EXECUTIVE BOARD
Esther Kwon
Vice President
EMAIL: HAK140@PITT.EDU
Esther Kwon is a junior on the pre-dental track majoring in Natural Sciences and pursuing a Conceptual Foundations of Medicine certificate. She has been in Breakthrough for three years and likes how Breakthrough helps students in the Pittsburgh community grow through one-on-one tutoring. She joined BT because she enjoys helping and seeing students reach their academic goals throughout the year!
Elysia Fabian
Business Manager
EMAIL: EMF145@PITT.EDU
Elysia Fabian is a sophomore on the pre-law track majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Spanish and Law, Criminal Justice, and Society. She has been in Breakthrough since fall 2022 and loves how Breakthrough gives her a hands-on opportunity to impact her community through volunteer work. Elysia joined Breakthrough out of a passion for tutoring and can’t wait to see where this year takes her as a member of the E-Board!
Sarika Bapat
Chief of External Affairs
EMAIL: SAB372@PITT.EDU
Sarika Bapat is a junior on the pre-research/public health track majoring in Microbiology , minoring in Chemistry and Applied Statistics, and pursuing a Global Health Certificate. She has been in Breakthrough since the spring semester of her freshman year and enjoys how the tutors really get a chance to connect with their students not only through the tutoring sessions, but also from the external events that we are allowed to attend where we can really connect with the students further. Sarika is really passionate about tutoring and helping those students who are in need of academic resources, and Breakthrough was the perfect community to allow her to continue tutoring students!
Pooja Chawla
Tutor Coordinator
EMAIL: POC9@PITT.EDU
A Pitt 2022 grad, Pooja Chawla is now also in her second year of her master’s program in Bioengineering on the Molecular, Cellular, and Systems Engineering track. She has been in Breakthrough for six years and really likes that as a club we're like a family and that we're able to provide our students with the resources needed to go to college. Pooja co-founded Breakthrough to help our students have a more stable tutoring resource, and we are so excited to work with her again this year!
Riya Patel
President
EMAIL: RKP29@PITT.EDU
Riya Patel is a senior on the pre-dental track majoring in Neuroscience, minoring in Chemistry, and pursuing a Conceptual Foundations of Medicine certificate. She has been in Breakthrough since fall 2021 (her sophomore year) and enjoys not only being able to guide and inspire young tutees, but also helping tutors grow as college students. Riya has always enjoyed tutoring and guiding students to help them achieve their academic goals. Breakthrough allows her to do this while helping increase access to education for underserved students!