Introducing Nord Anglia Education's first global Student Advisory Board

The Social Impact team is thrilled to introduce you to the representatives of the very first global NAE Student Advisory Board. This is a group of student leaders who will be advocating for the students in their regions, and the social impact projects which they are leading. 

Within each region, there is a primary member who sits on the global Student Advisory Board and who will voice the ideas of the students within their region. They are supported by a reserve member, who will act as the main point of contact for their peers throughout the region. 

This year, for the first time ever, some NAE students will have their Social Impact initiatives funded, through the NAE Foundation. The main role of the Student Advisory Board members will be to evaluate student applications for grant funding, as part of the Global Challenge. 

Tune in to our upcoming Peer Talks on September 28th, to hear more about the Student Advisory Board and how you can participate in this year's Global Challenge. 


Europe

Allegra – Primary Member and Secretary
My name is Allegra, I come from Hungary, Austria and Greece and I am currently a Year 12 student in the British International School Budapest (BISB). I am passionate about creating positive change in many areas and am actively involved in several student initiatives that focus on diverse issues ranging from human rights to sustainability and helping the environment thrive. In my school I have been a proactive member of our Equilibrium group which strives to promote awareness of the importance of equal rights and encourage positive representation of marginalized groups. I am also leading a ‘rewilding our sit’ project to help preserve the rich natural environment surrounding our school grounds. Additionally, I’m currently part of the Student Social Impact Initiative Union which helps bring together all the social impact groups in our school community and promote collaboration. I am delighted to be the primary representative for Europe on the SAB, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with many like-minded students, sharing ideas and working towards a sustainable community whilst supporting students to successfully lead projects around the world.  

Sabina – Reserve Member
My name is Sabina, I'm from Kazakhstan and I’m currently a Year 12 student at the Prague British International School. In the past, I created a blog that explored different aspects of sexism, such as toxic masculinity, body image and sexual harassment. Along with different posts, I also created a video which explored how different students regard sexism globally and in their own communities. During the summer of 2020, when COVID-19 was at its highest in Kazakhstan, I was a part of a volunteer group called Teaching for Heroes, which was a project intended to help the children of health workers and those in need of help with their education. In the project, I tutored a young girl in English and Maths as her mum was working on the front line at her hospital. By being a part of such a project, I was fortunate to see how health workers across the world were working hard to fight this pandemic. I think the SAB is a great opportunity for students to use their voices and make an impact on the issues that matter to them. I’m looking forward to seeing all the different projects and topics that the students, across Europe, want to tackle. 


North America

Chloe – Primary Member and Chair  
My name is Chloe, and I am an Argentinian-American Year 13 student at the British International School of Chicago, South Loop. I am the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of a nonprofit called Eco Circle International, which aims to bridge the gap between intersectional environmental education and tangible action through our educational platforms and fellowship. With NAE, I had the opportunity to attend the UNICEF Summit and speak at the recent UN High Level Political Forum about both my nonprofit and environmentalism. Moreover, I am the Co-Research Director for the Illinois Youth Climate Movement, which is the organization that leads climate strikes in Chicago, and a sales intern with Youthtopia, an organization that uses peer-to-peer programs to create active changemakers. I’m looking forward to my role as Chairperson on the Student Advisory Board because I am passionate about the goals we are working to achieve. I believe that this is an excellent opportunity to act as a catalyst for change within the NAE community.  

Georgia – Reserve Member
My name is Georgia, and I am an English IB Student attending the British International School of Chicago. I am the co-founder of the non-profit Eco Circle International, a youth-led educational and fellowship platform to raise awareness about environmental issues and encourage people and business to take positive action for a sustainable future.  I am also a youth board member of the Earth Prize and the co-director of policy and research at Illinois Youth Climate Movement. As a member of the Student Advisory Board, I am excited to bring my experience of connecting education and service to maximize the impact of the social impact programme. 


Latin America

Ana Paola - Primary Member and Treasurer 
My name is Ana Paola and I am from Monterrey, Mexico. I am in 9th Grade and attend San Roberto International School, Campus San Agustin. I am one of the Treasurers of the Student Advisory Board which I joined as I am passionate about helping others change the world. I am part of the ISRMUN Secretariat where we create an MUN event where young people are able to share solutions about current world problems. I am super excited to start this new project and look forward to beginning.  

Ana Paula – Reserve Member 
My name is Ana Paula and I am a Mexican student attending 9th-grade at San Roberto International School, Campus San Agustin. I am currently Secretariat for ISRMUN 2021 as the Chief of Crisis, where I work with a team to design a Model United Nations simulation. In this simulation, students debate and come up with solutions for some of our world's most pressing issues. Furthermore, I have been part of the UNHCR's Youth Engagement Focus Group where I was selected alongside 60 people out of 1000 to help launch the UNHCR's global network of Young Champions where I contributed with ideas on how today's youth can help support refugees.  I was also part of the UNICEF Volunteer National Review for Latin America and the Caribbean, where we discussed the Sustainable Development Goals with a special focus on education and children’s rights. Finally, I would like to mention how excited I am for the opportunity of being the Reserve Student Advisory Board Member for Latin America because, “honoring young people’s voices and empowering student action towards the 2030 Global Goals” is something that I am very passionate about. 


China International

Rylan –  Primary Member and Treasurer
I’m Rylan and I come from the UK originally, but now I live in Hong Kong. Currently, I attend Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong. Despite my being new to the social impact programme, I am excited to start making a difference with other Nord Anglia students across the world. This year, I am most excited to meet and talk to other students across China and the world about how NAE can begin to serve its community even more.

ZeHui (Keira) - Reserve Member 
I’m Keira from Beijing. I am 14 years old, and I have been a Nord Anglia student for 9 years in total. Most of these were spent in Beijing but I also spent one year at Nord Anglia in Hong Kong when I was in year 3. In the past I took part in several National Tree Planting days here in China which helped boost my understanding and appreciation of how important our environment is. I am also a member of my school’s debate team, through which I learned about a number of social issues relevant today. I am very excited to be part of the Student Advisory Board and hope to be a valuable team member. I look forward to learning from my team-mates as we take on this big challenge together.  


China Bilingual

Jenny – Primary Member and Secretary
I'm Jenny and I am currently a grade 11 student at Nord Anglia Bilingual School in Shanghai. In the past few years, I participated in several activities which made me passionate about social impact and sustainability. This includes my school trip to Tanzania when I was in ninth grade. During this trip we helped local communities build sheep sheds and schools. On campus, I also actively take part in the Global Challenge. Last semester, I worked with other students to come up with creative solutions to help our school become more sustainable. I am very excited to work with other Nord Anglia students to help develop projects that have an impact on society.

Vicky – Reserve Member
My name is Vicky and I am a grade 11 student at Nord Anglia Shanghai International School. In the past year, I’ve been involved in a project launched by the school’s student body to produce a short video raising awareness about vulnerable children in Vietnam due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have also been raising awareness within our school about the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and organised students to create school-based projects around the SDGs, with the aim to make our school community even more sustainable. I am excited about this new project and to work with other Nord Anglia students around world to take action towards positive change.


Southeast Asia

Jin Hee (Amy) – Primary Member and Global Communications Officer
My name is Jin Hee and I’m from South Korea but now live in Vietnam where I am currently a Year 13 student at the British Vietnamese International School Hanoi, Vietnam.  Recently, I was involved in a student-led campaign where we collaborated with a team from UNICEF to fundraise for essential items needed in our community. Our first campaign tackled Sustainable Development Goal number six which is to ensure access to clean water and sanitation for all. Overall, the project was a success and we collected over 500 bars of soap to give to local communities. I’m really excited to be a member of the Student Advisory Board and thrilled for the opportunity to learn and work with other Nord Anglia students on social impact projects. I believe this opportunity will help me expand my perspective on social impact and how we as students, can still make a difference in our community.   

Ngoc (Duc) – Reserve Member
My name is Duc and I’m a Year 12 student at the British International School Ho Chi Minh City. I’m excited to be a part of the Student Advisory Board team for the Southeast Asia region. I am passionate about sustainability and supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I have taken part in many social impact projects, for example leading World Children’s Day events in my school. I also co-run CleanUpD2, a sustainability club which aims to organise cleanups around the local Thao Dien area as well as promoting innovative solutions towards sustainability, for example via ecobricks which involves filling plastic bottles with plastic waste to turn them into bricks for building. Currently, I’m launching Green Network Saigon, a student-led organisation aiming to connect sustainability efforts and projects between different schools, clubs, NGOs and businesses around HCMC and beyond. We hope to further raise awareness about sustainability issues and encourage even more young people to take positive action towards environmental change.


Middle East

Katalin – Primary Member and Global Communications Officer
My name is Kata, I am 16 years old and a student at the British International School Abu Dhabi. I am originally from Hungary and my family and I moved to Abu Dhabi in January from Oman where we were living for 5 years. In Oman, I was attending an IB Education School so shifting to a Nord Anglia School was a sudden but great change. In my recent school in Oman, I was part of small clubs such as the Eco Warriors where we worked to create a greener school. This included planting different trees, creating compost stations, and participating in environmental meetings with other schools. Apart from this I am quite new to Social Impact Projects but working towards the Global Goals has always interested me, so I am looking forward to seeing and selecting Social Impact Projects with the rest of the SAB members.  


India

Venkat – Primary Member and Chair
I’m Venkat and I’m an IBDP-2 student at Oakridge International School, Newton campus, India. I am passionate about sustainability and social impact and took part in many projects to help our local community. For example, I helped organize and lead the Balamitra Foundation’s “Run for A Better Future” to raise money for menstrual hygiene kits for high school girls in rural Andhra Pradesh. The project was a big success as we brought all the young people in our community together to help tackle a taboo subject, raise money and encourage everyone to take part in active sports.  In addition, I was one of the main organizers of CAS Summit where representatives from 11 schools participated in a trans-institutional event to come up with creative and pragmatic sustainable action plans for fulfilling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. I’m excited for my role as a chairperson on the Student Advisory Board and to work with other Nord Anglia students. I’m looking forward to getting started and to sharing my learnings to achieve our goals for a sustainable and open-minded world!  

Aasritha – Reserve Member
I am Aasritha, an IBDP year 1 student at Oakridge International School Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. I enjoy helping our community and have taken part in many projects including beach clean-ups and raising awareness about ocean conservation. I have also visited schools in underprivileged communities to help teach about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. I’m excited to join the Student Advisory Board and hope to learn as much as possible from other Nord Anglia students, get inspired by them and do more for my community. I am looking forward to meeting my fellow peers and I can’t wait to get started on social impact activities.