2025-26 TEDxSaintFrancisHS Board
Co-Directors
Marco Sucre
Marco Sucre is a senior at Saint Francis High School. Outside of school, he loves being out in nature, frequenting hikes, surf sessions, and even climbing Mount Whitney. He also enjoys his creative side, playing piano for the past 6 years and working on his own engineering passion project. Marco believes strongly in the spread of knowledge, sociopolitical awareness, and justice, and is very excited to work as co-director to cultivate new, interesting ideas with the whole TEDx team to make a lasting impact
Avery Simonsen
Avery Simonsen is a senior at Saint Francis High School. At school, aside from TEDx, she has been involved in Varsity Soccer and Student leadership/ Lancer Ambassadors since freshman year. Outside of school, Avery enjoys Pilates, running, and working with animals. Avery strongly believes that everyone has a story to share, and her mission this year as co-director is to make everyone feel heard and confident in their abilities. Having experience from her TEDx talk last year, she hopes to be a resource for new speakers to rely on
Trisha Kakade
Trisha Kakade is a senior at Saint Francis High School. Outside of TEDx, she is involved in Affinity groups, Being Change to Mind, speech, and grassroots social justice initiatives in her community. Trisha has been doing Kathak for 9 years and is passionate about the intersection between legal advocacy and community engagement. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, baking, and listening to music. This year on TEDxSaintFrancis, she is a co-director and is looking forward to hearing captivating stories and learning from diverse perspectives.
Chief of Staff
Cate Blong
Cate Blong is a senior at Saint Francis High School. At school aside from TEDx, she enjoys being a part of track and field, and she loves to read, volunteer, and make art. Cate loves hanging out with her friends, driving around, watching movies with her family, and listening to music. She’s enjoying Taylor Swift, Tyler the Creator, and Noah Kahan, especially after seeing them in concert. This year, she’s super excited to be Chief of Staff and to learn all about people’s unique stories!
Speaker Team
Keira Shultz
Keira Shultz is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She is currently in her 10th year of club soccer, and loves to read rom-com books. She spends her time watching sports, especially Formula 1, and watching old movies. In school, she is a part of Canon Crew, Banner Brigade, the newspaper, and plays on JV Girls soccer. Keira gave a talk in her freshman year about learning to accept her ethnicity as an adopted child. She aims to help TEDx speakers feel comfortable sharing their stories, and include all of our Saint Francis community in celebrating unique ideas.
Miguel Malicse
Miguel Malicse is a senior at Saint Francis High School. Outside of TEDx, he loves the sport of wrestling and boxing. In his free time, he enjoys cooking steak. He claims that he makes “the best steak” in the Bay Area. At the TEDx event two years ago, Miguel spoke about the balance of life and the yin yang symbol within us all. This year, he hopes to create meaningful relationships with the speakers and help them to share their stories and ideas.
Aanya Remi
Aanya Remi is a junior at Saint Francis High School. She is a part of multiple leadership boards at school, loves going outside, hanging out with her friends, and traveling! In her free time she loves to read, watch tv, specifically Gossip Girl, listen to music, and more. Some of her favorite music artists are The Weeknd, SZA, Travis Scott, and others. She loves spending time with her little sister, and is super excited for TEDx this year!
Saanvi Juneja
Saanvi Juneja is a junior at Saint Francis High School. Outside of TEDxSaintFrancisHS, she is on the board of SFHS Acapella, SWENext, SASA, IFSA, Board of Directors Council and Lancer Hacks. She is also a CSF Teacher’s Assistant, and is part of the Lancers LEAP Council. Outside of school, Saanvi plays piano, and is an Eagle Scout in her scouts troop. In her free time, she loves working out, volunteering, and playing with her dog. This year, she’s super excited to create a welcoming and supportive environment, and learn about other people’s ideas and stories.
Mason Young
Mason Young is a senior at Saint Francis High School. In his free time, he loves to read, run, write, and draw. His sophomore year, he gave a TEDx talk titled “The Magic of Rejection” on literary publishing. As a Speaker Mentor, he hopes to share the dos and don’ts of his own experience, pushing the team to share their personal story.
Riyana Goel
Riyana Goel is a senior at St Francis. She is passionate about leadership, especially in regards to mental health advocacy in her community. She founded a global mindfulness nonprofit 5 years ago called Apart But Not Alone and has also worked on the City of Cupertino's Youth Activity Board for three years. Apart from TEDx at school, she writes for The Lancer and is a tutor for the California Scholarship Federation. Last year, she delivered a talk about her views on atheism and religion, and she is excited to work with the new speakers this year as a mentor!
Stefan Johnson
Stefan Johnson is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. He enjoys reading books, going on hikes, and doing Track and Field. He likes debate and is a part of the Model UN, Mock Trial, and Debate teams at Saint Francis. This year, he is excited to meet new people and hear their unique stories, through TEDx.
Savannah Mann
Savannah Mann is a junior at Saint Francis High School. On top of being in TEDxSaintFrancisHS, they are also a member of FASU, Telling Our Stories: Saint Francis Oral History, SFHS Color Guard, The Lancer, Mind Frames, and PSU. They also volunteer at the PHS SPCA where they work with cats in hopes of becoming a veterinarian. When they’re free, they love going on hikes, spending time with their friends, playing with their two cats, and listening to music. They also aspire to be a stand up comedian, but have been advised to not quit their day job. Overall, they strive to make a positive impact both inside and outside of TEDx.
Hospitality
Sam Enerio
Sam Enerio is a senior at Saint Francis. Outside of TEDx, she plays field hockey, is a board member of FASU, a member of SF Thrive, and Lancer Ambassadors. She loves hanging out with her friends, trying new foods, and traveling. Recently, she’s been loving listening to Drake, Giveon, and Sza. This year, she’s stoked to meet new people and contribute to making this TEDx event the best it can be!
Tanisha Arora
Tanisha Arora is a junior at Saint Francis High School. In her free time, she loves reading, making art, and listening to music. Her favorite artists include WizThe MC, Glass Animals, and Tate McRae. At school, aside from TEDx, she’s a part of the golf team, Medical club, and Pathoscribe. She is super excited to serve on the TEDx hospitality board this year and help organize the event!
Laya Vinay
Laya Vinay is a junior at Saint Francis High School. She is a part of a dance team outside of school, MKC, and loves exploring nature, especially Yosemite. She loves to read in her free time, as well as loves to watch TV, particularly The Summer I Turned Pretty. Listening to music is another one of her favorite hobbies, her favorite artists being Steve Lacy and Frank Ocean. She is a part of the Track and Field at Saint Francis. Laya loves to spend time with her family and her puppy, Apollo, and is super excited to be a part of the TEDxSaintFrancisHS board this year!
Publicity
Allyson Wan
Allyson Wan is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She is a part of both FASU and ASA at school and loves the connections she has built through them. In her free time, she likes to go on long walks and hangout with friends. This year as part of the publicity team, she is excited to bring attention to the wonderful TEDx program and looks forward to hearing what people have to say and the unique stories people have to share.
Julie Chen
Julie Chen is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. In addition to TEDxSaintFrancisHS, she is on the board of Podcast Club, Science Olympiad, Lancers of Logic, and SWENext. Outside of school, Julie is a part of the Sierra Club, Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, California Association of Youth Commission, and served as the Chair of the Saratoga Youth Commission. This year, Julie hopes to design a unique logo and manage the social media account.
Tech
Natalie Chang
Natalie Chang is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She is the President Ukulele Club, Founder of Badminton Club, SWENext Marketing and Communications Specialist, Design Showcase Lead, in Science Olympiad, and on Lancer Ambassadors Core. She loves music from playing instruments to listening to artists like Wave to Earth and Conan Gray. She works two jobs at Kumon and Omescape Sunnyvale. This year, she is excited to have fun and learn from everyone’s different stories.
Anton Lahtiranta
Anton Lahtiranta is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. In school, he is a part of the Social Business, Stock Market, and Economics clubs, as well varsity soccer. In his free time, he likes to play soccer, work out, spend time with friends and family, learn about the world of finance, and offer useful services to earn money. He currently coaches young soccer players starting to get into the sport and referees local competitive games to ensure a safe and fun environment is present. He is excited to meet new people and help improve TEDx in every way that he can.
How Can We Help?
If you have questions about our student-run TEDxSaintFrancisHS program, please reach out!
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Lesley Shortal '98 |