Hi, my name is Kate and I use she/her pronouns. I’m Chinese-American and biracial (¾ chinese and ¼ white), and I also have ADHD. I am a senior at PHS and this is my fourth year as a mentor in the Affinity Mentorship program! When I was younger, I struggled a lot with my racial identity, especially growing up in Piedmont, and not having people like me to look up to. I hope that as I mentor I can help kids in our community be proud of their identities and feel accepted and valued as they are. I’m super excited to be a mentor again this year and I look forward to seeing what we do!

Hi, my name is Will Hinman. I am a senior at Piedmont High School and use he/him pronouns. I am 75% Caucasian and 25% Chinese. Throughout my life, I always looked up to older kids at school and adults. I think they have a huge impact on how the younger generation acts and can help them to become better people. It is important for the younger generation to be guided by positive older influences. I want to be the high school mentor to younger kids that I never had. My focus this year is to help create a better sports community and help younger athletes find their identity. High school and middle school sports overtime have gained a toxic environment with trash talk. I want to help younger athletes find who they are and inspire them to help stop the harmful environment that has been created. As an affinity mentor, I hope to be able to inspire kids and create meaningful connections with them. 

Hi, I’m Carmen Botero, a Senior at PHS. I identify as Colombian-American and I’m so excited for my 2nd year as an affinity mentor! My dad is a Colombian immigrant and I lived in the country for a few years when I was little until I came to Piedmont in Kindergarten! It’s been hard to feel connected to my Hispanic heritage growing up as all of my friends in the district have been of either European or Asian descent. I never had many friends I felt I could relate to when it came to Hispanic culture. As a kid, I would feel as if I wasn’t Colombian or Latina enough to use the title, even though I often speak Spanish at home and visit the country and my family there annually. A sense of guilt was created in little me as despite my mixed ethnicity, I appear very white. People are often unsuspecting or even doubtful that I’m Latina, especially in Piedmont’s homogenous community. No kid should ever feel as though they have to prove parts of their identity to others. I joined this program to help kids grow up feeling supported and validated in their identities, to help them embrace and maintain a strong connection with their own cultures and uniqueness, and to foster their development of open minds and hearts. 

Hi, nice to meet you! My name is Zoe (she/her), and I am a senior at Piedmont High School. I've grown up in PUSD for most of my life and previously attended Wildwood Elementary and Piedmont Middle School, my experiences at both of which informed my decision to officially join the program as a sophomore. Throughout my time in Piedmont, I've looked up to many people of different racial, queer, religious, and other underrepresented identities as role models for their work in what is a largely homogeneous community, so I was inspired by their work to become a Mentor myself. Especially in our current political climate, I believe it's more important than ever to ensure the uplifting of marginalized voices - both those of my own identities and others - and use our experiences to better those of the students who come after us.

Hi! My name is Ariadne (Ari for short). I am a senior at Piedmont High School. This is my 4th year being a mentor! I am a first generation immigrant, and one of the most significant parts of my identity is my Greek heritage. Being one of just a few first generation immigrants and the only Greek speaking family in Piedmont, when I first moved to Piedmont, I often felt isolated and like I didn’t belong anywhere. My goal as a mentor is to make sure every kid in the program, regardless of their background, feels welcome, comfortable, and safe here. I’m so excited to continue my journey as a mentor and to make many more meaningful connections!

Hi! My name is Emma and I’m a junior at PHS. Although this is my first official year as an mentor with Affinity, I am more than excited and grateful for the opportunity to take on this role. Growing up as an Asian American, I didn’t always feel like I fully belonged. What helped me was looking up to older role models who taught me the importance of self-confidence and valuing every aspect of one's identity. These experiences have stuck with me over the years as today I hope to lead by their example; Assuring the younger generation that they do belong, and should fully embrace who they are.

Hi I'm Meena (she/her), a sophomore at Millennium High School! Im half caucasian half indian and autistic. I went to beach till 2nd grade, moved around then moved back to piedmont in middle school, more the majority of middle school I struggled socially because of my undiagnosed neurodivergence as well as isolation during covid but im very happy to be at millennium and i have a lovely community here! I love art, and do volunteer work designing covers for a literary magazine. I also love music, i have an interest in variety of topics including ancient history, reading and literature, and different crafts and whatever project im hyper fixating on (haha) . im beyond excited to start mentoring again this year!

Hi, my name is Teddy Cordani and I am a junior at Piedmont High School. I use he/him pronouns and I am half Korean and half Italian. I have been in the Piedmont school system since pre-k and I have loved every year of it. I am on the Piedmont baseball team, and outside of baseball I enjoy playing golf. This is my first year with affinity mentorship and I am super excited to impact the community in anyway I can. Growing up in Piedmont I have always admired older kids being a mentor for me and I am so excited that I can provide that support. I want to be a great mentor because I believe that any positive impact I can make will help kids grow up to be the best person they can be and I can't wait to start mentoring.

Hello! My name is Ri’Chard Jones! I’m Black and Mexican, in the 10th grade, and I go by any pronouns. I grew up in a small community in north Oakland, and due to me being mixed, I never had a lot of role models I could relate to, which left me feeling lost, and feeling like I didn’t belong. Knowing how close piedmont is, or rather, who the majority is, I want to give children like me the role model that would be fairly useful at a young age.