Riya graduated from Gettysburg College with a major in Economics and a minor in Data Science. Riya is currently an Operations Support Associate at Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, where her work promotes women’s empowerment, peace, stability, and justice. Before graduating, Riya interned at Vital Voices as a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning intern and at Voice of America’s Khmer Service as a Journalism intern. She graduated cum laude and earned the Student Employee of the Year (2022-2023) award for her work at Musselman Library. In summer 2022, Riya participated in the Eisenhower Institute’s Washington Summer Fellowship, where she learned about important policy issues and the decision-making process in the nation’s capital. In Fall 2021, she spent a semester studying abroad at Lancaster University in the UK. 

Throughout her time at Gettysburg, Riya worked as a Library Student Supervisor and was also a Peer Research Mentor. In her first year, she was selected to represent Gettysburg at the National Leadership and Diversity Convention and was also a member of the President’s Advisory Group for Inclusion and Belonging.

Before joining SHE-CAN and coming to the U.S, Riya organized a fundraiser to provide necessary school supplies to 47 primary school students back in her hometown in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia and was a very involved youth advocate at Transparency International Cambodia where she attended trainings, implemented a community project, went on a study tour in Malaysia, and was a guest speaker on a national radio show discussing her involvement in social activities. 

Riya is passionate about international economic development, education, and women’s empowerment. She aspires to continue her work with international organizations, promoting sustainable economic development and improving the living standards of underserved populations in developing countries through data-driven policy implementation and evaluation.

Watch her leadership speech here.