EDC YOUNG ADULT COUNCIL
The mission of the Young Adult Council (YAC) is promote the policies & legislative endeavors of the EDC by supplementing the legislativeprocess with teen and young adult feedback, advocacy & support. Members will make a difference by getting involved in research & education, planning community events & raising support for EDC’s legislation.
BLOG SERIES
MEMBERS
Kelsey Wu, California
Kelsey is a high school senior living in California. After recovering from an eating disorder at the age of 14, she set out to make an impact on the global eating disorder epidemic. After founding her own community non-profit For You, Kelsey has also gotten involved in key national and state eating disorder prevention legislation initiatives such as the Out of Kid's Hands Bill, Nutritional CARE Act, SERVE Act, and the CA Kid's Design Code.
Chuying Huo, Ontario
Chuying is a high school junior living in Canada. She is a research intern at the Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard STRIPED Youth Corps member, and National Initiative for Eating Disorder Youth Advisory Board member. Amidst the havoc of the pandemic, Chuying discovered a passion for making a social impact and working on policy initiatives alongside individuals. She harnessed the power of storytelling to advance eating disorder prevention advocacy.
Najman Mahbouba, California
Najman is a high school junior living in the California. He has worked on numerous public policy projects at Harvard STRIPED, UC Santa Barbara, and San Jose State University. Najman is the Executive Director of the Policy Initiatives Institute, a public policy education non-profit seeking to revitalize policy action by youth and a champion for eating disorders policy.
Jaanak Prashar, Texas
Jaanak is a high school junior living in Texas. He has always been fascinated by the relationship between public health and research. Jaanak aspirations lie in mitigating inequities in the healthcare field through advocacy and science. As an eating disorders advocate, Jaanak is passionate about meeting with lawmakers to create change.
Meghana Nakkanti, Missouri
Meghana is a high school senior living in Missouri. She is passionate about eating disorders advocacy, public health, and policy. She is the co-founder and peer leader Nixa Strong Coalition, a mental health organization at her school and serves as a youth advocate for Harvard STRIPED. She aims to make a difference through collaboration, research, and education.
Edward Thomas, Illinois
Edward is a high school junior living in Illinois. After experiencing a series of body dysmorphic episodes in his early high school career, Edward realized how body-image and eating disorders are simultaneously glamorized by popular media, yet largely ignored in men and those of South Asian descent--people like him. Realizing this as a barrier to care, Edward was driven to advocate with the EDC, to help start conversations and collaborate through policy to bring these conversations to a stage they can be heard.
Annalee Drumm, Pennsylvania
Annalee is a high school senior living in Pennsylvania. She has been volunteering with the EDC since 2020 and knows firsthand how difficult navigating life with an eating disorder can be. Annalee is a member of Representative Mary Gay Scanlon’s (D-PA) Congressional Youth Cabinet, meeting with the congresswoman monthly and presenting memos to encourage her to sign onto legislation pushed by the EDC. With passion and my interest in policy, Annalee hopes to make positive changes nationally and spread awareness for a widespread issue that is so often neglected.
Julia Hark, Louisiana
Julia is a student in Delgado Community College's American Sign Language Interpreting Program in New Orleans, Louisiana and is a recent graduate of Tulane University where she obtained her BA in Gender & Sexuality Studies with minors in Psychology and Classics. She is a writer, mental health advocate, and performer. Her honors thesis, “Diet Culture and the Beauty Industry: A Contemporary Manifestation of the American Freakshow,” explores how the freakshow still exists in today’s diet culture through the binary of the desirable vs undesirable body; illusion of control over the body; and manipulation of the body on display for profit. In high school, Julia wrote an original cabaret entitled, "Public Privacy," about the challenges young women face today; the show was the winner of a short play project and produced briefly off-Broadway. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in social work before becoming a Child Life Specialist.
Ryan Dunk, Maryland
Ryan lives in Maryland and is a recent graduate of Suffolk University where he obtained a BA in Psychology. He was a competitive figure skater for over 10 years and was a Team USA athlete from 2017 until 2022. Ryan was an intern with Harvard STRIPED where he helped advocate for state legislation to protect children from harmful weight loss and muscle building supplements. He was also intern at Boston Children’s Hospital in the eating disorder department where I assisted with a study related to atypical anorexia nervosa. Ryan hopes to become a psychologist in the future and plan to apply to graduate school programs in about a year.
William Hornby, New York
William lives in New York and is a recent graduate from Temple University where he obtained his BBA in Business Management and BFA in Musical Theater. He is at the forefront of raising awareness for men with eating disorders with his advocacy on social media. William speaks publicly on advocacy, mental health, and eating disorder recovery. He travels around the world both in person and virtually giving workshops and presentations on “The Power of Becoming the Advocate You Needed”. He is the recipient of the William Donald Schaefer Helping People Award for 2021 and has collaborated with the National Alliance for Eating Disorders and The National Eating Disorder Association. William is also a singer-songwriter with music about recovery and mental health, including "Clay", touted as a body neutral anthem.
Sarina Deb, California
Sarina lives in California and is a senior at Stanford University studying political science, psychology, and human rights. As someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, she is passionate about utilizing political advocacy, research, and direct mobilization to fight for a healthier and more equitable society for people struggling with mental health issues and body image struggles. She has interned for Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA-14), and several nonprofits, and runs the club Students Against Eating Disorders on Stanford’s campus where she leads weekly support groups and trains staff on eating disorders.
Camille Whitcraft, Ohio
Camille lives in Ohio and is second year clinical psychology doctoral student at Wright State University School of Professional Psychology. She graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Wright State University in 2020. Camille’s dissertation focuses on program development for a size diversity training for teachers and faculty in the school system. Her current clinical experience is in the college counseling community, and my hope is to settle in a child/adolescent focus. Eating disorders and body image concerns are both a clinical focus and passion of hers, and she focuses on body neutrality/acceptance/liberation, as well intuitive eating.