Youth LEAD

Charlotte Pototsky (she/they) is a student, leader, and activist ambitious to build a supportive and ethical community. They are passionate about and committed to healing social justice related difficulties including, but not limited to, racial inequity, women rights and empowerment, and environmental justice. She enjoys writing poetry, creating educational (yet simultaneously entertaining) videos, writing music, telling stories, and drawing visuals to prove a point. Through the fine arts, they hope to engage those who have not interacted as deeply in mending social justice issues. One day, Charlotte aspires to pursue a further education and a career as a leader for social change.

Ollie is a high school senior from the suburbs of Boston. He is Jewish and very openly gay. Ollie has a deep interest in folk music, specifically sea shanties and other work songs. This interest inspires much of his writing and related activism. He focuses on topics that are intersectional, anti-imperialist, pro-worker, and quite honestly idealistic. Ollie is someone who does not enjoy down time. He intentionally keeps a very busy schedule. He is a barista, a babysitter, and a volunteer. For over two years, Ollie has been volunteering as a call taker at a Massachusetts-based suicide prevention service. This is work that he has found very fulfilling. He feels honored that he has been able to help people while learning valuable communicating skills that he is able to transfer to other areas of his life.

Sahana Bharadwaj is from Sharon Massachusetts. She is 15 years old, in the 9th grade, and attends Sharon High School. She enjoys playing basketball and the piano. Sahana has been playing the piano since the first grade. She takes classes at Sharon Music Academy and recently performed a piece at Carnegie Hall, in New York City, for the Crescendo Music Competition, in which she won first place. Sahana has also been playing basketball for numerous years, since kindergarten. She has played travel, recreational, and club basketball. Aside from piano and basketball, Sahana also enjoys reading. Some of her favorite books include The Selection Series, the Percy Jackson series, and The Song of Achilles.

Shreya Gorrepati (she/her/hers) is a Sophomore at Sharon High School and has been a Youth Lead member for two years. She is an Indian-American who has grown up in Massachusetts. Her interests are history, literature, and social justice, and she loves to travel to see new places and explore new cultures. Social justice issues she is interested in are sexism, classism, and racism. Her artistic expression is shown through ceramics, sculpting, and poetry. She also loves to paint random objects and visuals she sees throughout the day. As a student, she is interested in learning about history from a point of view that is not taught in school, and as an artist, she is interested in the portrayal of femininity intersected with race.

Anya is an 18 year old senior who is passionate about ending class division, climate change and ableism in our society. She enjoys making unique jewelry, using collage in her art pieces and painting portraits. She has been diagnosed with POTS, a disability that causes unstable heart rate level and drastic changes in blood pressure. This has allowed her to be more aware of ableism, and in turn be able to advocate against it. She plans to attend Dean College in the fall to study psychology. Anya hopes to help her community in the future by becoming a psychologist for the adolescent. Youth Lead has allowed her to form a more educated understanding of the roots of many social issues and how to fight against them.