AHI Youth Council: REACH

Fahmida is a senior at Cass Technical High School and is excited to work with the REACH Youth Advisory Council this year! She is passionate about health equity and committed to improving access to care and health outcomes for ethnic groups that are often overlooked. Fahmida’s passion for health care equity grew from seeing disparities within her own community while researching local health issues alongside medical students at the University of Michigan through the Doctors of Tomorrow program. When she isn’t advocating for health equity, she is working toward immigrant and education justice, spending time with friends, taking care of her many cats, or watching The Rookie. Fahmida is extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with REACH and contribute to issues that matter to her.

Luvana Begum is a sophmore at Wayne State University studying Business Administration with a double major in Management & Technology and Information Systems and Analytics. She is excited to join the REACH Youth Advisory Council and contribute her perspective as a young person interested in improving health care experiences and access for youth and underserved communities.

Luvana currently works as an Operations Assistant & Compliance Coordinator at WebEVV, where she supports health care operations, patient and provider information, scheduling, insurance verification, and compliance processes. Through her work, she has gained firsthand experience with the administrative side of health care and developed an interest in health care administration, technology, and improving systems that affect patients and families.

At Wayne State, Luvana is a member of the Honors College and is passionate about combining business, technology, and health care to help create more accessible and effective health care systems. She hopes to bring her experiences working in health care operations, her perspective as a young adult, and her interest in health equity to REACH.

In her free time, Luvana enjoys reading, going to the gym, spending time with family and friends, and traveling. She looks forward to connecting with other youth advocates and contributing to meaningful conversations about adolescent health.

Sri Tharika is currently a junior at Wayne State University majoring in Neuroscience on a pre-med track and is super excited to be a part of REACH this year! She is passionate about improving access to health care for underserved communities and voicing against health care disparities. She is committed to educating her community and peers about sexual health as a Peer Educator for Planned Parenthood of Michigan. In her free time, she enjoys tutoring kids, exploring cafes with friends, or playing pickleball with her brother! Sri is grateful to REACH for providing her with the opportunity to utilize her voice to improve the quality of healthcare received by her community.

Nazifa is a senior at Oakland International Academy High School and is thrilled to join the REACH Youth Advisory Council for the first time. She is deeply passionate about addressing health disparities and advocating for culturally competent care, particularly for immigrant and minority youth in South Asian communities.

Nazifa serves as the Student Council President and Parliamentarian for the National Honor Society at her school. She is also the coordinator for both HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) and the Model UN Club. With plans to pursue a pre-med track in university, Nazifa aims to attend medical school and become a physician. Her passion for advocacy grew through a health equity research project on sickle cell anemia in the Black community, and she has gained valuable experience shadowing physicians through internships like RYSE MED at Henry Ford Hospital.

Nazifa looks forward to bringing her unique perspective on community-based health advocacy to REACH and working toward more inclusive health care systems for underrepresented, especially immigrant, youth. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing badminton, hanging out with her cousins, or connecting with fellow immigrant girls through a nonprofit organization.

Ananya is currently a first-year student at the University of Michigan majoring in Biology, Health, and Society on a pre-med track and is excited to be a part of REACH this year! She is passionate about reducing health disparities and expanding access to preventive care, especially for adolescents. Throughout high school, she worked to raise awareness in the Detroit community about HPV immunization, and her interest in building more accessible health care tools led her to create an AI model that screens for oncogenic HPV strains. She has also spent the past three years volunteering at a free clinic in Detroit, where she has built her patient-interaction skills and learned to take vitals, draw blood, and perform EKGs. In her free time, she can be found on nature walks with family and friends, playing volleyball or lacrosse, or curled up with a mystery novel! Ananya is grateful to REACH for the opportunity to use her voice to advocate for adolescent health in her community. 

Cheick Traore is a first-year student at Michigan State University studying Mechanical Engineering in the Honors College, and he is really excited to be a part of REACH this year! He is passionate about making health care and technology more accessible, especially for people with disabilities and communities that may not always have access to the resources they need. He is especially interested in assistive technology, prosthetics, medical devices, and rehabilitation engineering, and hopes to one day help design technology that gives people more independence in their everyday lives.

Cheick is also the founder of Hawa’s Wheels of Hope, a nonprofit focused on helping provide wheelchairs and mobility equipment to underserved communities in the United States and Mali. His interest in accessibility became personal after seeing how limited access to a wheelchair affected a family member in Mali. That experience made him want to find ways to combine engineering, health, and community service to help others.

Before joining REACH, Cheick was involved with the Adolescent Health Initiative through its Youth in Health Inclusive Stock Photography Project, where he helped create more realistic and representative images of young people in health care settings. Through REACH, he hopes to continue using his voice to advocate for young people and help make health care more inclusive, accessible, and responsive to what youth actually need. In his free time, Cheick enjoys running, watching soccer, spending time with friends and family, and learning more about engineering and technology.

Koki is a junior at Huron High School and is excited to join the REACH Youth Advisory Council this year. He is passionate about science, health care, and making a positive impact in his community. He is interested in pursuing a pre-med track in college and hopes to study medicine or a related field in the future.

Koki has gained research experience through a summer research program at Eastern Michigan University, where he worked on a project investigating peptide-based approaches to lung cancer. He is also involved in swimming and water polo, where he enjoys working as part of a team and developing his leadership skills.

Beyond school, Koki enjoys getting involved in his community and learning from other young people. He is involved with youth councils, including the Washtenaw County Youth Commission and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Youth Council, where he has opportunities to listen to different perspectives and contribute to his community.

Koki is looking forward to bringing his experiences in science, research, and youth leadership to REACH and working with other young people to help make his community a better place.