ABOUT US
Our name comes from the ancient Greek tradition of a lighted torch being passed from one runner to the next. Since then, passing the torch has become a symbolism of relinquishing knowledge and skill from an expert to another.
Pass the Torch is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that aims to utilize the academic and extracurricular talents of high school and college students to shape the next generation of artists, scholars, and leaders. Even though Pass the Torch was founded and is based in New York City, its influence and programs reach across the world.
MEET THE TEAM
TAE KYU LEE
Founder and President
Tae Kyu is an undergraduate student at Cornell, whose desire to help fight educational inequality led to the creation of Pass the Torch when he was in high school.
RAISSA FERNANDES
Operations Director
Raissa's role, both as the Operations Director and a tutor, is crucial to the success of Pass the Torch.
We believe that diversity of thought and life experience are important in a student's education. One of the defining characteristics of Pass the Torch is our global team of volunteers that come from different geographical areas and backgrounds. We are proud to have over 300 volunteers across 22 U.S states/territories, 14 countries, and 5 continents. Meet some of them below!
ARIZONA
Meet our volunteers from AZ.
ALEX ZEGA
Catalina Foothills High School
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CALIFORNIA
Meet our volunteer tutors from CA.
EVELYN ZHONG
Temple City High School
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AKUL GOEL
La Cañada High School
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ALEXANDRA PHAN
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Willow Glen High School
TAMMY NEWMAN
Leland High School
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ATHENA ZAPANTIS
Northgate High School
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ASHLEY GONZALEZ-GILES
Alliance Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy High School
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KEIRA PERALTA
Northgate High School
PAMELA XIANG
Mercy High School Burlingame
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ASHLEY ALAS
Gahr High School
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ETHAN KHUU
Northgate High School
ANNALIS MOLINA-ACED
Alameda High School
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JENNIFER HUANG
Northgate High School
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JEFFREY IP
City College of San Francisco
SREYASH DAS SARMA
Saratoga High School
ROHAN SEN
Northgate High School
ARTYOM LYSSENKO
Northgate High School
CONNECTICUT
Meet our volunteer tutors from CT.
CLAIRE CHEN
Glastonbury High School
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TIA GUAY
Southington High School
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ALAAP SIKRI
Fusion Academy (Fairfield Campus)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Meet our tutors from Washington, D.C.
JIAJIA FU
Whittle School & Studios
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FLORIDA
Meet our volunteer tutors from FL.
HELEN ZHENG
Gulf Breeze High School
RAIYAN RIZVI
Cypress Creek High School
GEORGIA
Meet our volunteer tutors from GA.
SAKSHI GANDIKOTA
Alliance Academy for Innovation
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ILLINOIS
Meet our volunteer tutors from IL.
HANNAH KLEIN
Trinity High School
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MAINE
Meet our volunteer tutors from ME.
HANNAH HWANG
Falmouth High School
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MARYLAND
Meet our volunteer tutors from MD.
EILEEN VEGA
Johns Hopkins University
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MASSACHUSETTS
Meet our volunteers from MA.
SOUBHIK RAKSHIT
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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MICHIGAN
Meet our volunteers from MI.
CORTLYN WEINBAUM
Western Michigan University
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NEW JERSEY
Meet our volunteer tutors from NJ.
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY
In partnership with Seton Hall University's Center for Community Research & Engagement, we welcome over 30 SHU students as our volunteers.
ALEXANDRA VOLKOVA
Bergen County Academies
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MYRA SINGH
Horace Mann High School
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PRISHA THOGULUVA
Central Jersey College Prep Charter School
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RAMATOU NJOYA
Dwight Englewood School
CINDY PYO
Tenafly High School
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RAQUEL DIAZ
Bergen Technical School- Teterboro
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GRIFFIN COOPER
Dwight-Englewood School
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VANESSA VAN DUNK
Morris County School of Technology
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AJAY DONTHULA
Bordentown Regional High School
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ANGELA HAN
Ridgefield Memorial Highschool
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RAJVIR SOLANKY
Dwight-Englewood School
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ISABEL MARTINEZ
Ridgefield Park Jr. Sr. High School
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SADÉ JOSEPH
Hasbrouck Heights High School
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WESLEY ZHUANG
Dwight-Englewood School
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MADIÂ LEES
Northern Highlands Regional High School
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ANGIE CHOE
Fort Lee High School
ANASTASIA KIM
Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest
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AINSLEY MA
Dwight-Englewood School
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PRANAV APPALANENI
Dwight-Englewood School
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DIANNE PARK
Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
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ARNAV PATWARDHAN
Tenafly High School
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ALLY ABRAMSON
Dwight-Englewood School
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JAI KHOSLA
Northern Highlands Regional High School
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ELENE BURDIASHVILI
Fort Lee High School
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MINGI TRAN
Leonia High School
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NEHA ANVAR
Northern Highlands Regional High School
JESSICA BRENNER
Emerson Junior Senior High School
OLIVIA ASTERIS
Dwight-Englewood School
RICHARD HUANG
Fort Lee High School
SARAH RAMPERSAUD
Lodi High School
KEVIN SWEENY
Bergen Catholic High School
LOUISA MCDERMOTT
Dwight-Englewood School
JOSHUA RYU
Leonia High School
KAITLYN PARK
Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
ALYSSA WEN
Fort Lee High School
ADAM LEVIN
Dwight-Englewood School
DANIELLE HAN
Northern Valley Regional High school at Old Tappan
ELI AROUGHETI
Dwight Englewood School
NORHAN MADIAN
Morris County Vocational Technology School
MAYA UMYLNY
Fort Lee High School
SOFIA JATSKEVICH
Dwight-Englewood School
DAVIDE ORLOV
Dwight-Englewood School
NEW MEXICO
Meet our volunteer tutors from NM.
NICK D’SOUZA
United World College USA
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NEW YORK
Meet our volunteer tutors from NY.
MAYA BARR
The Hewitt School
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TRISTAN GE
Hunter College High School
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JOANNA JAMES
Shaker High School
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SUNSHINE QUIÑONES
Horace Mann High School
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AJ WALKER
Horace Mann High School
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LINA LIN
Manhattan Hunter Science High School
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JULIETTE SHANG
Horace Mann High School
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ERIN YE
Huntington High School
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DARSON CHEN
Horace Mann High School
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ASHLEY CASTILLERO
Manhattan Hunter Science High School
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ALANNAH MCEVOY-BENSITI
Dwight-Englewood School
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SIMON KALISH
SAR High School
ANTOINETTE MARIE TORRES
Bard High School Early College Queens
KAREMA SALEM
Coney Island Prep High School
OLIVIA FANG
Townsend Harris High School
AJAY SINGH
SUNY Empire State College
ASHLEY WEI
Great Neck South High School
MALLORY MACDONALD
Townsend Harris High School
CHRIS GAO
New York University (NYU)
KIERA LIN
Basis Independent Brooklyn
NORTH CAROLINA
Meet our volunteer tutors from NC.
KAYLA LIANG
Raleigh Charter High School
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OHIO
Meet our volunteer tutors from OH.
EMMA MACADAM
Madison High School
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GRACE HERBST
Madison High School
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AIDAN COX
Athens High School
PENNSYLVANIA
Meet our volunteer tutors from PA.
LAURA HAMILTON
University of Pennsylvania
ANHELINA VOLCHOK
Drexel University
ARSHIA SINGH
Downingtown STEM Academy
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NIKITHA KANUMURU
Downingtown STEM Academy
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NANDITA REDDY
Downingtown STEM Academy
TENNESSEE
Meet our volunteers from TN.
OLIVIA HELTON
Rockvale High School
CHRISTIANA ODURO
Meharry Medical College
TEXAS
Meet our volunteer tutors from TX.
MOMOREOLUWA DEL-DAVIDSON
Ridge Point High School
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SWEDHA PENTAM
University of Texas at Dallas
VIRGINIA
Meet our volunteers from VA.
ANEESHA KONINTY
Rock Ridge High School
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WASHINGTON
Meet our volunteer tutors from WA.
KIM NGUYEN
Cleveland STEM High School
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ABHI GORIPARTHY
Eastlake High School
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U.S. TERRITORIES
Meet our volunteers from the U.S. Territories.
ANGELA CHEN |Â AMERICAN SAMOA
Pacific Horizons School
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INTERNATIONAL
Meet our volunteers from outside the U.S.
SIYA MEHTA | MUMBAI, INDIA
SVKM J.V. Parekh International School
SHAHZOD KAKHKHOROV | UZBEKISTAN
Specialized School No.91
WILLIAM PESSA |Â DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
Ardhi University
JOSHUA GUICO | VILSECK, GERMANY
Vilseck High School
MARIANA PAWLOWSKI | RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)
MAGGIE HU | ONTARIO, CANADA
Westlane Secondary School
GABRIELLA KAPFUNDE | HARARE, ZIMBABWE
University of Zimbabwe
MAKSAT MYRADOW |Â DASHOGUZ, TURKMENISTAN
School #10, Dashoguz
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AZIZUL HAKIM | DHAKA, BANGLADESH
Notre Dame College
AAYUSH PANDEY | SINGAPORE
Tanglin Trust School
DO-EUN KIM | SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Kyunggi Girls' High School
HEDLEY LAWRENCE-APFELBAUM | BARCELONA, SPAIN
Oak House School
MAHAK KUMAWAT | PUNE, INDIA
City International School
JOAN TANG | LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
University College London
SAHER M. | ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN
Turkmen State University
HUSNIYYA AZADOVA | TORONTO, CANADA
Gibraltar Leadership Academy
ANNA GUAN | TORONTO, CANADA
McMaster University
JOLILNKA CHIEN | BURNABY, CANADA
The University of British Columbia
SHAHZAD REJEPOV |Â DASHOGUZ, TURKMENISTAN
Specialized School for Learning Foreign Languages #24
AYLAR GAYYPOVA | DASHOGUZ, TURKMENISTAN
Dashoguz City School #10 Specialized in Foreign Languages
ABIGAIL THOMAS | ONTARIO, CANADA
Chinguacousy Secondary School
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AYLAR NURAKOVA | DASHOGUZ, TURKMENISTAN
Specialized Secondary School N-21 of Physics and Mathematics