FOUNDER

Hi! My name is Riva Kaneria and I am currently a Freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying Business Administration with a minor in Social and Economic Justice.  I have always been passionate about volunteerism and benefitting the community around me. I started this program back in 2018 after learning about one school, B.H. Patel Education Trust, and wanting to get involved. Since then, I've expanded to 2 other schools in India as well as opened a chapter in Africa. Through the work I have dedicated to P.E.A.R. I have won the annual Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award (over 250+ hours dedicated). 

Other than this, I enjoy staying active through being a dancer on Tar Heel Raas (a South-Asian dance team at UNC) and staying involved in the dance circuit by being on the board for Dola Re Dandiya, UNC's premier Raas competition. I also enjoy painting and blogging about art (therivagallery.com), and learning new languages (fun fact, I know 6!) as well as sharing them with others (I have tutored for English, Hindi, Gujarati, and Sanskrit).