The Team
NICOLE CHEN
Nicole is currently a senior at the Harker School in San Jose and Co-Curator of TEDxHarkerSchool. Aside from TEDx, she enjoys journalism and is editor-in-chief of Harker's student-run online news publication, Harker Aquila. Additionally, she further her interests in economics through serving as president of Harker's economics club and pursuing her independent research. She is also president of the Japanese National Honor Society (JNHS) and a member of the National Honor Society. In her free time, Nicole enjoys reading, traveling, and playing with her dog.
TAYLOR LAM
Taylor is a senior at The Harker School in San Jose and a Co-Curator of TEDxHarkerSchool. Besides TEDx, some of her other interests include Future Problem Solvers and speech. She is the co-president of the Future Problem Solvers club, a captain of the softball team, a member of National Honor Society, and part of the Honor Council at the upper school. During the spring, she can be found playing on the school softball team, and in the summer and fall, she participates in a competitive, travel team. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, reading, and playing with her pet chinchilla and dog.
SHANIA WANG
Shania Wang is currently a senior at The Harker School in San Jose and the Director of Marketing for TEDxHarkerSchool. Outgoing and friendly, she enjoys meeting new people and trying new things. Aside from TEDx, other positions she holds include ASB Vice President, DECA CEO, and WiSTEM Secretary. Shania is also on the Leadership Board for Link Crew and a staff member for Harker Horizon. She enjoys exploring her concurrent interests in economics and medicine. Outside of school, she can almost always be found studying and listening to music at a local coffeeshop.
RONIT GAGNEJA
Ronit is a junior at The Harker School. He is proud to serve as Marketing Associate for TEDxHarkerSchool. Aside from TEDx, he serves as CFO for Harker’s Business & Entrepreneurship Department, Founder of the Red Cross Youth Business Leadership Program, and VP of Finance for Harker UNICEF. His interests are in both business and entrepreneurship and computer science, and he is taking courses to further his understanding of both areas. Outside of school, he enjoys photography, dog sitting, and traveling.
AYESHA BAWEJA
Ayesha Baweja is currently a junior at The Harker School and is a Marketing Associate on TEDx. Aside from TEDx, Ayesha is the Senior Director of PR on Harker Spirit, a member of the LIFE board, and a member of the Diversity Committee. She has many interests including dance, FPS, coding, and is currently learning ASL. Outside of school, Ayesha spends her time watching Netflix, listening to music, and coloring.
BRYAN WANG
Bryan Wang is a junior at The Harker School in San Jose and the Director of Public Relations. Aside from TEDx, Bryan pursues interests in computer science, jazz, and tennis. On a smaller scale, Bryan actively competes in DECA and Model UN. Just having spent his summer doing astrophysical computer simulations using Python, Bryan can code in Java, Swift, and is learning Bash script. In addition to being VP in Harker's Tri-M Honor Society Club and tenor sax in Jazz Band, Bryan cofounded and leads his 4-man jazz combo, The Jazz Factor. During the spring, Bryan plays for Harker Varsity Tennis. In his free time, Bryan enjoys volunteering musically and watching movies.
ARUSHA PATIL
Arusha Patil is currently a sophomore at The Harker School in San Jose. As an enthusiastic Public Relations Associate, she loves finding speakers and communicating with them for the TEDx event. Aside from TEDx, she serves as the Sophomore Council's VP and pursues interests in robotics, Speech, and music. While not in school, she spends vacations reading, hiking, and traveling. The coolest place she has been to is Iceland, pun intended.
Aditi Ghalsasi
Aditi Ghalsasi is currently a junior at The Harker School and is the Public Relations Associate on the Public Relations team. At school, she is passionate business, as an officer on the CareerConnect team and a competitive member of DECA. She is also an active researcher at the lab. Outside of school, she is a pianist, performing at competitions and senior homes, and competes on the U.S. AAU national team for karate. Some of her other interests include drawing, listening to music, and traveling.
KEVAL SHAH
Going into his senior year at The Harker School in San Jose, Keval is the Director of Operations for TEDx Harker School. Apart from being a vital member of the team, he has also enjoyed participating in Synopsis and Google Science Fair. In his 4 years of competing at this fair, his projects corroborate his interest in the medical as well as engineering/computer science field. Besides TEDx, tennis and surfing are two activities which Keval takes pleasure in. Both help him relieve stress from school and relax. However, if he does not have enough time to go to the courts or the water, he likes to play his guitar. For him, listening to each one of the six strings resonate helps him regain his strength.
Ishaan Chandra
Ishaan Chandra is a junior at The Harker School and currently serves as the Operations Associate for TEDxHarkerSchool. Aside from TEDx, he pursues interests in business and entrepreneurship, robotics, and computer science. Thus, he also participates in other clubs, where he has positions such as the Vice President of Operations for Harker DECA, Field Leader and Member of Mechanics Team for Harker Robotics, and Graphic Designer for Harker Hacks and Harker CTF. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, watching movies, and listening to music.
HELEN LI
Helen Li is currently a sophomore at The Harker School in San Jose and serves as Operations Associate on the TEDxHarkerSchool team. In addition to TEDx, she is also a Student Council Secretary and a member of the debate team. Passionate about computer science, she organizes and competes in local hackathons. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering, researching, dancing, and watching reality tv shows.
MICHAEL ACHEATEL
Mr. Acheatel is a business and entrepreneurship teacher at The Harker School where he teaches business courses and advises extracurricular programs including TEDX Harker School, Harker DECA, Harker Incubator, CareerConnect, Harker Podcast Network, and BEcon. Prior to joining Harker, he worked as the President of The Startup Garage where he helped over 150 startups launch and/or raise capital in a wide range of industries with a focus on web/mobile tech and consumer products. He earned an international MBA from Tel Aviv University, Israel’s top business school, and a B.A. in Global Economics & Latin American Students from UC Santa Cruz.
Juston Glass
Hard-working, positive, and caring, Mr. Glass is the Director of the Business and Entrepreneurship Department at Harker. Aside from TEDx, he is also the advisor for DECA, CareerConnect, Investment Club, Podcast Series, BEcon, and Harker Incubator. Over the summer, he held an international business camp in Japan, hosted Wharton @ Harker SOAR camp, and traveled to Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona with his family and friends.