2024–2025 Executive Team

Varaa Kukreti is a second-year international student from India pursuing a Master's degree in Cybersecurity at the University of Maryland. She is actively engaged in research and aspires to earn a doctorate in the same field. She constantly upskills through courses, certifications, and CTFs and holds a CEH certification. Varaa has served as the Cybersecurity Program Representative, Co-Chair of the Student Affairs Committee at GSG and is a member of the Student IT Advisory Committee (ITAC). She earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from Cummins College of Engineering for Women in Pune, India, where she diligently participated as a student representative at the Society of Women Engineers. Varaa also brings professional experience from her roles as a member of technical staff at Cohesity and an intern at D. E. Shaw.

Divon Pender is a second-year Master’s degree candidate at the University of Maryland-College
Park. While studying Higher Education at UMD, Divon supports the Office of Undergraduate
Admissions as the Graduate Assistant for Diversity Initiatives. Divon previously served as the
2023-24 Higher Education Program’s Representative for the Graduate Student Government. He
chaired the Community Development Committee and served as a member of the Diversity &
Inclusion Committee and the Legislative Action Committee.

 

Mikol Bailey is a PhD candidate in History, specializing in Jewish history in early modern Poland. Their dissertation uses Polish court records to examine relations between Jews and their neighbors in the city of Lublin, Poland at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Mikol was awarded a Fulbright grant in 2021–2022 to conduct archival research in Poland. Mikol has previously served as the History program representative in GSG, an officer in the History Graduate Student Association, and as Treasurer of Graduate Students with Disabilities. A resident of the DMV since starting college at the George Washington University in 2004, they live in Maryland with their husband Alan and cat Bertie.

Keegan Clements-Housser is a Ph.D. candidate at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at University of Maryland, College Park. His research focus is on mapping and bridging the rigor-relevance divide or the "knowledge gap" between practicing journalists and journalism scholars. Prior to this, he spent a decade as a journalist, media analyst, and consultant in Portland, Oregon. He was a research assistant at Urbanism Next, a University of Oregon-based research center focused on investigating the impacts of automation and e-commerce on urban planning and design. He was also project manager at Gather, an Agora Journalism Center-based project and platform to support community-minded journalists and other engagement professionals. Prior to his role as Director of Operations, Keegan was the Journalism Studies (JOST) representative to GSG from 2022-2024, where he served in a variety of capacities, including chairing the 2022-2023 Student Affairs Committee.

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Riya Singh is a graduate student at the University of Maryland, pursuing a Master of Science in Finance at the Smith School of Business. With a background in Economics and Biology, she brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to financial analysis and problem-solving. Riya has held leadership positions, including Chief Financial Officer of the Student Government Association, where she managed a $2.7 million budget and led a team in funding over 500 student organizations. She also gained valuable research experience as an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Biopsychology Department, contributing to studies on dyslexia using EEG technology. In addition, Riya has been an active volunteer at Shady Grove Hospital and a dedicated member of the Red Cross.