YouthFund
The people behind YouthFund.
YouthFund is a program of GuidedPath Navigators, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York. A board of directors holds legal and fiduciary responsibility. Every director serves pro bono and is personally invested in the mission. An advisory board is here for guidance and suggestions only, with no governing role, and a student-run executive committee of high schoolers runs the program day to day. Everyone involved works pro bono for a cause we deeply believe in, and we have no compensated executives.
Board of directors
Our directors hold the legal and fiduciary responsibility for YouthFund. Every one of them serves pro bono and is personally invested in the mission.
Ariel Zhu
Founder & Board Chair
Ariel is a proud Brown alumna and a longtime advocate for education equity, with more than a decade of work across the United States and China advancing access, opportunity, and cultural and educational exchange. A practitioner and an emerging leader in education policy scholarship, she is currently pursuing her MPA at Columbia SIPA and her PhD in higher education at Columbia University. She is a fellow of the Center for Public Research and Leadership at Columbia Law School, where the work centers on strengthening the K-12 education sector, and an Institute of Global Politics Student Scholar, where she engages regularly with global movers and shapers and with leading scholars in world affairs and public policy. She is active in the alumni community, volunteers as a junior board member at POTS (Part of the Solution) in the Bronx, and is a dedicated volunteer across the Brown, Columbia, and Ivy+ communities.
Outside of work, Ariel volunteers at soup kitchens, gardens, and knits. She loves time in nature, whether hiking, mountaineering, or unwinding by the ocean. At home she is thoroughly devoted to her bunny and cat, who are adored daily and spoiled accordingly, and she is grateful every day for the family and friends who support her.
Marco Garcia
Director
Marco Garcia is an MBA candidate at NYU Stern with a passion for leadership, mentorship, and connecting with people across cultures. Before Stern, he built a career in international sales and business development, helping grow businesses and partnerships across more than 30 countries throughout Latin America and Europe.
A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Marco also served as an officer in the Colombian Army, an experience that helped shape his approach to leadership, teamwork, and service.
Having studied, served, and worked across different countries and environments, Marco knows firsthand how transformative the right opportunity and the right mentor can be. He is passionate about helping students dream bigger, build confidence, and discover paths they may not have imagined for themselves.
Amanda
Director
Amanda is a master's student at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a special education teacher. She brings first-hand experience from the classroom to the board, and a daily view of what students need in order to thrive.
Advisory board
Our advisors are here for guidance and suggestions, and to open doors. They hold no legal, fiduciary or governing duties and, like everyone at YouthFund, they serve pro bono.
Theodore Le Duy
Advisory board
Theodore Le Duy is First Vice President at United Overseas Bank (UOB) in Singapore, bringing years of well blended experience in consulting, investment and financing. Previously with firms such as Macquarie Group and ERM Group, his expertise spans ESG consulting, sustainable finance, risk management and data modelling.
Theodore holds a Master of Science in Analytics (Data Science) from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Nanyang Technological University. He is also an FRM-certified professional.
Deeply committed to economic empowerment and education, he leverages his background in ESG, global finance and data analytics to guide young entrepreneurs, helping the next generation build sustainable businesses and make informed financial decisions.
Charlie Tricomi
Advisory board
Charlie Tricomi is a wealth advisor who has spent his career helping families and organizations make sound financial decisions. He is a CFA charterholder and a Certified Financial Planner, holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, and studied International Business and Management at Dickinson College.
Born and raised in Greenwich and New Canaan, Connecticut, Charlie is deeply involved in community service. He serves as Treasurer of Call-A-Ride, sits on the budget and finance committees of Greenwich EMS, the Greenwich Tree Conservancy and St. Michael’s Parish, and serves on the boards of Part of the Solution (POTS), Pathways and the Columbia Alumni Association of Fairfield County. As Skipper of the Greenwich Sea Scouts, he mentors teenagers directly.
Charlie brings that mix of nonprofit governance, finance and youth mentorship to YouthFund, helping our high school founders build initiatives that are both ambitious and financially sound.
Charlie Kramer
Advisory board
Charlie Kramer retired from a 30-year career at the International Monetary Fund to study for an MS in Analytics at Georgia Tech, with the aim of doing volunteer data work. He is a Bluebonnet Data Fellow, trained with Generation Data, and has contributed to Parsons Data open-source software. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Virginia and lives outside DC with his wife, daughter, three dogs and many guitars.
Passionate about education and lifelong learning, Charlie brings a career of economic analysis and a second act in data to YouthFund’s young founders.
Susan Chaffin
Advisory board
Bio and photo coming soon.
Student executive committee
Led by high schoolers, the founders building the thing they wish existed. The student team runs our programs and shapes how YouthFund grows.
Isabell Huang
Running my own nonprofit has shown me that finances should never be a barrier when it comes to aspiring to make change within a community.
Kaden Qiu
I believe that the Youthfund team will bring the world much more innovation and allow every student to be able to take initiative for their school!
Shenglin Tang
Every great story starts with a group of people willing to take the first step into the unknown.
Daniel Zhang
I've always believed that great ideas deserve the opportunity to grow, regardless of what resources are behind them.