YMCA TEXAS MODEL UNITED NATIONS
MEET THE SECRETARIAT
SECRETARY GENERAL, Lindsey Khuu
Hey everyone! My name is Lindsey Khuu and I am honored to be your 2022-2023 Texas Model United Nations Secretary General! I have been in Model UN since I was a freshman and my love and commitment to this program has only grown stronger over the past couple of years.
Growing up, I have always been interested in helping others, whether it was washing the dishes or cutting up veggies. However, as I grew older, the world of politics and social injustice sparked a light of interest within me which encouraged me to join my local YMCA’s Model United Nations. This program has played an instrumental role to shape me into who I am now. I have been able to learn so much about current issues in our communities, and make new connections and friendships with people all over the state of Texas.
To tell you a little about myself, I am a junior at Garland High School in Garland, Texas. In addition to Model UN, I have also been a part of the YMCA’s Youth and Government Program for 5 years and have been the Top Chair/Clerk team at District and State for the past 4 years! In my free time, I love playing and listening to music. Fun fact: I actually know how to play 9 instruments! Because of that, I am an avid fine arts student within my school, participating in marching band, jazz band, orchestra, and choir! I’m excited about this upcoming year in Model United Nations and look forward to making our 2022-2023 TXMUN an incredible experience!
DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL, Kate Markham
Hey, y'all! My name is Kate Markham, and I'm really excited to be serving as your Texas Model UN Deputy Secretary General! I have participated in Model United Nations for 5 years now as both a chair and delegate, and I am incredibly grateful to be giving back to our amazing community as a member of the secretariat. I served last year as the Undersecretary of Education and I had a total blast, so I'm thrilled to be back with y'all this year!
I am a senior at New Tech High @ Coppell in the DFW area. I am an officer in my school’s own chapter of Model United Nations, and also serve as a captain for Ensign Speech and Debate club in Dallas. I love public speaking and discussion, and have competed and placed in regional and national championships in both Lincoln-Douglas debate, Team Policy debate, and platform and limited prep speech. I love spending my time in my school’s choir, my symphony orchestra, and playing piano. In my free time, I enjoy working as a lifeguard, running long-distance, weightlifting, and hanging out with my friends and family. I look forward to seeing you all in person and making 2022-2023 TXMUN an incredible experience for all of us!
UNDER SECRETARY OF CONFERENCE, Balakrishna Ravulapalli
Hi delegates! My name is Balakrishna (Bala) Ravulapalli, and I am honored to serve as your Texas Model UN Undersecretary of Conference! This will be my third year participating in Model UN, and as a member of the secretariat, I am committed to developing a collaborative and change-maker culture in MUN.
A bit about me - I am a junior at Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas, where I am an officer for Liberty’s MUN program. In addition to MUN, I serve as a VP for my school’s DECA chapter, and I have competed in a variety of academic organizations, including Business Professionals of America as well as UIL’s solo and band programs. Outside of the classroom, I applied my passion for computer science and machine learning to launch NatLang AI, an EdTech startup focused on automating the quiz creation process. In my free time, you can find me playing jazz charts on my tenor saxophone, obsessing over 85°C Cafe’s mango-peach smoothie, or getting absolutely destroyed at Valorant. In the coming year, I aim to grow the TXMUN delegation, and I am excited to share my MUN experience with all of you!
UNDER SECRETARY OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH, Hiya Sharma
Hello, my name is Hiya Sharma, and I am thrilled to be serving as your Texas Model UN Under Secretary of Education and Outreach! I have participated in Model United Nations for ten years as both a chair and delegate. I am incredibly thankful to be giving back to Model UN as a secretariat member this year.
To tell you more about myself, I am a senior at Liberty High School in Frisco. At school, you will find me advocating with organizations such as UNICEF and Girl Up or programming a new app. Outside the classroom, I love teaching kids, from refugee students to debate students. I additionally help advocate by writing newsletters at organizations such as Elevate your Game. Some things I love to do for fun include playing basketball and watching KDramas. I am delighted to be sharing my MUN experience with delegates and wish to learn more about your viewpoints on urgent global topics! I look forward to seeing everyone and making 2022-2023 TXMUN an incredible experience!
UNDER SECRETARY OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE, Aman Chiniwala
Hey y’all! My name is Aman Chiniwala and I greatly look forward to serving as your Undersecretary of Parlimentary Procedure for the 2022-2023 school year! I have been a part of MUN ever since my freshman year of high school, it has played a vital part of shaping who I am today, and I love it dearly.
When I entered highschool as a freshman, while awfully extroverted, I was never able to communicate myself clearly and concisely, and for that reason I struggled a lot early on. However, MUN was able to help teach me so multiple things like public speaking, how to research effectively, and many more soft skills that are vital in the real world. Overall, MUN has transformed my life and I hope to give back to the very same community that has helped build me up.
Outside of MUN, I am a senior at New Tech High @ Coppell and I aspire enroll in UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business. Some of my hobbies include playing sports (soccer mostly), reading books (fantasy), cooking (not baking), and playing video games (Minecraft)! Choir is also one of my passions, and after 7+ years of choir, I happily take part in my schools varsity chamber choir. I love talking and meeting new people, and socialization in general is my strongest passion of them all. If y’all see me walking around feel free to approach me because I’d love to talk to and get to know you all. I look forward to making this years TXMUN experience phenomenal!
UNDER SECRETARY OF MEDIA, Saesha Dravekar
Hi, delegates! My name is Saesha Dravekar, I'm from Frisco, Texas and I’m so excited to serve as your Secretary of Media for the 2022-23 year. I’ve been a part of Model UN since my freshman year and have recently served as videographer and editor of the media team. I hope to be able to capture the fun moments and memories that Model UN has to offer this year as well as connect with all you fellow delegates!
Aside from Model UN, I attend Liberty High School in Frisco, TX and I'm currently a senior. In addition, I'm a Kathak dancer of 7 years, enjoy baking and binge-watching shows, listening to music (R&B <3), and absolutely adore taking naps. At school, I'm involved in my high school orchestra as a violinist and have been playing for 6 years now and I am part of HOSA as well as RedCross. I work at Montessori tutoring kids, which I adore doing because they are so much fun to be around and always have some interesting ideas to share. One of my favorite experiences this summer was volunteering at a local hospital clinic and making connections with a bunch of new people. Similarly, I hope to be able to make y'alls TXMUN experience fun and enjoyable this year, see ya! :)
Associate Public Information Officer, Giselle Ransom
Hello, fellow delegates! My name is Giselle Ransom and I will be serving as your Texas Model
UN Associate Public Information officer for 2022-2023! This will be my 3rd year participating in
Model UN. I look forward to helping improve this program, so future delegates can continue to
grow and gain confidence.
I am currently a junior at Lawrence Dale Bell High School in Hurst, Texas. At school, I am an
officer of my Student Council, a part of the Model UN club, and participate in my Environmental
Science club. This summer I will be a NASA SEES intern working at UT Austin, under the Mars
Rover Resource Utilization team. Outside of school, I create art using many mediums, sewing
clothes, and binge-watching my favorite shows. I am so excited for another great year of Texas
Model UN with inspiring delegates.
Junior Under Secretary of Conference, Amir Smith
Hello Delegates! My name is Amir Smith and I am obliged to be your 2022-2023 YMCA Texas Model UN Junior Under Secretary of Conference ever since 8th grade I have had great experiences with this program and I am so exited to share that with all of you!
I am a sophomore at ILTexas Keller Saginaw High School, in addition to MUN I also participate in Taekwondo, as well as Open Voice Advocacy which is a club that advocates for certain minorities. This is only my second year in MUN and I hope that I can make this the greatest! I look forward to making this 2022-2023 conferences an unforgettable experience.