Leadership Team

President

Vivian Raj is a senior at River Hill High School. She delivered her speech about the morality and effectiveness of animal experimentation at the 2023 TEDxRiverHillHS event. She also serves as the founder of RHHS STEM Mentors, president of the Students Partner with Veterans Club, and Vice President of UNMUTE Musician. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and making pottery. Vivian is excited to continue fostering belonging, growth, and confidence in students through the RHHS TEDx club.

Vice President

Riddhi Mittal is a sophomore at River Hill High School who enjoys being actively involved in her school community as class president and through clubs, athletics, and service. Outside of school, she spends her time volunteering, traveling, and staying active with friends and family. Passionate about both medicine and education, Riddhi hopes to pursue a career that allows her to combine the two. At the TEDxRiverHillHS 2025 event, she delivered a talk on reducing the stigma surrounding mental health, encouraging others to step outside their comfort zones and pursue their dreams with confidence.

Secretary

Nathanial Clarke is a sophomore at River hill who enjoys being an active member of his community working in clubs such as Model UN Alpha Achievers and STEMLink. Outside of school he enjoys playing soccer spending time with friends and traveling with his family. Nathanial looks forward to a career that will allow him to combine his public speaking ability and STEM interest to improve people’s lives. As an officer he hopes to help make the 2026 river hill TEDx event as successful as possible to give others the same platform he had last year at the 2025 event where he talked about the value of being the first.

Treasurer

Matthew Sotomey is a student leader, speaker, and aspiring business professional focused on innovation and youth leadership. He serves as Treasurer of TEDxRiverHillHS and previously took the TEDx stage in 2024, where his talk encouraged students to “Dare to be Different.” Sotomey is also one of the Presidents of River Hill Future Business Leaders of America and serves as Co-Chair of the Election Coordinating Committee for the Howard County Association of Student Councils, where he helps lead large-scale student governance initiatives that connect young leaders with real-world impact.

Volunteer Coordinator

Yashica Papineni is a junior at River Hill High School with a strong passion for STEM and leadership. Through her roles as assistant captain and software lead of her all-girls robotics team and as co-president of her school’s Women in Science and Technology (WiST) club, she works to promote collaboration, innovation, and greater participation in STEM fields. Outside of school, Yashica enjoys exploring artificial intelligence through her internship at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL) and playing volleyball. At the TEDxRiverHillHS 2025 event, she delivered a talk about the gender gap in STEM and the importance of creating more inclusive opportunities in science and technology.

Technology Coordinator

Photographer

Mia Dowd is a senior at River Hill High School who is passionate about using her  photography to capture and share the River Hill community. She is president of the Photography Club  and has photographed the last two TEDX events. Outside of school she loves to hangout with friends, explore new places, and pick up exciting hobbies. Next year, she is studying photography at Parsons School of Design with hope to continue sharing stories and expressing her creativity.

Founder

Ishaan Busireddy is currently an undergraduate student at Stanford University. He founded TEDxRiverHillHS in his freshman year and coordinated 4 annual events since. His interests are history, international relations, and world cultures. Ishaan is also interested in promoting the student voice through activism and working for the community’s benefit.