National Collegiate Officers
2023-2024
Erin Dall'Agnol Hidalgo
Erin's Bio
Erin began volunteering when she was 14 years old at the Mexican Red Cross. Since that day, she not only reinforced her passion for medicine, but also discovered her love for humanitarian aid and volunteering. The Red Cross has changed her life in many ways and taught her to live up to her fullest potential while adhering to its fundamental principles in my daily life. The Red Cross has not only become a significant part of her personality and who she is, but it has also become a part of her family. A year ago, she left her family, friends, and loved ones behind to pursue her dreams of studying Forensic Biology at Saint Peter’s University and training as a D1 athlete in the United States, but that didn't stop her from wanting to continue her passion for the Red Cross. Her goal as a National Collegiate Officer is to bring a part of her roots and the lessons she has learned from her family at the Mexican Red Cross to the American Red Cross. Likewise, she will create a bridge of communication between the Red Cross organizations of both countries. She wants to help university students find the same passion for humanitarian service and volunteering that she found some years ago, assist different communities in her region, and create an environment where everyone feels welcome - much like a family.
Karyn Fu
Karyn's Bio
Karyn is a student at Rice University, where she is majoring in Biosciences and Social Policy Analysis on a pre-medical track. Originally from the Los Angeles Region, her Red Cross journey began when she attended Leadership Development Camp as a high school freshman. Inspired by this experience, she went on to start a Red Cross Club at her high school and serve as its President, leading events such as blood drives, disaster preparedness presentations, and school-wide International Humanitarian Law assemblies. With goals of further enriching the youth volunteer experience in her region, Karyn then took on roles as her local Youth Executive Board Club Liaison and President, Leadership Development Camp Advisory Board Activities and Finance Officer, Blood Services Scheduling Lead, Blood Donor Ambassador, and Youth First Aid Stations First Responder. In recognition of her leadership and service, she was honored with Gold Red Cross and Presidential Service Awards as well as the Betty Seal Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award. Karyn is excited to continue exploring her passions for youth engagement, mentorship, and inclusivity in volunteering with the Texas Gulf Coast Region and National Collegiate Assembly. Outside of the Red Cross, Karyn loves to bake, watch reality TV shows, and try new coffee shops.
Anam Naqvi
Anam's Bio
Anam Naqvi is a sophomore at Rice University majoring in biosciences, Spanish, and minoring in the medical humanities. With 3 years of experience as a Red Cross volunteer under her belt, she currently serves as the Vice President of Rice University’s Red Cross Club, an advisor for the Youth Service Council Events Chair for the Texas Gulf Coast Region, a regional Youth Engagement Lead, and a Preparedness Regional Program Lead for the DCS Inland Territory. Having lived through Hurricane Harvey, she can fully appreciate the importance of disaster preparedness and the impact independent volunteers like her could have. She thus focuses most of her efforts as a Red Cross volunteer on delivering disaster preparedness education to her community through trainings and presentations. She plans to further serve the community by dedicating her professional life as an oncologist to actively participating in fight against cancer
Niyathi Shah
Niyathi's Bio
Niyathi is a third-year student studying cognitive science and sociology at the University of Virginia. Her Red Cross journey started as a volunteer in a Red Cross youth summer program in the National Capital Region. She then co-founded the Red Cross club in her high school and was co-president for two years. During her term as president, her high school club was awarded as the “Club of the Year” in her chapter. Niyathi also served on the Special Events Committee for the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region Youth Advisory Board and helped plan events such as the first virtual youth leadership conference for the NCGC region. She was awarded the Young Humanitarian of the Year Award in her chapter as well. In college, she has continued volunteering with the Red Cross through her University. As a member of the NCA, Niyathi hopes to promote collegiate volunteering through new activities targeted toward college students.
Sara Khokhar
Sara's Bio
Sara is a student at the University of Houston, where she is majoring in Psychology, with a minor in Medicine and Society. She began volunteering with the American Red Cross during her junior year of high school when she and some of her peers started a Red Cross Club. She served two terms as her club's committee lead, working with students in planning and executing fundraisers, blood drives, and donation drives. Additionally, Sara served as an advocate for the IHL Youth Action Campaign, where she and her team designed a social media campaign, and hosted events and stimulations centered around international humanitarian law education. She attended the 2022 IHL YAC Summit as a representative of the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Division. There, she wrote press release articles, served as a youth lead for a public interview with the former American Red Cross General Counsel, and presented divisional statistics at the 2022 YAC Summit Showcase. She recently served as an American Red Cross youth delegate overseas at an international camp in Indonesia, where she worked with organizations and global volunteers in advocating for youth service programs and initiatives. As a member of the National Collegiate Assembly, Sara wants to create open, inclusive environments for college students to explore their interests through service in organizational volunteer programs. She looks forward to developing service opportunities that allow for collegiate clubs to directly impact and improve youth programming through diverse skills, and enriching perspectives. In her free time, Sara enjoys baking, traveling, and watching reruns of The Office. Contact Sara at sara.khokhar@redcross.org.
Christopher Ho
Christopher's Bio
Christopher is from Houston, TX and is a first-year student at Brown University currently undecided on his major. He became committed to the Red Cross's mission of humanitarianism after installing smoke detectors for Sound the Alarm. Christopher has been involved in various roles at Red Cross including being an International Humanitarian Law Youth Action Coordinator, overseeing youth events as the Texas Gulf Coast Region Youth Service Council (YSC) Co-Events Chair, and serving as his high school's Red Cross club president. Additionally, Christopher served as the Texas Gulf Coast Region YSC Executive Chair, where he led over 1,200 youth volunteers by implementing strategies to increase volunteer engagement dramatically. He is experienced in planning and running effective leadership development conferences, disaster preparation events, and CPR trainings. Because of this work, Christopher was awarded the Most Exceptional Youth Volunteer Award. Christopher hopes to use his time as a National Collegiate Officer to help more college students give back to their communities through volunteerism. Besides the Red Cross, Christopher has interned with a state representative, served on the Legislative Action Committee of the Houston Independent School District, led as an Editor-in-Chief of his school's yearbook, and volunteered with the Houston Museum of Natural Science. In his free time, he enjoys watching comedies & thriller TV, listening to podcasts & the news, and working out.
Aparnna Ananthakrishnan
Aparnna's Bio
Aparnaa is an incoming freshman at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, studying Biochemistry and Global Health. She began her Red Cross journey as a sophomore in high school as a First Aid/CPR/AED certified youth volunteer for the Greater Chicago Chapter, later co-founding and serving as the co-president of her high school's Red Cross Club. Since then, Aparnaa has fostered not only her own passion for community service and engagement, but also that of the 90+ students in her club. From organizing Thanksgiving food drives for the local Loaves and Fishes food pantry to creating medical safety kits and donating them to the Chicago Red Cross Chapter, Aparnaa continuously works to support her community. Now, as a collegiate volunteer, Aparnaa hopes to encourage more college students across the nation to join the Red Cross family and work towards providing care and comfort for those in need. She hopes to accomplish this by hosting a national collegiate blood drive day, conducting inter-collegiate fundraising sports tournaments, and organizing humanitarian law discussions with experts across the world. Aside from working with the Red Cross, Aparnaa enjoys singing Carnatic music, blogging, and hiking with friends and family.
Charlie Kapinos
Charlie's Bio
Charlie Kapinos is a current freshman at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Originally from Los Angeles, he got his start with the Red Cross during his freshman year in high school at the height of the pandemic. With the convenience of volunteering virtually, it allowed him to focus a majority of his time on volunteering with the Red Cross. As time went on, he picked up more and more positions that allowed him to reach more people within the organization. As a result, he found a love of not only providing direct service to those who need the Red Cross, but also a love of helping Red Cross volunteers have a enjoyable and fulfilling experience with the organization. This passion lead him to the National Collegiate Assembly which will further his goals of providing a fulfilling experience for collegiate peers on a national level.
Dana Woodruff
Dana's Bio
Dana is a student at George Washington University, pursuing a major in Public Health while on the Pre-Medical Track. Her journey with the Red Cross began in her junior year of high school when she started volunteering as a Blood Donor Ambassador in her home state of New Jersey. She is currently the Co-Lead of a statewide communications team that publishes a monthly newsletter for NJ Blood Donor Ambassadors. After matriculating to college, she joined her university’s club and served as a Blood Drive Coordinator her sophomore year, as President her junior year, and now as a Senior Advisor. During her sophomore year, Dana helped lead her university club to win the National Capital and Greater Chesapeake Region’s inaugural Blood Battle. She has also received the Pacesetter Award for her volunteer work in NJ and the Young Humanitarian of the Year Award for her volunteerism in the DC Area. Throughout her time in the Red Cross, Dana has participated in numerous initiatives including Vaccinate a Village, numerous toiletry drives, and Service to Armed Forces card-making activities. Dana hopes to help the Red Cross collegiate clubs build a strong support network and develop open spaces for club leaders to communicate about their clubs. Outside of her volunteerism, Dana enjoys reading, baking, and trying different restaurants in the DC area.
Cara Elzie
Cara's Bio
Cara Elzie is a current student at Arizona State University, where she is studying History, Justice Studies, and Sustainable Food Systems. A Washington State resident, Cara is an active member of the Pacific Division’s Northwest Region. Cara began her Red Cross journey with the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Youth Action Campaign (YAC), where she co-founded the IHL Yakima Youth club. She now serves as a Regional IHL YAC Coordinator. She has since expanded her volunteering to include working with disaster services, youth preparedness, and blood draws. A lover of travel, some of Cara’s favorite moments with the Red Cross have been the International Humanitarian Law Youth Action Campaign Summit she attended in Washington D.C., as well as her time representing the American Red Cross in Indonesia at Jumbara 2023. In 2023, she was named Youth Volunteer of the Quarter and Youth Volunteer of the Year for the SAF/IS Pacific Division. In 2022, she also received the Congressional Award Gold Medal, in part due to her dedication to volunteer work. As a member of the National Collegiate Assembly, Cara hopes to implement new ideas to expand the American Red Cross’s mission to a wider audience and demonstrate her passion for volunteerism in a way that inspires others to get involved with the Red Cross. In her free time, Cara enjoys reading, writing, traveling, running, practicing American Sign Language, and playing with her pets. Contact Cara Elzie at cara.elzie@redcross.org.
Srijan Oduru
Srijan's Bio
Srijan is a sophomore at Duke University and is the National Collegiate Officer for the Southeast and Caribbean Division. He began volunteering as a Blood Donor Ambassador in middle school and is now the president of Duke's Red Cross Club, the youth representative of his regional Board of Directors, and a previous National Collegiate Officer and Field Ambassador. Srijan deeply enjoys connecting with other volunteers and Red Cross personnel, and as a National Collegiate Officer, he is especially excited to work with the National Youth Council to promote collegiate initiatives and raise collegiate volunteer engagement nationwide. Srijan is pursuing majors in Computer Science and Biology on the pre-med track. In his free time, he loves listening to music, dabbles in poker, and can be frequently found playing or watching basketball games.
Emily Wang
Emily's Bio
Emily is a freshman at Duke University majoring in Economics and Statistical Science. She began volunteering with the American Red Cross in 2019 when she founded her high school's Red Cross Club. Since then, she has served on the Texas Gulf Coast Region's Youth Service Council for three terms and as a FY23 Field Ambassador. Additionally, Emily has been heavily involved in the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Youth Action Campaign (YAC) program for three years and previously served as a regional lead coordinator, as well as a representative of the Southwest and Rocky Mountain Division at the 2022 IHL YAC Summit. In addition to this, Emily is a Preparedness Regional Program Lead and works to support various disaster preparedness programs in the Texas Gulf Coast Region by delivering Be Red Cross Ready presentations and managing client data for Sound the Alarm campaigns. Outside of these activities, Emily is dedicated to creating an inclusive community of volunteers with her work to grow diversity initiatives and connect clubs across a region. For her service, Emily received the 2023 Navin Narayan College Scholarship. She is excited to continue her journey with the Red Cross on the National Collegiate Assembly by serving the Southeast and Caribbean Division! You can contact her with any questions or concerns at emily.wang2@redcross.org!