Meet the Team Leaders!

Ava

Ava (she/her) is a co-founding intern of The Bittermelon and the manager of our social media pages. She is currently a junior at Horace Greeley and actively works to address racism within academic and community environments as a president of her school’s BIPOC Student Union. As a queer American woman of Black and Filipina descent, Ava understands the experiences of intersectional identities and strives to end the normalization of racism and make a positive change in the world through law.

Fun Fact: Ava plays and records music. She is an avid concert fan and is fluent in French.

Lilly

Lilly (she/her) is a co-founding intern and the treasurer of The Bittermelon. She is also a leader of the Teens4Kids Reading Program. Lilly is currently a junior at Horace Greely. She was adopted from Viêtnam and grew up in a mixed-race household. As a queer, Jewish, Asian American woman, Lilly has developed a unique identity that she is proud of, and she hopes to help others become proud of their identities as well.

Fun Fact: Lilly is a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, her favorite music artist is Hozier, and she likes pickles.

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Jack

Jack (he/him) is a co-founding intern and the website manager of The Bittermelon. He is also leading the upcoming podcast program for the school year of 2023-'24. Jack is Chinese-American and currently a senior at Edgemont High School. He has been motivated to create a safe space for all AAPI teens to explore and feel comfortable with their identities.

Fun Fact: Jack is very good at rhythm games like osu!mania and is obsessed with Genshin Impact.

Amani

Amani (she/her) is a junior at Yorktown High School. She is Indian-American and is the current leader of Herbal Tea and Hormones. She joined The Bittermelon to reach younger Asian-Americans who struggle to figure out their self-identity. She has been with Bittermelon for almost 2 years now.

Fun Fact: If Amani could have any superpower, it would be mind reading. She aspires to be a software engineer.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth (she/her) is currently a junior at Horace Greeley High School. She is Chinese-American and a manager and writer for the Obscure History Blog, as well as a member of the Children’s Reading Program. She hopes to educate her peers and her community!

Fun Fact: A hidden talent that Elizabeth has is tying sailing knots. If she could have any pet, it would be a Samoyed dog.

Amy

Amy (she/her) is a junior attending Horace Greeley High School. She is Chinese-American, a part of the Teens4Kids Reading Program, and an editor for the Obscure History Blog. Amy is incredibly passionate about her work at The Bittermelon, especially in education and raising awareness around underrepresented issues. She writes articles that dive deep into the history of Asian Americans, as well as helping to edit and offer feedback to her peers.

Fun Fact:

Amy loves to spend time with her dogs! She's obsessed with creating little meals for them with special ingredients! Amy's dogs are named Taco and Burrito, along with her cat Mishu who passed a few years ago.

Rebecca

Rebecca (she/her) is a biracial Filipino-American junior at Horace Greeley and the head of the Writer's Club at The Bittermelon, which produces articles and essays that are posted on the Obscure History Blog. Through The Bittermelon, she hopes to learn more about topics that are not fully explored in school, and she hopes to educate others to gain new perspectives about the world around us.

Fun Fact: One of Rebecca's canon events was seeing Olivia Rodrigo in concert. She loves to play volleyball and plays on her school team.

Emma

Emma Zhu (she/her) is a sophmore at MIT majoring in Computer Science and Economics. She is currently a mentor for the teen leaders at The Bittermelon and supports our marketing and branding with her incredible artistic talents! Emma worked directly with the founder as a summer intern on a pilot program focusing on empowering Asian American youth after establishing the first AAPI club at her high school during her junior year.

Fun Fact: If Emma was reincarnated, she'd be a rock. She will be survived by three plants, Peter the Pothos plant, Peter, Jr. the propagated Pothos plant, and Bægull the Basil plant.

Sara

Sara (she/her) is a half-Chinese-American junior currently attending Horace Greeley High School. She is an editor of the Writer's Club and a participant in the Teens4Kids Reading Program. Sara has always wanted to create a space for others to learn and share about the experiences of Asian Americans that she never had. Through The Bittermelon, she hopes to teach others about the historical and personal experiences Asian Americans have, as well as create a foundation for growth and learning in her community.

TingRay

TingRay (he/him) is a Taiwanese sophomore at Horace Greeley. He currently runs the Teens4Kids Reading Program. He joined the Bittermelon with hopes of spreading knowledge about AAPI heritage, culture, and experiences to others.

Fun Fact: TingRay has played the piano for over 12 years, enjoys math and computer science, and plays chess.