Mission
International Gender Equality Movement (iGEM) is a campus chapter of the UN Foundation campaign Girl Up that promotes the education, leadership, and well-being of girls both in our community and in developing countries around the world. Through campus events, iGEM fundraises, advocates, and raises awareness for UN programs specifically aimed at adolescent girls in Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Guatemala, and India. Additionally, iGEM works with girls in the Chicagoland area in order to stay connected to its mission in a hands-on way, culminating in an annual leadership summit for local middle school girls in the spring.
Executive Board
iGEM Co-Chairs
Sanjana L.
Hometown: San Jose, CA
Majors: Political Science, Legal Studies
Sanjana has been a part of iGEM since it began, and it has been one of the best experiences of her college career. She loves working with the community for gender justice both at home and abroad. Her passions lie in social justice; she dreams of dismantling capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and all of the structural inequalities. In the meantime, Sanjana enjoys hiking (when she’s actually home, where there are mountains and sun), trying to cook food like her parents do and failing miserably, exploring Chicago, teaching her younger sister about smashing the system, and sleeping.
Arielle T.
Hometown: Newton, MA
Major: Social Policy, Minor: Spanish
Arielle is so excited to work with Sanjana and the rest of the board as a co-chair! iGEM has been a key part of her college experience since freshman year and she is eager to lead others in taking action toward gender equality on both the community and international scale. She is passionate about fighting systemic inequalities, mainly by crushing the racist capitalist heteropatriarchy. When she’s not at iGEM meetings, she can be found going on food adventures in Chicago, attending inspirational speakers on campus, or writing papers on educational equity in Deering Library.
Community Development Chairs
Nina H.
Hometown: Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
Major: German
Nina is a sophomore German major who is interested in global issues and loves learning about other cultures. Nina has been a part of iGEM since the fall of her freshman year and is now working to educate others in the Evanston and Chicago communities about what iGEM has taught her. In addition to iGEM, Nina’s other interests include: skiing, running, tennis, reading, and travel.
Aysha S. 
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA & San Carlos, CR
Major: Philosophy, Minor:: Global Health Studies
If Aysha had things her way, she’d spend all her time in art museums and hiking all over the world. She is passionate about public health, women’s rights, sarcasm and Otis Redding. Aysha hopes to one day travel and do work geared towards health equity and social justice with the other wonderful humans of the world.
Campus Events Chairs
Arielle Z.
Hometown: Savoy, IL
Major: Sociology
Arielle is a junior majoring in sociology and loves learning about social justice issues, especially gender inequality in the United States and around the world. As Campus Events Co-Chair, she has enjoyed planning events like the annual Jams 4 Justice to raise awareness about these issues and fundraise for Girl Up. In addition to iGEM, Arielle is involved in Take Back the Night and Burlesque, and enjoys cooking spicy foods, binge-watching Netflix shows, and hunting for the best coffee shops.
Abby H. 
Hometown: Downer’s Grove, IL
Majors: English, Psychology
Abby is a freshman majoring is English and Psychology. She loves gender equality and reading all day (and encourages you to check out Michael Cunningham). She joined iGEM the fall of her freshman year and now wants to take an active role in reaching out to others on campus. Abby is also involved in Chi Omega and Alpha Phi Omega at Northwestern.
Treasurer
Amelia S. 
Hometown: New Rochelle, NY
Major: Political Science, Minor: Business Institutions Program
Amelia joined iGEM winter of her freshman year and has loved being a part of it. Being in iGEM has made her more educated and aware as a global citizen and has provided her with a space to discuss issues that are important to her with some awesome people and a way to take action and make change. When she’s not engaging with social issues in iGEM, she can usually be found figure skating, perusing puppy videos on YouTube, or trying to emulate Leslie Knope to the best of her abilities.
Public Relations Chairs
Olivia S.
Hometown: Yarmouth, ME
Major: Psychology, Minor: Global Health Studies
Olivia joined iGEM her freshman year and has loved being part of such a strong, fun community of women. She is passionate about human rights (especially women’s) and health care access. When she’s not busy posting on the iGEM Facebook page and promoting gender equality, you can find her scoping out the best chai lattes in Evanston, ranting about health care equality, and lounging outside on rare, warm Evanston days.
Becca K.
Hometown: Washington Township, NJ
Major: Journalism, Minor: Environmental Policy and Culture
Becca joined iGEM her freshmen year winter quarter as a way to find an empowering community of strong females. Working as the PR co-chair, she enjoys spreading the word about iGEM’s mission towards feminism and social justice! In her free time, you can find her journaling, running, or talking (and oh boy, does she talk a lot!)
Social Chair
Liana T.
Hometown: Miami, FL
Major: Biological Sciences, Minor: Business Institutions Program
Liana joined iGEM fall quarter of freshmen year and has loved every minute of it. As a big feminist and advocator of women’s rights, she was involved in gender equality clubs in high school and wanted to continue her participation through college with an equally passionate group of young women. Her other involvements include rowing, playing the piano, writing articles about/listening to music, researching in labs, and smiling 24/7.
Contact Us
Have questions? Interested in partnering with us? Email us at igem@u.northwestern.edu.
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