
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 throughout multiple states.
MEET THE TEAM

TAE KYU LEE
Founder and President
Tae Kyu's desire to help fight educational inequality led to the creation of Pass the Torch.

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

CALIFORNIA
Meet our volunteer tutors from CA.

EVELYN ZHONG
Temple City High School

AKUL GOEL
La Cañada High School

ALEXANDRA PHAN
Willow Glen High School

TAMMY NEWMAN
Leland High School

ATHENA ZAPANTIS
Northgate High School

ASHLEY GONZALEZ-GILES
Alliance Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy High School

KEIRA PERALTA
Northgate High School

PAMELA XIANG
Mercy High School Burlingame

ASHLEY ALAS
Gahr High School
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ETHAN KHUU
Northgate High School

ANNALIS MOLINA-ACED
Alameda High School

JENNIFER HUANG
Northgate High School

TATIANA AVDIENKO
Northgate High School

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

TIA GUAY
Southington High School

ALAAP SIKRI
Fusion Academy (Fairfield Campus)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Meet our tutors from Washington, D.C.

JIAJIA FU
Whittle School & Studios

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

ILLINOIS
Meet our volunteer tutors from IL.

HANNAH KLEIN
Trinity High School

MAINE
Meet our volunteer tutors from ME.

HANNAH HWANG
Falmouth High School

MARYLAND
Meet our volunteer tutors from MD.

EILEEN VEGA
Johns Hopkins University

MASSACHUSETTS
Meet our volunteers from MA.

SOUBHIK RAKSHIT
University of Massachusetts Amherst

MICHIGAN
Meet our volunteers from MI.

CORTLYN WEINBAUM
Western Michigan University

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

MYRA SINGH
Horace Mann High School

PRISHA THOGULUVA
Central Jersey College Prep Charter School

RAMATOU NJOYA
Dwight Englewood School

CINDY PYO
Tenafly High School

RAQUEL DIAZ
Bergen Technical School- Teterboro

GRIFFIN COOPER
Dwight-Englewood School

VANESSA VAN DUNK
Morris County School of Technology

AJAY DONTHULA
Bordentown Regional High School

ANGELA HAN
Ridgefield Memorial Highschool

RAJVIR SOLANKY
Dwight-Englewood School

ISABEL MARTINEZ
Ridgefield Park Jr. Sr. High School

SADÉ JOSEPH
Hasbrouck Heights High School

WESLEY ZHUANG
Dwight-Englewood School

MADI LEES
Northern Highlands Regional High School

ANGIE CHOE
Fort Lee High School

ANASTASIA KIM
Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest

AINSLEY MA
Dwight-Englewood School

PRANAV APPALANENI
Dwight-Englewood School

DIANNE PARK
Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan

ARNAV PATWARDHAN
Tenafly High School

ALLY ABRAMSON
Dwight-Englewood School

JAI KHOSLA
Northern Highlands Regional High School

ELENE BURDIASHVILI
Fort Lee High School

MINGI TRAN
Leonia High School

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

NEW YORK
Meet our volunteer tutors from NY.

MAYA BARR
The Hewitt School

TRISTAN GE
Hunter College High School

JOANNA JAMES
Shaker High School

SUNSHINE QUIÑONES
Horace Mann High School

AJ WALKER
Horace Mann High School

LINA LIN
Manhattan Hunter Science High School

JULIETTE SHANG
Horace Mann High School

ERIN YE
Huntington High School

DARSON CHEN
Horace Mann High School

ASHLEY CASTILLERO
Manhattan Hunter Science High School

ALANNAH MCEVOY-BENSITI
Dwight-Englewood School

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

OHIO
Meet our volunteer tutors from OH.

EMMA MACADAM
Madison High School

GRACE HERBST
Madison High School

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

NIKITHA KANUMURU
Downingtown STEM Academy

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

SWEDHA PENTAM
University of Texas at Dallas
VIRGINIA
Meet our volunteers from VA.

ANEESHA KONINTY
Rock Ridge High School

WASHINGTON
Meet our volunteer tutors from WA.

KIM NGUYEN
Cleveland STEM High School

ABHI GORIPARTHY
Eastlake High School
U.S. TERRITORIES
Meet our volunteers from the U.S. Territories.

ANGELA CHEN | AMERICAN SAMOA
Pacific Horizons School

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 | 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 | 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 | 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