Riya graduated from Gettysburg College with a major in Economics and a minor in Data Science. Now, Riya is an Operations Support Associate at Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, where her work promotes women empowerment, peace, stability, and justice. In summer 2022, Riya participated in the Eisenhower Institute’s Washington Summer Fellowship in which she got to learn about important policy issues and how decisions are made in the nation’s capital. In Fall 2021, she did a semester exchange at Lancaster University, UK. 

Throughout her time at Gettysburg, Riya worked as a Library Student Supervisor where she assisted in training new student hires and overseeing overall user services performance. She was also a Peer Research Mentor in which she helped students with research related inquiries. 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 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 empowerment. She aspires to continue her work for international organizations to promote sustainable economic development while improving the living standards of the underserved population in developing countries through data-supported policy implementation and evaluation.

Watch her leadership speech here.