Sunni is the proud inaugural Executive Director of RYSE. After four years coordinating programs at the Utah Refugee Services Office and a year of sheep-tending and bread-baking in France, she cashed in a lifetime of good fortune to move to Providence for this job. Since June 2023, Sunni has managed the operations, expanded the vision, and fueled the dreams of RYSE and its annual programs: Camp RYSE and RYPM. The daughter of two career educators, she is passionate about making learning accessible and joyful for all, and considers it the privilege of a lifetime to be a part of this beautiful community. In addition to her work, Sunni loves pottery and poetry, plunging in deep bodies of water, and cheering for every single team in the WNBA.

Bella is a Camp RYSE Coordinator AmeriCorps member! Bella started as a tutor for BRYTE in their first semester at Brown in the fall of 2025, and have just recently joined Camp RYSE as a coordinator. They are studying language and communication, and are excited to improve their language skills this summer. In their free time, they like to play the piano, read, and spend time outside!

Birukie is a Camp RYSE Coordinator AmeriCorps member studying at Stonehill College. She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in sociology and a minor in data analytics. She is interested in non-profit work and sustainable development both locally and in her home country, Ethiopia. Birukie previously volunteered with the non profit, EAF; Ethiopian Adoptees Foundation as the marketing director from 2023-2025. She is excited to step into this new role as a Camp RYSE coordinator! In her free time, Birukie enjoys hiking, playing soccer, basketball, reading, staying active, and spending time in nature.

David is a Camp RYSE Coordinator AmeriCorps member and a sophomore at Brown University studying Public Health on the premedical track. He hopes to become a physician, and that same commitment to service and civic engagement shapes his work in education and mentorship with refugee and immigrant communities. Outside of RYSE, he plays drums, competes on the volleyball court, and feels most at home on a team working toward something bigger than himself.

Inari is a Camp RYSE Coordinator Americorps Member! As a junior at Brown University, she studies International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies and is currently brainstorming a thesis on diasporic African and Arab identities and the power of dance. After a semester abroad in Amman, Jordan she is even more passionate about Arabic and intercultural learning. Four months as a volunteer English language teacher has made Inari eager to continue learning Arabic and the world through exchange. In her free time, she dances eight hours a week with Brown’s African dance team, sings, and performs with a friend group full of musicians. She also likes to get outside and backpack. Her favorite time of day is any mealtime with a TV show rewatch involved!

Meghan was a founding member of the RYSE Board in 2022 and currently serves as Board Co-Chair. Meghan was a counselor at Camp RYSE from 2016-2018 and volunteered at RYPM’s inaugural Summit in 2017. After teaching for four years within the Providence Public School Department, where many RYSE kiddos are students, Meghan is taking on the role of BRYTE Fellow to support the running of RYSE’s sister organization, BRYTE. Meghan loves all things education, learning, and basketball related.

Sophie was a founding member of the RYSE Board in 2022 and currently serves as Co-Chair on the Board. As an undergraduate at Brown University, Sophie’s sister encouraged them to volunteer with RYSE and since then Sophie has not stopped telling everyone in their life about the incredible RYSE community and encouraging everyone to get involved however they can. When not dreaming up graphics and communications campaigns for Camp RYSE, Sophie spends their time swimming in the ocean, doodling, and looking around.e

Alexander joined the RYSE Board in 2023 and currently serves as Treasurer after a stint as Fundraising Chair. He first got involved in Camp RYSE in the summer of 2015 as a Senior Counselor convincing high schoolers why solving for x was indeed a worthwhile pursuit. He studied Computer Science and Middle East Studies at Brown and now splits his time bassooning, moonlighting as a sommelier, cheering for the Bills, and working as a software engineer for the D. E. Shaw group. He lives with his boyfriend, Miller, and his dog Zayne in New York City.

Currently serving as the chair of the Fundraising Committee, VyVy was a founding member of the RYSE Board in 2022 and served as Co-Chair of the Board until 2025. She has been deeply involved with RYSE since 2013, when she first served as a tutor with RYSE’s sister organization, BRYTE, and then as Camp Co-Director in 2014 and 2015. She is an obstetrician-gynecologist at the Providence Community Health Centers, serving the Olneyville community. She is also a cartoonist and writer who publishes nonfiction comics under the moniker VyVy Wonder. Her work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Rumpus, Popula, Ruminate, The Intima, Commune, and more. She lives in the West End of Providence with her husband Paul, aka Peapod, and their son Kahlil.

Jeanelle was introduced to the welcoming community of the RYSE Board thanks to her friend Nelson, and currently serves as Programming Committee chair. She was first connected to the Providence refugee community while a student at Brown through volunteering at Dorcas International Institute from 2015 to 2020. She also worked as an ESL English teacher in Providence Public Schools at West Broadway Middle School. After moving to Colorado, she facilitated English conversation and citizenship classes to the refugee community through her work at the Denver Public Library. Currently she works at Montclair State University, supporting students in accessing global exchange opportunities. When she is not daydreaming about her return back to Providence, she loves learning languages, playing clarinet, and riding RIPTA! :)

Alisa joined the RYSE board in 2024 and previously served as Board Co-Chair. She got involved with RYSE’s sister organization, BRYTE, while she was in college in 2015. She started out as a tutor and then went on to become a coordinator and director. Over the summer she was also a RYSE summer camp volunteer and camp driver. As the daughter of an elementary school teacher, Alisa is passionate about education and creating community. She credits BRYTE and the refugee community in Providence for teaching her much of what she knows about how to build community and care for others. Alisa recently graduated law school and works as an attorney, focused on advocating for children’s rights.

Nelson joined the inaugural Board in 2022 by accident through his friend Sophie Duncan, but he already knew about RYSE from his friends - former tutees/directors Mechack and Fabrice. He sees his role as a swiss army knife, plugging into jobs that are needed: he first served as co-chair of the Finance Committee, acted as liaison between the money and the laws teams, and now uses his knowledge of RI and network in Providence to help out on the Fundraising Committee. In his spare time he enjoys listening to international talk radios, and is interested in engineering and international development.

Mechack was a founding member of the RYSE Board. RYSE has played a significant role in Mechack's life. As a former camper and tutee with BRYTE, RYSE’s sister organization, Mechack experienced firsthand the transformative power of RYSE. He attended Camp RYSE from 2009 to 2012. After graduating from Camp, Mechack returned as a Junior Counselor from 2012 to 2014 and later served as Co-Director from 2015 to 2018.

Mechack attended Rhode Island College, where he was a student athlete, playing on the Men's Soccer Team while studying Computer Science and Math. Currently, he works as a software engineer at Amberflo.io.

Vanessa is a founding member of the RYSE Board in 2022 and a former Camp Junior Counselor (2015) and Senior Counselor (2016). Her two years at camp sparked her passion for working with young people. During her undergraduate years, she furthered her experience by working on a research project on dating violence and bullying prevention in middle and high school students at Rhode Island Hospital Psychiatry. Currently, she is the youth program coordinator at Women's Refugee Care—one of her dream jobs! She also occasionally teaches catechism to first communion kids in her church community. She enjoys rewatching New Girl and reading romance novels with diverse characters in her free time.

Sarah joined the RYSE Board in 2023 and is on the Fundraising Committee. She majored in History and Africana Studies at Brown, where she served as a tutor with RYSE’s sister organization, BRYTE, from 2007-2011. She is Manager of Foundation Relations at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s Office of Development, and volunteered as a mentor for the Refugee Employment Partnership from 2016-2021. She lives in New York City with her husband, Mark, and her children Ben and Chloe.

Sara Winnick has been a part of BRYTE/RYSE since she started at Brown in 2011. She began as a tutor of the wonderful Dahaba Tukka (Camp RYSE Director in 2024) for four years, going on to coordinate the academic year program, serve as a Senior Counselor at camp in 2013, and direct camp in the summers of 2015 and 2016. Most recently she has joined the team again as the Teacher Mentor for the newly born Camp RYSE in 2023 and 2024. When not working on RYSE, Sara is a middle school English and History teacher, halfway through her 10th year in the classroom. She loves biking, basketball, and bagels, and lives and works in Brooklyn, the best city for all three.

Danielle first became involved with Providence’s refugee community in 2011 as an undergraduate at Brown University, where she served as a coordinator and tutor for BRYTE, RYSE’s sister organization. Her work with BRYTE was a formative part of her college experience. Danielle joined the RYSE Board in 2024 and serves on the Communications Committee. She is passionate about writing, storytelling, and working with young people.

Danielle received her MD through the Humanities and Medicine program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and works in Product at a healthcare technology company. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and enjoys spending time with her family, including three of her four siblings who also live in Brooklyn. She loves movies, running, reflecting, and exploring nature in her home state of Maine.

Emma learned about RYSE through her friends Jeanelle & Nelson and AMOR’s transportation network! She joined the Board in 2025 after witnessing the joy of the four campers she got to know as a volunteer driver and currently serves on the Fundraising Committee. Emma is the Associate Director of Education and Community at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, Project Manager for the Casting a Wider Net Community Oral History Project at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, and recently launched a podcast exploring how our personal and political transformation is intertwined. She sees her role as a conduit: connecting people, ideas, and resources to redistribute power. Emma recently moved to Providence, RI where she first witnessed the magic of culturally responsive educational spaces as a student teacher at Breakthrough Providence! She was thrilled to learn that some of her former students are now Camp Counselors at RYSE! Emma loves an unexpected connection, a meaty question, Champa’s duck noodle soup, and any chance she gets to dance, write, or listen to someone’s story.