BSEL Undergraduate Social Impact Scholars Program

Aryana Mahmud is a rising senior studying Accounting and Finance. Born and raised in Bangladesh, she is passionate about social welfare development through the lens of sustainable finance, particularly in the areas of education and gender equality. She has experience in social entrepreneurship, financial literacy education, and business journalism. Her goal is to be a global citizen leveraging international cooperation to drive inclusive growth, to which end she has participated in social impact initiatives in Greece, Australia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and the US.

Gina Djekkoun is a rising junior at the University of Southern California, majoring in Business Administration. Having spent part of her childhood in France with an Arab father and Latina mother, Gina has cultivated a strong passion for international consulting, uniquely positioning her to navigate diverse cultures. In her current role at a nonprofit organization, she leads initiatives that leverage data-driven insights to strengthen financial planning, optimize organizational growth, and design community-driven programs. With a background that blends consulting and data analytics, Gina is committed to using data strategically to support businesses and drive impactful social change.

Luke Chaplain is a rising junior from Portland, Oregon, majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a minor in Music Production. His academic and extracurricular pursuits center around sustainability, creative expression, mental health advocacy, and a deep appreciation for the natural world. He currently serves as Vice President of Mental Health and Wellness for Pi Kappa Alpha, a Design and Make Ambassador for Autodesk, and an instructor with SCout Science Outreach, where he teaches STEM lessons to elementary students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has also performed as a drummer in USC’s Classical Crossover and Studio Guitar Ensembles, blending artistic performance with technical skill. Outside of campus, Luke enjoys exploring the outdoors through surfing, hiking, and backpacking. He hopes to build a career that bridges engineering, environmental stewardship, and creativity to design systems that enrich both people and the planet.

Matthew Wong (they/them) is a first-generation rising senior from Oakland, CA, studying American Popular Culture with a minor in Media, Economics, and Entrepreneurship at USC. Driven by a passion for social impact through storytelling and technology, they’ve served on the executive boards of the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly and Asian Pacific Cinema Association, and supported early-stage ventures through TroyLabs, USC’s premier startup accelerator. Beyond campus leadership, Matthew believes in creativity as a catalyst for social change and is always eager to hear others' stories.

Max Garibay-Deasy is a member of the World Bachelor in Business program, a collaboration between USC, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. He's passionate about issues in Latin American development and sustainability, having interned at Juguete Pendiente, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Boston Consulting Group. He hopes to continue this work through a career that blends his interests in the private and social impact sectors.

Niloofar Sahimi is a rising junior from Los Angeles, California, double majoring in Environmental Studies and Legal Studies. She is deeply passionate about advancing climate justice through sustainable innovations, environmental education, and community empowerment. Her ultimate goal is to pursue transformative solutions through the intersection of environmental epidemiology and public policy to promote global resilience and strengthen environmental governance across all sectors. Beyond campus, she serves as a Los Angeles County Youth Climate Commissioner, where she advises the Board of Supervisors on climate action for youth under 18 and collaborates with government departments to champion equitable, community-driven policy initiatives.

Nnenna Onwe is a rising junior from Columbus, Ohio, studying Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance at the USC Marshall School of Business. She is also pursuing a Master’s in Data Science through USC’s Progressive Degree Program. Nnenna is passionate about economic development and advocacy for underrepresented communities, and she holds leadership roles in USC Techie and Global Brigades at Marshall. She aspires to combine her interests in social impact and consulting to drive meaningful change in the future.

Owen Salmon is a rising junior from the Bay Area majoring in Business Administration. He currently leads Spark SC’s Activist Incubator, an initiative that empowers emerging activists to grow their skills in the social entrepreneurship space. He also serves as a Student Ambassador (Tour Guide) at the USC Admission Center, a Resident Assistant for first-year students, and holds leadership positions in USC Helenes, Society 53, and Avenues Consulting Group. He hopes to one day enter the social impact and nonprofit sector, working to drive meaningful change in his community.

Renée Torres is a visionary changemaker dedicated to shaping a more just and inclusive society. As a Dean’s List student with a Public Policy major and Social Entrepreneurship minor at the University of Southern California, she leverages her leadership, research, and advocacy skills to drive meaningful community impact. From grassroots organizing to social innovation, Renée is committed to amplifying historically omitted voices and pioneering solutions for systemic change, especially within the Latine community.

Shawnell Sims-Ceballos, a first-generation student from Chicago, majoring in Legal Studies and minoring in Law and Public Policy. Her life’s goal is to become a civil rights attorney and policymaker to uplift her community through social reform. She is also deeply passionate about criminal justice reform, civil and human rights, poverty reduction, and educational equity. She hopes to one day start a non-profit organization that addresses the school-to-prison pipeline and inspires the youth. Among other leadership roles, she serves as the President of the Wrongful Convictions Club at USC, where she works to address the U.S. Justice System’s most heinous miscarriages of justice and give a voice to innocent people behind bars. Outside of school, she contributes to social impact work through public service, holding know your rights clinics, and assisting in legal aid services.

Shivi Anand is an undergraduate student at USC pursuing the BS Global Geodesign major, Applied Analytics minor and Hayes Barnard Sustainability Fellowship. She has a passion for environmental sustainability which she explores at city-scale through geodesign, at the scale of a business firm through past work, and increasingly at the international scale. Shivi is excited to learn more about the business worldand to apply her skills in data, design, geography, and sustainability.

Valerie Aronhalt is a rising senior pursuing a Progressive Master of Public Policy, a B.A. in International Relations, and a minor in Cyber Security. Growing up in Lima, Peru, she became passionate about global affairs and human rights from a young age. She has interned at the U.S. Department of State and the Los Angeles Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department, experiences that strengthened her commitment to public service and social justice. She is committed to advancing human rights considerations across diverse sectors. On campus she is the Director of Finance for Helenes, a Research Assistant for the Center for Advanced Genocide Research and formerly the Vice President for DPE, USC’s Foreign Service Society.

Mike McGalliard, for over three decades, has been an educator and social entrepreneur, building companies, schools, and campaigns that advance the educational achievement and well-being of children. He founded or co-founded multiple organizations, including LA Promise Fund, a leader in school reform and neighborhood empowerment in the LAUSD. As a start-up leader and team-builder, Mike has helped launch or restructure several schools and organizations (traditional, private, and charter) and served as CEO across four nonprofits. Mike has worked alongside renowned change-makers, including Jamie Oliver, Goldie Hawn, Pharrell Williams, and Common. He has designed large-scale education initiatives with global brands such as Google, Amazon, Boeing, and Disney. Mike was named Champion in LEGO’s Re-Imagine Learning Challenge and an Ashoka “Globalizer Fellow.” Mike is currently founder and CEO of The Firebrand Co., a social impact design studio based in Los Angeles.

Daryl-Lynn Roberts, as Vice President of Business Development at Visage Energy, is responsible for originating and cultivating new business opportunities as well as relationships with clients. She started and now leads the clean energy technology commercialization consulting group in the focus areas of Carbon Management (Point Source Capture, Carbon Utilization and Direct Air Capture), Microgrids, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, and Grid Modeling (technologies at TRL 3-7). Daryl-Lynn has 15+ years of experience within the clean energy industry. Most notably, she co-managed the first of a kind pre-FEED NGCC + CCS retrofit study within the western region involving California IOUs, NETL, and CEC. She coordinated the Technical CCS Regional Stakeholder Collaborative Initiative which included CA utilities, CPUC, CEC, and NETL culminating in the Blue Ribbon multi agency CCUS panel. She also assisted in the collaboration of the $35MM CPUC funded High Performance Computing CA Energy System for 21st Century (CES-21) Initiative Partnership with LLNL and CA IOUs for grid modeling and cyber security.  Prior to Visage Energy, she worked as a financial analyst at Moore Clayton & Company, a program manager at Vernier Networks, and an assistant product manager at Zaplet Daryl-Lynn has served on the Board of Directors for the Coalition for Clean Air (2009-2012), National Utilities Diversity Council (current), and Los Angeles African American Public Policy Institute (current). Daryl-Lynn received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School in 2004. She also received her Master of Science in Industrial Engineering in 2002 from Stanford University where her primary emphasis was Entrepreneurship. In 2000, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.