SCIEN was founded to advance youth understanding of immigration through education, storytelling, and civic engagement
Our Story of Purpose
Our Team
The Hearts Behind the Mission
Aadya Shivan Kumar
Kayla Chen
Katie Faal
Michelle Tusubira
Aadya is a high school junior in the Bay Area who is passionate about immigration law, policy, and advocacy. She hopes to help young people better understand immigration issues and inspire them to become informed advocates for their communities.
Kayla Chen is a Senior at The Harker School in San Jose, California. Her passions include history and law, particularly their intersection with immigration. She has worked on several research projects related to that area, including documenting the gentrification-related struggles of small business owners in immigrant enclaves.Â
Katie is a junior in a LA County high school who is passionate about immigration history and policy. Her mom is a naturalized immigrant who left Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge takeover, which is why Katie has always felt deeply connected to immigration issues and hopes to play a part in building the next generation of immigrant advocates.
Michelle is a rising junior at the University of San Francisco, passionate about immigration law, policy, and civil rights. Her parents immigrated from Mexico and Uganda, and she spent much of her childhood in and out of immigration law firms alongside them, shaping her lifelong connection to immigration issues.Â
Voices of Change
"We need to teach kids [about immigration] because they are going to build the next generation."
"If you think broadly about immigration, you will begin to realize that immigrants contribute economically and socially to the United States."
— Nika Mansouri
— Bill Hing, USF Professor of Law