THE SOLID COMMUNITY
OUR STORIES
Zoë Fleishaker
The Dalton School '18
Dalton Representative
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Zoë Fleishaker is a junior at The Dalton School. She is the secretary of her school’s Model Congress Team, and is very passionate about current social justice issues. Zoë serves as the junior representative of the community service club, and an active member of her school’s Notre Dame club, tasked with raising funds to provide for an all girls school in Haiti. Zoë also volunteers with the Association to Benefit Children on weekends. She enjoys playing on her school’s varsity tennis and softball teams. Zoë is currently working with Project Epic Pack, a non-profit organization, to launch a Dalton chapter that will be working with Sanctuary for Families to hand out backpacks with various necessities to victims of domestic abuse and sex trafficking. Outside of school, Zoë is dedicated to becoming a better leader, and hopes to use all that she has been learning as a member of the Interschool Leadership Fellows program in order to affect change in a pragmatic way.
Zoë Teunissen
The Brearely School '18
Breareley Representative
Zoë is currently a junior at The Brearley School. She is a member of Brearley's Model Congress delegation, a member of Brearley's Black Student Union (Umoja), and the founder of a mentorship initiative for students of color in Brearley's lower, middle, and upper schools. Zoë also participates in Brearley's film photography program. Outside of school, Zoë is a competitive fencer. She also volunteers as a tutor at the 92nd street Y, working with grades 2-5 on their homework. On Mondays, she participates in the Interschool Leadership Fellows, a program dedicated to fostering leadership potential in students from 8 of New York City's schools. On Fridays, she studies at the New Museum in its Experimental Studies Program, a program for high schoolers who are passionate about Art History. In her free time, Zoë can be found at the Met, where she interned over the summer, or watching MSNBC or Netflix.
Femke Tunisson
Avenues: The World School '17
Avenues Representative
Femke is a sophomore at the United Nations International School. She has dual citizenship of the Netherlands and the United States. She has worked with NGOs in Peru to provide materials to children in schools, and she is president of the UNISKIN (Kids in Need) club. She is also an ardent affiliate of the Debate club, Model UN, Girl Power, and the Refugee Crisis Committee. She plays varsity basketball, tennis, and track and field, and kickboxes as well. She is very passionate about playing guitar and sings in her school’s choir. Femke strives to be an active member of her community and is an adamant protester on issues close her heart, including upholding civil liberties and human rights.
Dylan Paige
University of Pennsylvania '21
Packer Collegiate Institute '17
Packer Representative
Dylan Paige just finished his junior year at the Packer Collegiate Institute. He grew up in New York. Dylan is the leader of his school's Finance and Physics clubs, the web editor of his school's newspaper, and the leader of weekly school assemblies. Additionally, he tutors 9th and 10th graders in Math and Mandarin Chinese. Over summer break he has studied business and Management at UCLA Anderson, studied game theory at Brown University, and interned at Caza Architecture.
Joey Goehner
Trevor Day School '17
Tulane '21
Treavor Day Representative
Joey is a senior at the Trevor Day School in Manhattan. He is an active member of Trevor's M.I.O.W. (Multiple Identities One World) and SOCA (Students of Color Affinity group) clubs. Over the past year Joey has played a key role representing the student body while Trevor's new diversity initiative was being formed. He has been a leading member of the Trevor Day School Service Committee since 8th grade—one of the youngest members to join. Outside of the classroom, Joey plays tennis during the weekends at the USTA and is on Trevor's Varsity tennis team. His greatest passion is helping special needs children, because his brother, Nate has Autism. He has actively volunteered at SNACK NYC (Special Needs Activity Center for Kids) over the past eight years and has recently been promoted to staff, making him the youngest member to have ever worked at the organization.
Olivia Yardeni
Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School '17
Washington University '21
Columbia Representative
Olivia Yardeni is a rising senior at the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School. Although she moved to Manhattan from Long Island her sophomore year, she was able to quickly demonstrate leadership skills, becoming President of both Columbia’s World Issues Charities Club and Art Appreciation Club. She is also an active member of her school’s Yearbook Club. Outside of the classroom, Olivia devotes her time to tutoring second graders in basic mathematic skills at several New York City public schools. In addition, Olivia volunteers at the Manhattan’s Children Center, offering one-on-one help to autistic children ages 3-16.
Danielle Paz
Avenues: The World School '17
Avenues Representative
Danielle is a rising senior at Avenues: The World School. She has taken a specific interest in division initiative issues both within her school community and the surrounding environment. Her passion for social justice has motivated her to being the leader of the Diaspora club within her school and a religious attendee and advocate for DAIS. She acknowledges her authenticity to the "normal" private school student and uses it to pursue her devotion to spreading awareness.
Greer Hatcher
Spence School '17
University of Pennsylvania '21
Spence School Representative
Meet Greer, SOLID's Spence Representative! Throughout her 12 years at the school, she has been forced to confront how she is different from the average private school student. This caused her to get involved with a variety of diversity awareness initiatives--a member of the Student Multicultural Awareness Coalition (SMAC) at her school; attendee of the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC); and many more--in order to create a safe environment to discuss and promote diversity and equity work among her peers.
Matthew Ezersky
Collegiate School '17
Collegiate School Representative
Matthew Ezersky will be a senior at the Collegiate School for Boys in Manhattan this fall. In 2014, Matthew helped found the Collegiate Femenist Club. Matthew is passionate about social justice work and is actively involved in both the Femenist and Black Lives Matter movements. He could not be more excited to be a part of SOLID!
Amira Morales
Nightingale-Bamford School '19
Nightingale-Bamford School Representative
Amira is a rising sophomore at the Nightingale Bamford School, where she has been an active member of the diversity initiative CAFE and the queer-straight alliance Spectrum. She has also run track for four years, and she attends an art school in her spare time, where she puts on student written performances that provide perspective on youth-related issues. She is a strong debater with a passion for current events and politics, and she is always looking to educate herself further.
Rohan Sinha
Trinity School '17
University of Pennsylvania '21
Trinity School Representative
Rohan just finished his junior year at the Trinity School. He grew up in New York, California and Hong Kong. He is the head of the Trinity Model Congress team, on the Student Diversity Leadership Council, President of the Trinity P.S. 84 Tutoring Program, President Emeritus of the Trinity South Asian Society, and head of the Trinity Mandarin Club. Over the summer holidays, Rohan taught kids at Future Hope in India and interned at a Mergers and Acquisitions advisory boutique and Atlantic Records. During the year, he works at P.S. 84 and tutors grades 4-6.
Noa Hines
Chapin School '17
Chapin School Representative
Noa Hines
Chapin School '17
Yale 21'
Chapin School Representative
Noa Hines attends the Chapin School. Noa really enjoys running track, singing and coding, almost as much as she enjoys trying to figure out more comprehensive ways to bring more diversity and empathy to the New York City independent school community!
Oliver Erle
Trinity School '17
Harvard 21'
Trinity School Representative
Oliver is a rising senior at the Trinity School in Manhattan. His greatest passion is music; he loves playing the guitar and studies classical violin at the Mannes School of Music Pre-College Program. When he is feeling particularly adventurous, he even dabbles in singing. In school, he is an avid member of the Musicians Club, Service Council, Queer-Straight Alliance, and Debate Team. He enjoys grooming the next generation of talented Trinity debaters as one of two coaches of the Middle School Debate Club. Outside of the classroom, he is on Trinity's Cross Country and Golf teams. In his spare time, you can find him watching/reading Game of Thrones, listening to music, or playing with his dog, Ginger. He is always open to song suggestions so send them his way!
Surya Garg is a rising senior at the Professional Children's School in NYC. She is a leader of the Student Association, and active member of the Senior Affairs group. Surya is also president of the youth board for the non profit organization the New York City Children's Holiday Party, and runs an Environmental Awareness and Action group for teenagers. She is also a singer/ songwriter and actress. Surya is an avid activist for improvement of the arts in education, the environment, and women's rights. In her free time Surya enjoys swimming and eating ice cream.
Surya Garg
Professional Children's School '17
Professional Children's SchoolRepresentative
Surya Garg
Professional Children's School '17
Professional Children's SchoolRepresentative
Roxanne Harris
Convent of the Sacred Heart '17
Yale '21
Convent of the Sacred Heart Representative
Roxanne Harris is a rising senior at Convent of the Sacred Heart. She regularly compete in Cross Country and Track & Field throughout the school year. She is a jazz and classical saxophonist, who has performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Programs for the past three years. She greatly enjoys sketching, and some of her sketches which were awarded Gold and Silver Keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing competition. During the summer of 2016, she will be participating in Sacred Heart’s H.E.A.R.T. Outreach program as a Math Assistant, Coding Instructor, and General Sports Assistant. She has been heavily involved in DAIS since sophomore year, and more recently as a member of the Executive Committee (a committee that organizes the and prepares for the DAIS Conference at the end of the year). As a sophomore, she was selected to represent her school in Indianapolis at SDLC 2014.
Helena Sanchez
Chapin School '17
Chapin School Representative
Helena Sanchez is a rising senior at the Chapin School. She is the current president of CAP (Cultural Awareness Program), one of the diversity clubs at her school and has been a member of the club for 4 years. Helena is also a dancer in and outside of school and has choreographed for and performed in Chapin’s dance club. Outside of school, Helena dedicates most of her time to working with children participating in activities from babysitting to being a volunteer at Dancing dreams: a non-profit organization that allows high school students to be “helpers” for dancer with disabilities so they can dance and perform. Helena is also an active member of DAIS and has attended the annual conference every year since she was in eighth grade. Helena also volunteers at the ASPCA animal shelter working with cats and dogs. She is very passionate about raising awareness about social injustice issues and inequality and can be found spending time with friends or reading!
Rayland Van Blake
Collegiate School '17
Collegiate School Representative
​Rayland is a rising senior at the Collegiate School in Manhattan. He is a co-head of Jamaa, a student of color support group; a member of Collegiate's feminist club; and a member of the Interschool Leadership Fellows program, where he studies leadership development. Rayland is also the captain of Collegiate's varsity Track and Field team. In his free time, Rayland plays the violin and the piano, and is a violinist in the Collegiate School orchestra. Rayland has a passion for music production and photography.
Yahya Abdul-Basser
Dalton School '16
Cornell '20
Program Consultant
Yahya Abdul-Basser is a student, writer, activist and hip-hop artist currently attending Cornell University. He graduated from The Dalton School in 2016 and was worked closely with the founders of SOLID to create space for discussions about diversity and equity in New York City independent schools. In addition to this work he serves as the Director of FREE, a student-run initiative to end recreational substance use/abuse among teens.
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Grace Isaacman
Dalton School '18
Managing Executive
Dalton School Representative
Grace is a rising junior at the Dalton School where she has served as the student diversity coordinator for two years. Growing up in a Mexican American family, she has been committed to diversity work. She's a nationally ranked Public Forum debater, and the founder and organizer of TEDxDaltonSchool, Dalton's first independently organized TED Talks event. She has been a part of Dalton's theater productions since she can remember, and you can also see her performing on TV, film, and Off Broadway productions. She is also a singer songwriter who loves to play guitar and piano, and music has always played a very big part in her life.
Zachary Kimmel
Poly Prep Country Day School '17
Executive Director
Zach is a rising senior at Poly Prep Country Day School. Primarily interested in the humanities, Zach recently received the Mayflower Prize for excellence in the study of American history. Extracurricularly, he is heavily involved with social justice and diversity work within Poly, New York City, and the United States, serving as: the president of Jewish Caucus; Poly’s progressive Jewish affinity group, LEAD, Poly’s student organization for community meetings and conversations on diversity and social justice; and the president of Poly’s Athlete Ally chapter. Zach attended the 2015 Student Diversity Leadership Conference, and was a Poly representative at the (Re)defining Power Conference for white men in diversity work, and at Dalton’s annual From Diversity to Community Conference. He is also currently working on a conference of his own: the Solidarity Project, an intersectional, interscholastic conference focused on accountable allyship that will occur in April, 2017. Zach is also involved in the arts at Poly and outside, having been in every musical since 7th grade, President of Blue Notes (Poly’s all-male acapella group).
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Lauren Reischer
Dalton School '17
Co-Founder
Lauren Reischer is a rising senior at The Dalton School in Manhattan who was born with Cerebral Palsy. Inside of school, she devotes her time to the Model Congress Team, Peer Leadership, tour guiding for applicant families and serving on the student government—Cabinet—as a Diversity Coordinator. As a Diversity Coordinator, it is her job to continuously facilitate conversations between student and faculty alike about intersectionality and its role in the Dalton experience, as well as help to organize Dalton's annual, interscholastic "Diversity to Community" Conference. Additionally, she serves as both the Executive Editor of Dalton's culture magazine, STRIPE, and as the head of the Graphic club. Outside of the classroom, her passion lies in horseback riding: an activity she began at age three, and still engages in each and every weekend. She hopes that she will be able to compete in the next Paralympics as an equestrian! She frequently trains horses and gives riding lessons to disabled children at the non-profit organization GallopNYC.
Cecily Burge
Brearely School '17
Georgetown '21
Co-Founder
Cecily Burge is a senior at the Brearley School in Manhattan. In the fall of 2017 she'll be headed to Georgetown to pursue Justice and Peace Studies and political science. She is the head of Brearley's Upper School Service Committee and a member of the Diversity Club, Human Rights CIO, and Political Awareness Club. Outside of the classroom, she is captain of the varsity gymnastics team and also plays for Brearley's varsity volleyball and tennis teams. Cecily is an outspoken feminist and an enthusiastic environmentalist. Her passion lies in social justice and education. In her free time you can find Cecily tutoring incoming high school students in French, studying Swahili, baking cookies, babysitting a plethora of small children, or riding around NYC on her bicycle.