in pursuing a potential career in mathematics or computer science.
Angela Ho
Marketing Officer
Angela is a high school student at Stevenson High School. She has taken AP Physics 1 and is currently studying AP Physics 2, AP CSA, AP Biology, and AP Calculus BC. Angela enjoys participating in math competitions and has achieved a top 1% score on the AMC 10 and is a 4x AIME qualifier. She was also the captain of a Chicago ARML team and medaled at Science Olympiad Nationals. She is looking forward to pursuing a mathematics or computer programming career and is excited to encourage and support like-minded students on their journey to achieving their dreams in the STEM field through Risera.
Kimi Ma
Technology Officer
Kimi is a student at Walter Payton who has completed AP Computer Science Principles and is currently preparing to take on the challenge of AP Chemistry. In addition, she actively participates in math and computer science competitions and plans to pursue computer science in the future. Kimi aims to inspire others to develop an interest and understanding in STEM beyond the classroom as a part of Risera.
Fani is a high school student at Whitney Young High School. She has taken AP Chemistry and has been competing in Science Olympiad competitions since middle school. She has partaken in several STEM programs across the years such as Chis&E. She is passionate about helping students explore STEM and thrive in their classes. She is interested in pursuing a career in biochemistry.
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Fani Mo
Volunteer Coordinator
Shirley is a student at Whitney Young. She has taken advanced math classes and AP Chemistry (with more on the way)! Shirley has partaken in competitions for math team, Science Olympiad, and science fair. They have also enjoyed programs such as UChicago's YSP and Kode with Klossy (highly recommended)! For the future, she is considering computer engineering or architecture as a potential career. As part of Risera, Shirley wants you to know that the most valuable thing you can take away from any class, above any scores or credits, is experience.
Shirley Ruan
Curriculum Development Lead
Keith is a high school student at Whitney Young High School. He has taken AP Chemistry and AP CS A, and he is excited to take AP Biology and AP Physics this upcoming year. Keith is involved in various STEM extracurriculars including math team, Chemistry Olympiad, Biology Olympiad, and USACO! Keith wants to pursue a career in the medical field, either as a researcher or doctor! With Risera's goal in mind, his advice is to get experience in AP/Honors classes early as they expose you to new content which helps out in understanding what subject(s) you wish to pursue.​
Keith Xin
Curriculum Development Lead
Risera Board of Advisors
Aviral Mehrotra
Hello, I am Aviral Mehrotra, and I'm a rising freshman at the University of Chicago double majoring in Computer Science and Business-Economics! My favorite STEM classes were AP Computer Science A, AP Calculus BC, and AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. Throughout my time in high school, I had friends in grades above me that mentored and guided me. I want to be able to give back to others and help younger students the same way I was helped.
Student at the University of Chicago,
Co-Founder of Risera
Fathima Shaikh
Hello, I’m Fathima Shaikh - a rising freshman at UC berkeley studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science! My favorite stem class is AP Physics C because of how challenging it was - I never before saw myself as a “math” person but after taking that class and being thrown into the deep end, I was able to grow and evolve my mindset. I want to help other students do this as well - as someone passionate about education equality and looking to enhance education with AI in the future. This is why I joined Risera.
Student at University of California Berkeley
Andy Zheng
Hi! I am Andy - an incoming freshman at MIT, likely majoring in applied mathematics. My two favorite STEM classes have been Mechanics and Calculus as I can connect topics from both classes to the real world. I enjoy unraveling abstract concepts in STEM into simple words and pondering over the problems in a deep manner. I love how both sides of STEM, how the theoretical part exercises my critical thinking skills and logic, and also how I can apply theory to real life and solve problems in the world. However, I also often realize that the stem curriculum can also be dense and unapproachable at times. I certainly went through many moments when I’m deeply confused and wished there were more detailed hints. I am excited to join Risera and help as many people to see the beauty in STEM.
Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Bowen Cheng
Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night! My name is Bowen Cheng, and I am a rising freshman at Northwestern University. I always liked math growing up, and participated in many math competitions in middle school and high school. My favorite STEM class would be KAM Geometry, where we learned about cool things like Non-Euclidean Geometry and Chaos theory (google fractals for pretty images). I am passionate about the math and sciences, and look forward to helping students in their STEM endeavors.
Student at Northwestern University​
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Nora Sun
Hello! I'm Nora and I am a rising freshman at Harvard University. My favorite STEM classes in high school were AP Chemistry and AP Biology. Having access to a challenging academic curriculum was crucial to my growth as a scientist, and I am excited to support students taking advanced science classes through Risera!
Student at Harvard University
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Hello! I'm Nikita and I am a high school student at Whitney Young High School. My favorite STEM classes so far are AP Computer Science A, AP Calculus BC, and AP Physics C. My development as a researcher depended on having access to rigorous academic courses in high school, so I'm thrilled to help students who are studying advanced STEM courses!
Nikita Agrawal
Student at Whitney M. Young High School