Who We Are
founded for teens,
by teens
Zoë Feigelson
Co-Director
Hi! I'm Agatha German, a senior at the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in New York. I live in Midtown Manhattan and am an avid reader, writer, and baker (maybe you'll get to try my muffins at the next TPF event!). Free speech and press freedom are vital for a well-functioning society, especially in an era of social media where false information is easily circulated. Our generation is faced with the task of solving a growing number of social
justice issues. In order for this to occur, we must be educated, something which can only happen through access to credible sources and a free press.
My name is Sofia, and I am a junior at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California. I love reading, writing, coffee, and music. I play the violin in my high school orchestra and I am the managing editor of my school’s paper. I believe press freedom is an integral part of democracy because it holds those in power accountable for their actions. Without journalists to provoke questions and criticism, it becomes difficult to discern between fact and fiction, giving powerful individuals an opportunity to warp the truth. One of the reasons that I first joined TPF was that I had seen journalists being ostracized and viewed as bearers of disinformation. In reality, social media is corrupting our conception of truthfulness, and it is up to Gen Z to reverse the damage that online mis- and disinformation have wreaked on our society.
Zoë Feigelson
Co-Director
Hello! I’m Zoë Feigelson, and I’m a junior at Stuyvesant High School in New York. I joined the Teens for Press Freedom Workshop team when I was a freshman and through many TPF seminars I’ve been inspired by the force of free expression in the digital age. I write for my school paper and work on our literary magazine, but I also lead a Prison Research Initiative and ACLU club at my school. In my own time, I love to read and make sculptures. This year, I’m very excited to print the new Teens for Press Freedom ZINE!!
My name is Sofia, and I am a junior at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California. I love reading, writing, coffee, and music. I play the violin in my high school orchestra and I am the managing editor of my school’s paper. I believe press freedom is an integral part of democracy because it holds those in power accountable for their actions. Without journalists to provoke questions and criticism, it becomes difficult to discern between fact and fiction, giving powerful individuals an opportunity to warp the truth. One of the reasons that I first joined TPF was that I had seen journalists being ostracized and viewed as bearers of disinformation. In reality, social media is corrupting our conception of truthfulness, and it is up to Gen Z to reverse the damage that online mis- and disinformation have wreaked on our society.
Hello! My name is Charlotte Hampton, and I’m a senior at the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in New York. I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and I love American history, dancing, writing, and reading (currently reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie!). It's easy to be sucked into the web of misinformation and disinformation online, but nuanced, fact-based reporting is essential to our democracy. As a uniquely polarized generation, Gen-Z has to fight for a truthful narrative. Charlotte will attend Dartmouth College in the fall.
Charlotte Hampton
Co-Founder
Isabel Tribe
Co-Founder
I'm Isabel, a senior at the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in New York. I live in the West Village of Manhattan and love running, reading, exploring gardens, and petting dogs. I fight for press freedom because I believe in truth and our right to know the truth. The erosion of press freedom is a global phenomenon that threatens the success of every social movement. Gen Z is inheriting a world in crisis; if we want to make change, we have to be united on the facts. Isabel will attend Brown University in the fall of 2023 after a gap year in Latin America.
Sofia Williams
Co-Director
My name is Sofia, and I am a senior at Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, California. I love reading, writing, coffee, and music. I play the violin in my high school orchestra and I am the Editor-in-Chief of my school’s paper. I believe press freedom is an integral part of democracy because it holds those in power accountable for their actions. Without journalists to provoke questions and criticism, it becomes difficult to discern between fact and fiction, giving powerful individuals an opportunity to warp the truth. One of the reasons that I first joined TPF was that I had seen journalists being ostracized and viewed as bearers of disinformation. In reality, social media is corrupting our conception of truthfulness, and it is up to Gen Z to reverse the damage that online mis- and disinformation have wreaked on our society.
Tai Lyn Sandhu
Workshop Team Director
Fabiha Khanam
Media Relations Team Director
Evan McElfresh
News Team Director
_JPEG.jpeg)
Kiran Yeh
Advocacy Team Deputy Director
Aydin Levy
Media Team Deputy Director
Isabella Ciriello
News Team Deputy Director
Advocacy Team
Ines Donnelly, Anya Eder, April Hattori, Mira Meola, Morgan Perlstein, Caroline Peyser, Michael Porter, Shyra Rahman, Rahul Raman, Delia Rune, Mathilda Simons, Felix Stimets, Nicole Wang
Workshop Team
Angel Dilawar, Zoë Feigelson, Imani Majors, Nicole Manning, Peter Rooney, Tai Sandhu, Kevin Tannum, Ella Vanderhoek
News Team
Nathania Atwi, Alexa Berman, Isabella Ciriello, Riti Dey, Amen Dilawar, Clementine Gotlib, Avani Khorana, Dash Larmer-Beech, Priscilla Lozano, Evan McElfresh, Julian Moreno, Talia Weidberg
Media Relations Team
Lalleyah Camara, Vaneti Ceus, Luci Garza, Christiana Hadjipavlis, Fabiha Khanam, Aydin Levy, Gwendolyn McNamara, Ifeoma Okwuka, Maya Ozo, Alya Satchu, Helena Uceda, Ananya Vinay, Julia Wysokinska, Ariel Zhang
General Members
Maya Brener, Sophie Brettschneider, Hale Briner, Bernard Condon, Justine Choueiri, Nora Demak, Abdoul Diallo, Kal Ferretti, Zoey Ford, Helena Gelman, Maxi Glanz, Benjamin Gordon, Max Greenhill, Joaquin Guevara-Ho, Huckleberry Hannemann, Talia Homer, Charlotte Kim, Emily Kim, Jessie Lipschutz, Lucy Meola, Gabi McBride, Michelle Osorio, Katie Pan, Nazira Rahman, Abigail Ramirez, Harry Rhone, Matilda Simons, Amena Steenhuis, Dev Stolkiner, Maya Stone, Alyce Tanner, Hannah Torok, Tonia Volvovskaya, Julia Wysokińska, Mohammad Zayd, Tim Zhillin
Amanda Bennett is the former director of the Voice of America, an investigative journalist, and Pulitzer Prize winning author. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Wall Street Journal’s Beijing correspondent. Read more here.
Laurence Tribe
Laurence Tribe is an American legal scholar who is a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. Tribe is a constitutional law scholar and helped write the constitutions of South Africa, the Czech Republic, and the Marshall Islands. Tribe has argued 35 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to serve as the first senior counselor for Access to Justice.
Niko Perez
Niko Perez is the program manager of free expression and education at PEN America. Perez co-directs the Free Speech Advocacy Institute and hosts Free Speech Live!, a biweekly series of youth-oriented discussions focusing on contemporary issues related to free speech, open exchange, human rights, and democracy.