Meet the 2020 Youth Fellows

Crystal Baik
Senior, Harvard-Westlake High School
Crystal Baik is passionate about the health field and participates in extracurricular activities that align with that passion. In her free time, Crystal volunteers at Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship, a center that provides hippotherapy to individuals with disabilities, and is currently studying to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Crystal is an editor for her school’s award winning student run newspaper, the Chronicle, and is an active participant of Harvard-Westlake’s theater community with past performances in the annual fall play and the Playwright’s Festival. Through activities such as health journalism, she hopes to continue merging her passion for the arts and humanities with her interest in the medical field. Through her time as a Youth Fellow, Crystal hopes to build a better foundation within herself so that she can help find solutions to issues within the healthcare system, including ones the COVID-19 pandemic brought attention to.

Audrey Bluestone
Senior, Sequoyah School
Audrey Bluestone actively participates in her community by fighting for climate justice with the Sunrise Movement. She was one of the founding members of the Sunrise hub at her school in 2019, and she is excited to lead as co-hub coordinator during her senior year. To sharpen her climate activism skills, she and some of her peers were selected to attend a training in Washington DC where they had access to resources that helped them start the Sunrise LA Youth hub. She enjoys working on a team – be it the soccer team, the bassist in the jazz band, or her school’s STEM Institute research group. Audrey is excited to use the tools she learns in Coro to affect the change she wants to see in the world.

Alma Castillo
Senior, Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School
Alma Castillo is the President of the Creative Minds Club and Skills to Success Club, as well as the National Honor Society Historian at Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School. She explores her passion in the medical field by volunteering at three hospitals in Los Angeles and participating in the HOSA-Future Health Professionals organization at her school since her freshman year. Outside of school, she is a student advocate in the Young Civic Leaders Program where she is learning how to raise her student voice to combat educational inequity among her school district, and continues her marathon training after successfully finishing the 2020 LA Marathon. She is compassionate, resourceful, and highly determined, ready to serve others and work towards being the best version of herself. She hopes to learn the necessary skills it takes to bring positive change to her community through the Coro Youth Fellows Program.

Samantha Cervantes
Senior, East College Prep High School (Para Los Niños)
Samantha Cervantes is captain of her school’s soccer team, and second captain of the volleyball team. She loves to play the violin and guitar, and attends a music program at the Young Musicians Foundation. Samantha comes from immigrant parents, and will be the first graduate from her family. She loves working with children at Para Los Niños and her community church, Saint Dominic. As a Youth Fellow, Samantha hopes to gain the confidence to become a role model to others and a successful leader in the future.

Layla Fahs
Junior, USC Hybrid High School
Layla Fahs is co-founder of USC Hybrid High’s Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Protection, co-lead of Hope for the Homeless Club, Student Ambassador, and High Honor Roll student. Outside of school, Layla is an active volunteer at her local church and enjoys volunteering at the Los Angeles Food Bank. She hopes to be a positive role model for the younger girls in her family and community. Through Coro’s Youth Fellows Program, she hopes to expand her leadership skills, while venturing outside of her school community in hopes of finding what she is truly passionate about.

Isabelle Gonzalez
Junior, West High School
Isabelle Gonzalez is an active member of the Model Legislature and Court high school program (MLC). She was a delegate in the California Model UN during middle school and is passionate about helping her community. She enjoys volunteering for the YMCA after-school programs and was chosen to mentor kids across California as an MUN Secretariat her sophomore year. At West High, she is part of the ASB Class Council, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Filipino Cultural Community, and the Freshman Focus Mentorship program. She loves going to the beach, singing, playing guitar, playing soccer, and attempting DIY projects. She is extremely excited to be part of Coro’s Youth Fellows Program and looks forward to connecting with other youth leaders, as well as gaining knowledge and skills to ignite positive change within her community.

Dulce Hernandez
Senior, Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School
Dulce Hernandez is a driven student who is eager to learn every day. At Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School, she is part of the student committee as the Spirits Director where it is her job to engage students. Dulce helps freshmen adapt to the high school environment through the Link Crew mentorship program. She has designed and updated a website on Expanding Learning Programs to demonstrate the program’s significance to the students for her school district. Dulce is a hard working person who enjoys photography and helping others. Through the Coro Youth Fellows Program, she hopes to strengthen her leadership skills to create a positive impact on her school and community.

Kyle Kalindjian
Senior, Rose and Alex Pilibos High School
Kyle Kalindjian was a state executive member of Junior State of America’s Southern California State, avid debater, Model UN and Mock Trial participant, fellow with the Evolve Education Fund, and intern with the American Red Cross. Kyle is passionate about public affairs, municipality, and urban planning. Outside of his passion for learning and politics, Kyle loves to read, spend time with his dogs, and take part in many different clubs and organizations within the Armenian community. Through Coro’s Youth Fellows Program, Kyle hopes to expand his network and gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a contributing member of the youth in his society.

Camila Morales Guevara
Junior, Pasadena High School (MOSTe)
Camila Morales Guevara is on Pasadena High School’s (PHS) soccer, volleyball, and track teams. She was elected to be the class of 2022’s Secretary, and is enrolled in the Law and Public Service Academy at PHS. Camila wishes to one day be able to start her own nonprofit organization and major in Public Works. She enjoys volunteering alongside the Academy in feeding the homeless and helping the formerly incarcerated. She is also a member of MOSTe, an organization that helps young women get into college. She participates in many events hosted by MOSTe, including helping low income families during the holidays and many other charity events. Through Coro’s Youth Fellows Program, Camila hopes to improve her leadership skills, learn how to go the extra mile, and strengthen her knowledge in how she can become an effective leader who can positively affect her community.

Sophia Ordoñez
Senior, Vistamar School
Sophia Ordoñez is a passionate student who uses her involvement in various activities to create and maintain strong connections with her school community. She is a co-leader of Vistamar’s Latino Student Association, and a member of the Honor Council, Mock Trial, and varsity soccer team. She enjoys mentoring younger students and collaborating with other student leaders to help build the school community. Sophia is a motivated and devoted person who strives to become the best version of herself. Through Coro’s Youth Fellows Program, she hopes to strengthen her leadership and communication skills that will allow her to make a positive impact in her school and community.

Arlene Rangel
Junior, Ánimo Pat Brown Charter High School
Arlene Rangel holds the title of Class Representative in her school’s Leadership Club. As a member, she has had many opportunities to work within and outside of her community. Her participation has allowed her to gain valuable leadership skills. She is hardworking and dedicated to accomplishing the goals she sets for herself. Arlene enjoys volunteering at her former elementary school and spending time with family and friends. Through Coro’s Youth Fellows Program, Arlene hopes to strengthen her leadership and communication skills in order to become an agent of change in her school and community.

Leily Rossi
Senior, Westridge School for Girls
Leily Rossi is the Co-Head of the Young Democrats Club at Westridge School for Girls and the Editor in Chief of the school yearbook. Outside of Westridge, she is a Youth and Government delegate and has held numerous appointed and elected positions. Through Youth and Government she wrote a constitutional amendment that is now under consideration by the State Senate. Interested in international affairs, she has traveled to both the Dominican Republic and the Phillippies to learn from organizations about systemic issues facing women. Her experience in the Dominican Republic led her to be selected as a Westridge Global Scholar, where she is spending two years researching the effects of colonialism on the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Leily hopes to use her experiences from Coro to learn how to be a better leader as she continues her journey both in her community and the world abroad.

Kimberly Saavedra
Senior, Bright Star Secondary Charter Academy
Kimberly Saavedra is always looking for ways to get involved in her school and community. She is a founding member of the current Senior Class Committee where she works alongside her peers to create school-wide fundraising events. Additionally, as the Vice President for Bring Change to Mind (BC2M), she plans meetings and activities dedicated to reducing stigma around mental health. Outside of the classroom, she is part of her school’s varsity volleyball team and serves as the current softball manager, where she enjoys team events both on the court, and off the field. She has also been a volunteer at her local library for a few years, facilitating programs for the kids in her community while learning how to problem solve. Through the Coro Youth Fellows Program, she hopes to build upon her leadership skills while learning to advocate for the issues that matter most to her.

John López Szijjarto
Senior, Harvard-Westlake High School
John López Szijjarto is a leader of the Harvard-Westlake Student Alumni Association (HWSAA), and a leader of the Independent School Alliance’s Youth Ambassador Program. He works closely with all the communities he is a part of including his hometown of South Pasadena, his school, and the greater LA area. At school, he tutors his peers in the STEM fields of math, science, and statistics. In his town, John helps lead community outreach with his Boy Scout troop and mentors younger scouts, teaching them skills for rank advancements. He also works with the Independent School Alliance and their cohort of leaders to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion across the independent school network of Los Angeles. As a Coro Youth Fellow, John seeks to further develop his leadership skills and learn how to bring about meaningful change to the city he loves.

Sascha Weiss
Junior, Oakwood Secondary School
Sascha Weiss is passionate about every project she takes on. Sascha co-founded ECO, the environmental club at Oakwood School, where she is a rising junior. In the summer before her sophomore year, she was a research intern at UCLA’s Institute Of the Environment and Sustainability and created a High School Sustainability Guide (HSSG) to give students the tools to lower greenhouse gas emissions at their school. She won a Teen Innovation Grant which allowed the HSSG to become a thriving and dynamic website. Sascha is also on the STEAM committee, and her team won first place in the annual Jet Propulsion Laboratory Invention Challenge. Sascha loves tutoring young kids in science. She is also a founding junior member of THE XX FUND, a giving circle that makes grants to nonprofits serving women and girls in LA. Sascha is excited to be a Coro Youth Fellow, and can’t wait to learn how to be an effective leader and networker.