Meet the Panelists

Emily Garcia is currently a junior at Arizona State University studying Politics and the Economy with a certificate in Russian and East European Studies. She serves as BridgeUSA’s National Director of Youth Development and works to equip high school students with tools and skills that allow them to become leaders in college and help them understand the importance of being civically engaged. Emily is also the Chapter President of BridgeUSA at Arizona State. 

     

Ross Irwin graduated from UC Berkeley in May of 2020 with a degree in Business Administration. He currently lives in San Francisco working on BridgeUSA with a group of colleagues full-time. Ross works as BridgeUSA’s Chief Operation Officer, handling chapter expansion and ensuring that they receive the same quality advice and support across the board. This year he is focused on creating community and conversation on campus as many students are faced with uncertainty, stress, and loneliness.

Jane Wang is a third-year history major at Emory University. After a sensitive campus incident related to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, she and a friend founded BridgeEmory as a branch of BridgeUSA. In addition, Jane has interned at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a nonprofit focused on protecting free speech and due process in higher education. Today, Jane also leads Emory’s Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Activists (APIDAA) and teaches a course titled Bias and Truth in the Classroom—two more platforms in which she tries to expand open political dialogue. 

Riya Shah is the BridgeUSA Director of National Engagement and serves on Student Government at the University of Notre Dame. She is a sophomore Hesburgh-Yusko Scholar from Louisville, Kentucky, studying Finance, Political Science, and Constitutional Studies. She is also on the executive boards of both BridgeND and College Democrats.

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