Our mission is to educate, encourage, and empower K-12 girls to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) through interdisciplinary STEAM based initiatives integrating STEM with the Arts and social sciences.
Founder & CEO, Chair of Board
Jothi Ramaswamy founded ThinkSTEAM in 2015, during her freshman year of high school. She is a freshman at Harvard University and a strong supporter of STEAM for girls. As a passionate app developer who has published apps on the Apple App Store, she loves coding and science and wants to inspire girls in her community to thrive in STEAM disciplines. Jothi has also done machine learning research and multiple software engineering internships for the past few summers and hopes to concentrate in Applied Math with a focus in computer science and economics at Harvard.
Senior Advisor
Sofia Melnychuck is a sophomore at BASIS Tucson North. As an artist and software developer of several iBooks and apps, she started a company with her mother when she was four by integrating art and technology with the goal to encourage young girls. Sofia is currently bringing this into the areas of art and programming. She was also a recipient of the 2017 WWDC scholarship and the middle school winner of ThinkSTEAM’s 2017 ThinkBIG Video challenge. Sofia is excited to be the Arizona State Chapter Lead for ThinkSTEAM and to share her passion for STEAM.
Senior Advisor
Alliyah Steele is a junior at Putnam Valley High School in Westchester, New York. She aspires to be an astrophysicist and a computer scientist in the future. As a proud supporter of ThinkSTEAM’s mission, she has attended several workshops and was the Individual Winner of the 2016 ThinkBIG Challenge. Additionally, Alliyah taught herself how to code in HTML/CSS and founded Allie’s Tutoring. Math, Science, and technology are her favorite subjects and her greatest hope for the future is to see more girls interested and pursuing careers in STEM.
Minnesota Chapter Director
Mahati Rayadurgam is a junior at Wayzata High School in Minnesota. She joined ThinkSTEAM as a junior ambassador in 2019, with a passion for STEAM and bridging the gender gap in these fields. In 2022, she became a director of the organization and started the MN Cohort. In school, Mahati’s favorite subjects include history and math. She is involved in YMCA’s Youth in Government, her school’s National Honors Society, and is an intern at the Hindu Society of Minnesota. Outside of school, she is an avid artist, dancer, musician, and writer. She learns the piano, the violin, Indian classical vocal music, and Bharatanatyam dance. Her hobbies include reading, writing, and drawing. A fun fact about Mahati is that one of her favorite books is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, and recommends everyone to read it.
Massachusetts Chapter Director
Shreya Atluri is a junior at Dover-Sherborn High School in Dover, Massachusetts. Since joining ThinkSTEAM in 2019, she has led multiple workshops about topics ranging from the science behind slime to gender stereotypes in the science field. At school, Shreya strives to encourage female representation in STEM disciplines by hosting meetings featuring different STEM topics every month as her school’s STEM Club founder and president. When she isn’t at school or planning her next adventure with her family (including her dog), Shreya volunteers at different organizations that aim to provide medical services to women in the Boston area, in hopes of conducting her own research about equitable access to healthcare.
Patricia Viggiano joined the Board in 2015. She is the Director of Curriculum – Science at Lakeland Central School District.
Akshay joined the board in 2015. He recently graduated Stanford University in the Class of 2019 with a degree in Computer Science. Akshay is also the co-founder of Alma Campus. He is an avid supporter of environmental conservation and gender equality, and is interested in integrating activism with social entrepreneurship.
Priten H. Shah joined the board in 2015. He is a student at Harvard College in the Class of 2018. Priten founded and runs United 4 Social Change Inc., a platform for a global community that works to spur social change by training young activists. He is the owner of Suddha.Marketing LLC, a small business marketing and web development firm. He is the CEO of Pain, Passion, and Pursuit Inc., a consulting company that runs projects in college admissions and non-profits.
Sujatha joined the Board in 2015, and is also the K-8 Outreach Coordinator for ThinkSTEAM. She has worked in the programming industry for over 15 years, and is a strong supporter of STEM awareness for girls.
Daniel A. Soosai joined the board in December 2015. He has a MBA from Wharton and MS from University of Arizona. He currently works at Facebook as the Head of Advertising Insights. Daniel is passionate about kids education.
Lisa Wexler joined the board in March 2018. Lisa has practiced law for over 30 years, having graduated Johns Hopkins University with Honors and the New York University School of Law. She was elected Probate Judge of the Westport/Weston district in a special election in 2013. With her mother and sister, Lisa co-wrote “Secrets of a Jewish Mother”, for which she was featured on many shows for, like The Today Show, Morning Show, Fox and Friends, CBS Early Show, Imus, and many others. Lisa also created two radio shows, “The Lisa Wexler Show” and the “Acorda Scientific Excellence Award” Program, which are broadcast on the WGCH radio station. She is a strong advocate for female empowerment and is also a co-founder of Women in Power CT, which held seminars for women looking to change their careers.
Andrea Cupertino
Andrea D. Cupertino joined the advisory board in December 2015. She has a BS in Mathematics, BA in Computer Science, and an MA in Computer Science. She has been extremely passionate about Science and Math. Her other interests include reading, crocheting, exercising, and seeing Broadway plays.
