Young Adults & Emerging Professionals Committee (YAEP)

Arun Periakaruppan

Arun graduated from Indiana University in May 2020 with a degree in Finance and Technology Management. He currently works at Goldman Sachs as a Rolling Review Analyst. Arun got involved with TNF through volunteering at National Conventions, including leading the Youth Convention at the Columbus Convention. In his free time, he enjoys music, sports, and working out.

Arun Periakaruppan

Perry Alagappan

Perry is a senior to a graduate student at Stanford University from Houston, TX studying Electrical Engineering. He was part of the first cohort of TNF interns in 2015 and traveled to eight schools in Tamil-Nadu to work on soft-skills training and academic education programs. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, hiking, climbing, reading, and film.

Karthik Ilakkuvan

Karthik is currently a graduate student at the Furqua Business School at Duke University. Karthik did his BBA at the College of William and Mary (BBA ’13). He was the Service Chair for the International Relations Club at W&M – raised over $5000 for charity: water; BUILD DC Mentor and 2018 TNF Youth Convention volunteer in New Jersey.

Anita Croos

Anita graduated in December 2019 with a B.S. in Operations Management Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management at University of Maryland, College Park, and currently works as a technology analyst at Accenture. She was introduced to TNF through a family friend when she was looking for a volunteering opportunity during her break between college and starting her full-time job, as she had expressed an interest in working in women’s education in Tamil Nadu. She worked as a post-graduate intern at TNF from January-February 2020, spending half her time observing ABC school programs in Chennai, IN and the other half leading professional development workshops for students at women’s college, Lady Doak College in Madurai, IN. After her internship, Anita joined TNF’s Young Adult Committee.
Priya Periakaruppan bio pic

Priya Periakaruppan

Priya Periakaruppan is studying public health as a freshman at Ohio State University. A longtime volunteer of TNF, she co-founded the Central Ohio Youth Committee and took part in TNF’s internship program over the summer of 2019, interning at the Center for Medical Genetics in Chennai; teaching in Kundrakudi; and also volunteering at Anbalayam, a school and home for special needs students in Sirgali. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, and climbing.

Preethi Kumaran

Preethi is a sophomore at the University of Michigan studying Pharmaceutical Science. She participated as an intern at the Center of Medical Genetics learning about genetics testing and epidemiology. She further got involved in TNF through local projects in Michigan. She is interested in learning how the intersection between medical care and social justice can improve people’s lives. Her interests include reading, baking, and swimming.

Vedavyas Munugoor

Vedavyas a sophomore college student at the University of Maryland majoring in Computer Science. He is from Greater Boston Area & Washington D.C. during the academic term. In August 2014, he participated as an intern/associate at the Center for Medical Genetics in
Chennai for two weeks, working specifically in cytogenetics. He also volunteered at a local
school for a day teaching the kids about American culture and how it might differ from
their own.
In 2015, he volunteered at the TNF Convention that year in Chicago.
Outside of TNF, he has volunteered for a local Indian cultural organization called Bharathi Vidyashram and was a founding member of their Youth Leadership Council. He also managed the 501(c)(3) non-profit recognition process for Bharathi Vidyashram.

Seetha Natesan

Seetha graduated from Westlake High School in Austin, TX. She is currently studying at Vanderbilt University. She started with TNF a while back when she raised money for their involvement in rural libraries in India. In 2015, she helped organize a TNF charity event in Austin for the aftermath of the Chennai floods. She also raised money for TNF’s involvement in the Chennai flood clean-up through a GoFundMe.In the summer of 2016, she did an internship through TNF at the Besant Arundale School in Chennai. She later spoke at a TNF convention and on a panel about her internship and how it helped her grow as a person and why others should do the internship as well.

Maya Gurusamy

Maya is a Junior at Indiana University- Bloomington studying Apparel Merchandising and Entrepreneurship. In the summer of 2015 she participated in the Service & Education Internship. She interned at Guntur Subbaiah Pillai Girls Hr. Sec. School, in T. Nagar, Chennai and taught girls ranging from 4th to 8th grade. She introduced various teaching methods similar to the US, in an effort to help struggling students grasp concepts; eg. mnemonic devices, visuals, and role-playing.