Bari Saltman is a rising senior at Harvard studying Sociology and Psychology. Committed to empowering undergraduates to become agents of change, Bari is the President of the Harvard College Social Innovation Collaborative (SIC) and previously served as Chair of SIC’s 2012 Igniting Innovation Summit on Social Entrepreneurship. Bari has also co-directed a student tutoring program within youth detention facilities through PBHA. Beyond Harvard, Bari has been involved with a range of operational and direct service work targeting youth and economically disadvantaged populations, and is currently a project consultant for AbekaM, which creates corporate-community partnerships to support local models of social change.
Bari Saltman
Advisor
Katrina is a rising junior studying Sociology and Ethnic Studies living in Leverett House. She is honored to be serving as Director of External Outreach for the Harvard College Social Innovation Collaborative after coming back from a year off abroad having done development work with a few incredible non-profit NGOs in South East Asia, including the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability and Teach for the Philippines. It was during this time-off that she developed her passion for innovating for social good. Katrina was born in the Philippines, but spent her formative years in San Diego, CA. Outside of SIC, Katrina is active as Education and Politics Co-chair for the Asian American Association on campus, a Freshman Urban Program Leader, and a barrista on the side. Katrina believes social change can be be lead most powerfully when driven by cross-sectoral partnerships, crazy-good ideas, determination, and compassion. She holds a special fondness for dreamers, changemakers, paradigm-disrupters, and compassionate educators, and hopes to attract them all to attend this year's Igniting Innovation Summit!
Katrina Wong
Director of External Outreach
Co-Director of Innovation Showcase
Claudine Cho is a rising junior at Harvard studying Sociology and Ethnic Studies. This is her first year involved with the Harvard Social Innovation Collaborative, joining the organization after having been inspired and "ignited" at last year's Igniting Innovation Summit. Claudine balances a diverse plate of activities, on one hand, as Co-Chair of the Harvard College Events Board and as a make-up artist, working as the lead for Identities and Eleganza Fashion Show and having her work published in Kneon Magazine, HUF, and The Voice, and on the other hand, as a mentor for low-achieving elementary students through the Marshall Afterschool Program and as a volunteer for the No Eastie Casino movement in Boston. Claudine hopes to integrate her worlds of fashion & event planning with education reform in the future. Fascinated by cultural identity, Claudine is always improving or learning a new language. She most recently interned with the Buenos Aires City Government under the Dirección General de Asuntos Interjurisdiccionales.
Claudine Cho
Director of Design
Co-Director of Innovation Showcase
Nishin Nathwani was selected as a British Council Global Changemaker in 2010, during which time he was invited to present at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Nishin is a co-founder of the LGBTQ youth advocacy organization, the Ontario Youth Rainbow Coalition, and has worked extensively with the Upper Grand District School Board in Canada to integrate the recommendations of minority students into the equity policy formation process. He recently devised a social impact assessment framework for Project Dharma – a social enterprise based in India. Nishin is an undergraduate student at Harvard University and sits on Ashoka’s Young Advisors Network. He is the recipient of a host of youth awards, including the 2008 Centre Wellington Youth Citizen of the Year Award, the 2010 Guelph Region YMCA-YWCA Peace Medal, and the 2010 Guelph Mercury Top 40 Under 40 Award. Nishin recently interned with the Director for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases at the World Health Organization in Geneva, working on the post-2015 health development agenda.
Nishin Nathwani
Chair of the Summit
Tucker Kelly
Director of Logistics
Jessica is a sophomore in Dunster who is very excited to be the director of internal outreach and a member of the amazing Summit team. Jessica grew up in sunny Los Angeles, where she first developed a passion for social change, and has recently moved to New York. In high school, she led several initiatives as President of the environmental club, organized support efforts for the soldiers and their families, coordinated card-making for Children’s Hospital patients, raised money and awareness for breast cancer research, and believes in the indefatigable power of a smile and a kind word! At Harvard, she has loved reporting for The Crimson, leading ExperiMentors Science Day, a day of hands-on science for elementary school students, and is so excited to be a Peer Advising Fellow next year. To Jessica, social innovation represents an exciting intersection of, original ideas, and the business skills to convert positive energy into real change. She would love to explore social entrepreneurship and the opportunity to “do good” through business. Jessica can’t wait to learn from and meet some of the amazing speakers and attendees of this year’s Summit.
Leadership Team
Jessica Barzilay
Director of Internal Outreach
Willa founded the Igniting Innovation Summit in 2010 to unite and ignite people around entrepreneurship for social change. She acts as a mentor and adviser for the Summit board, and is delighted that the Summit will return for its third year this fall. Willa is a licensed zumba instructor and is especially interested in promoting good exercise and nutrition habits through community. She is currently launching a social enterprise in San Francisco that promotes exercise through fun fitness with friends. The program collaborates with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks department to provide affordable dance classes in neighborhoods that do not typically offer these opportunities.
Willa is also the founder of the PBHA SEED School alternative spring break trip on education, and loves to dance hip-hop, salsa, and almost every other style too! She worked with Ashoka during a semester off, co-authored a proposal for a secondary field in Social Innovation at Harvard, is an Acumen Fund Student Leader and also has experience with education, Native American rights, and international law. She is currently a Pforzheimer fellow and will attend Harvard Business School as part of the 2+2 MBA program. Willa welcomes good conversations, and is fascinated by cinnamon rolls and bananas.
Willa Zhou
Founder and Advisor
Tucker Kelly, the Director of Logistics for the Summit Committee, is from the small town of Crowley, Louisiana and is a Social and Cognitive Neuroscience concentrator here at Harvard. He is currently a second semester sophomore at the college after taking a semester off to pursue traveling through the Semester at Sea program, a program that greatly influenced him to join SIC. Through his travels he witnessed the wide variety of poverty and social issues that he believes organizations such as SIC, and the wonderful people that they inspire, will be able to change someday. Tucker is also the captain of the Harvard College Shooting team, an employee at the Graduate School of Education Learning Technologies Center, and a volunteer on campus.
Justin Porter is a rising sophomore in Cabot House who is tentatively studying Economics with a secondary in Environmental Science and Public Policy. This is his first year being involved with the Harvard Social Innovative Collaborative, but after his freshman year, he found himself astounded by the degree of creative and intellectual capital waiting to be unleashed on Harvard's campus. He is a proud native of Jackson, Mississippi, and was deeply inspired in high school by the need for education reform and improved healthcare in his home state. In addition to SIC, Justin is involved with Harvard's Bureau of Study Counsel, the Black Men's Forum, and is a mentor in the Leaders! program through PBHA. More than anything else, Justin believes that better is always possible, and he is very enthusiastic about the growing capacity of social entrepreneurship to change the world for the better.
Justin Porter
Director of Partnerships
and Sponsorships
Support Team
Gabriela Farrell, Harvard College, Class of 2016
Felix Ruano, Harvard College, Class of 2017
Stephen Turban, Harvard College, Class of 2017
Madeleine Smith, Harvard College, Class of 2016
