Detailed Profile

Sahana Sundar

www.sahanasundar.website , sahana9sundar@gmail.com

Education

Senior, Jericho High School - June 2027

Weighted GPA: 4.13 (as of August 2026) - Stellar academic record with strong course rigor (11 AP level courses and 4 college level courses in High School, including Clinical Healthcare - includes hands-on training in patient care, emergency medicine, and clinical healthcare practices, patient assessment and emergency response, exposure to medical professionals.)

Diploma (American Tamil Academy) - 8 years of Tamil language study

Honors, Certifications, & Awards

• The Congressional Award Gold Medal for Young Americans - Earned this highest recognition in 2025 for accomplishments in the fields of Voluntary Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness, and Expedition/Exploration.

• Diploma (American Tamil Academy) - 8 years of Tamil language study

• President’s Volunteer Service Award (Gold) - Received in 2019, having completed 100 hours of community service.

• Outstanding Academic Achievement - College Board National Recognition

• AP Scholar with distinction award from the College Board

• Inducted into National Honor Society (2026)

• Inducted into Spanish Honor Society (2025)

• Currently, pursuing Clinical healthcare as a course in Senior year - Receiving hands-on training in patient care, emergency medicine, and clinical healthcare practices, patient assessment and emergency response, with practical training and exposure to medical professionals. Preparing for the New York State EMT-B Certification Exam, completed FEMA (National Disaster & Emergency Management University) training and received Certificates of Achievement in Introduction to the Incident Command System (ICS) and Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as part of the Clinical Healthcare course in High school.

• Girl Scouts Silver Award for community service (2023), currently working towards Gold Award.

• Author - Wrote and published a Chapter for a book that was released at the International book fair in New Delhi (2023) under the guidance of Dr. Srinivas Rao. Title of the book: “Path to Nobel for You” (a book that explored the journey of several Nobel laureates). This book was published in print and on KDP/Amazon.com.

• National Spanish Exam - Silver award (2023), Honorable mention (2025)

• Global Service award and Global Citizen Leadership certificate from United Planet for my work with International Cultural Youth Exchange Tanzania.

• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) - First place in Introduction to Public Speaking category (First at Regionals, finalist at State Leadership Conference (SLC) and qualified for (and attended) the  National Leadership Conference (June-July 2025).  

• Ready Set Lead (RSL), Emerging Leaders - First place in the Jericho Future Business Leaders of America Competition.

• Completed Tamil language proficiency studies from Level 1 to Level 8 (Final level) through LI Arts.

• National Finalist in History Day 2023 (Performance category) - First place New York State and moved on to the Nationals, National Finalist and made it to the runoffs (Top 10) for my project, “Susan Ahn Cuddy: The Pioneer Who Broke the Glass Ceiling for Asian-American Women in the Military”. Featured on National History Day’s Instagram account.

• Discovery Award Competition - Semi-finalist (2023), conducted by the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes.

• New York State Archives Student Research Award - First place (2020) for my research project on “Seneca Falls Convention; Paving the way towards suffrage and equal rights for women”.

• Submitted a scientific paper on risk and spread mitigation strategies, prevention and cure for pandemics to North South Foundation, a national educational non-profit organization (2020-21).

• Completed Level 1, 2 and 3 of the RSL Awards (Griffin College, London) dance certification program (Indian classical Bharatanatyam).

• Friedlander Upstander Nominee by HMTC (Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County) - Certificate of recognition (2022).

Internships

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health

• Interned under Dr. Nathan Cohen (PHD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow) who is now ​​a Biostatistician III at the Center for Biostatistics at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Alongside a senior at Cornell, I helped with journal peer reviews, writing research papers, literature reviews, grant proposals, and more (2025).

LUHI Summer Program (Brookville, NY)

• Paid Internship as an Assistant Counselor at the LUHI Summer program (Brookville, NY), July-Aug 2026

Global United Planet International Cultural Youth Exchange Tanzania

• Interned for Global United Planet where I helped International Cultural Youth Exchange Tanzania build their social media presence (Instagram) - created informative posts and creative content, created presentations on the life and culture of Tanzania. Received 300 hours of community service for this internship.

Girls with Impact

• Participated in the Girls with Impact program and internship conducted by Business & Leadership Academy. I was connected with an MBA instructor to help convert business and entrepreneurial ideas to reality.

Jericho High School theater

• Was selected for an internship as the Rehearsal Assistant/Assistant Director for the Jericho High School Fall Play Production “Clue” as part of the Jericho Theater Program.

• Performed as part of the chorus for “Let it Go” on Good Morning America TV show along with students from the US Frozen schools for the 10th anniversary of Disney’s Frozen.

• Had a Principal part in the Moana Jr. Musical Play in Jericho Middle School, selected to be part of the Jericho middle school musical production of Aladdin Jr (Prompter and Curtain person for stage crew), had a Principal part in the “Forgiven” Play in Jericho Middle School.

Work Experience, Volunteerism and Other Extracurriculars

Ronald McDonald House

• Ronald McDonald House Long Island Senior Leadership Circle - Selected for the 2026–2027 year, out of a very competitive applicant pool, this is a group of student leaders serving the community and working closely with families (of children undergoing treatment), volunteers, and staff by volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House and the affiliated Children’s hospital.

• Volunteer every quarter at the Ronald McDonald House to cook Brunch for families of children undergoing treatment at the nearby hospital (Grade 9 to Present)

Girls Computing League, a 501(c)3

New York Chapter Leader, Director of Workshops (National)

• New York Chapter Leader for Girls Computing League, a 501(c)3 to promote STEM and Computer Science in underrepresented communities (since May 2020). My work here has been featured in the local media and received an appreciative citation from the Nassau County executive and local county legislator.

• Hosted a New York Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Summit in September 2021, based on the theme of how Machine Learning could impact the fields of Healthcare and Research; Invited guest keynote speakers such as Dr. Grace Peng, NIH and Dr. Sanjay Murali, CEO of JOGO Health (a J&J company).

• Judged projects and entries from students across the US for Girls Computing League’s Artificial Intelligence Business Summit (2020) (AIdeathon component of the summit) 

• Part of the 1000 schools initiative to help bring STEAM and Computer Science to minorities and girls through GirlsComputingLeague by providing devices, internet access, etc. 

• Contributed for a web based clinical trial experiment program intended for the Veteran Affairs Administration with a few others from Girls Computing League.

• Part of Access by GCL, conducting interviews with professionals in the STEM field, conducted an interview with a senior Vanguard IT professional.

• Presented to Representatives from The House of Representatives and to the winners of the 2020 Congressional App Challenge about GirlsComputingLeague.

• Conducted FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Webinars, Web and App development workshops, Python programming training sessions for underrepresented communities as part of Girls computing league.

Nurse Practitioner Alpa Uchil (ALS Clinic at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Member - Miller Couslson Academy of Clinical Excellence)

• Volunteered in 2024 with Nurse Practitioner Alpa Uchil to provide aesthetic edits to powerpoint presentations used to conduct a Nursing Course at the College of Nursing, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Whitefield, Bengaluru (a FREE of cost Super specialty hospital in rural India).

Girl Scouts  (since Grade 4)

Ambassadors

• Community service activities included booth sales, cookie sales to help first responders and frontline health care workers, creating greeting cards for them, etc.

Sri Sathya Sai International Organization  (since Grade 1)

Volunteer

• Serve at-need populations in shelters / soup kitchens by cooking food on a bi-weekly basis, providing water, clothes, hygiene kits, supplies and visiting nursing homes.

• Volunteered every year for 4 years at the annual free health camp in the US (NY) and a village in India

• Helped organize and volunteered for a local bone marrow drive (DKMS) to help a young cancer patient in 2019.

• Singer and drama actor in annual community plays (acted in over 20 plays), dramas, and musicals spreading the message of community service, Unity and harmony. Attend weekly value-based lessons every Sunday to spread harmony and promote community service.

• Active volunteer of Sri Sathya Sai International Organization (SSSIO) and later the Sri Sathya Sai Global Council (SSSGC) (501c3) (since 2015)

One World Girl, a 501(c)3 (2020 to 2024)

Youth Advisory Council/Changemakers Council

• Part of One World Girl’s (501c3) Junior Youth Advisory Council and Changemakers Council, a group of young women to build and utilize leadership qualities in the community - met Broadway actors from “Hamilton”, “Wicked” and other shows including Tia and Solaya as part of empowerment workshops, participated in the Creative writing and Poetry Workshops.

• Created a video and other promotional materials on women's rights for Junior Youth Advisory Council at One World Girl

• Introduced as one of the Junior YAC members at the One World girl “Taste and See” event where a Broadway actor was the guest of honor

Senator Gaughran's Youth Policy Cabinet

• Part of NY state Sen. Gaughran’s youth policy cabinet as part of Project Nextgen (2020-21).

Long Island Teen Finance Conference

Director of Outreach and Partnerships (since 2025)

• Conducted a finance networking and panel event connecting students with industry professionals. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from and network with veterans in investment banking, private equity, economics, and more, as well as people in non-finance professions, who have found much success in investing.

Local Public Libraries  - Middle and High School

• Served as a member of the Garden City Public Library (since June 2020) and Jericho Public library (since June 2021) Teen Advisory Board, helping the Young Adult librarian with library tasks and conducting teen programs.

• Selected to be a Junior librarian in school; helped the librarian with library related tasks.

• Selected to be a Literacy Leader in my school

• Recipient of the JMS Digital Citizenship certificate and badges

• Regular participant in local libraries’ summer reading programs

• Participated in the kindness challenge choice board, to help spread kindness.

App Development League, a 501(c)3 (since 2020)

President of the New York Chapter

• International chapter leader (President of the New York Chapter) for App Development League (a 501c3), comprising a group of students devoted to bringing modern web and app development opportunities to underrepresented students.

Face shields for First Responders

• In response to the need for personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic, helped build 200 face shields at home (April-May 2020). This was donated to first responders at the Jericho fire department. This activity was featured in Jericho Public Library’s Teen spotlight feature and in Newsday newspaper.

Jericho Middle and High School Clubs

Served on multiple elected leadership positions in Jericho middle and high school clubs and contributed to the school community.

• Elected as the social media content creator of the JerEcho Reportage/Journalism/School Newspaper Club at Jericho High School (2025-26). 

• Elected as the Short Form Media Director for the JerEcho Reportage/Journalism/School Newspaper Club at Jericho High School (2026-27), an active writer of this school newspaper. 

• Elected as the social media manager of the Best Buddies Club at Jericho High School.

• Leadership team of the Jericho Mindfulness Ambassador Club at Jericho High School, helped with organizing events and social media content for the Jericho Mindfulness Ambassador Club at Jericho High School.

• President and Founder of Chess Club in Jericho Middle school.

• Regularly stitch and knit baby hats and scarves to donate as part of the Stitching for Care Club at Jericho High School. 

• Served as an active and committed member of the Future Business Leaders of America Club (FBLA)

Sports, Music, Culture

Classical Dance, Vocal, Violin, Soccer, Badminton, Softball, Basketball, Chess

• Selected for my school’s Varsity Softball team.

• Selected for my school’s Varsity Soccer team in Senior year, Junior Varsity Soccer team in 10th grade.

• Selected for Junior Varsity Badminton team in 9th grade, in the school badminton team (2022 and 2021).

• President and Founder of Chess Club in Jericho Middle school, attended Chess classes from Chess Gurukul (conducted by former Olympiads, had a Step 4 FIDE rating/ranking in LIChess).

• Was tentatively selected as manager of the Jericho High school Girls Basketball team (2023). 

• Pursuing Indian classical dance training (Bharatanatyam) for the past several years and participated in many community and group performances.

• Participated in New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Spring evaluation festival for solo singing and solo violin for many years and received exceptional marks.

• Participated in Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) virtual performance Readiness Workshop. (2021-2022).

• Trained in Ice Skating

• Pursuing Indian classical vocal music training (Carnatic) for over 10 years and participated in many community concerts, solo and group renderings.

• Pursued Indian classical Violin training from a renowned musician for many years.

• Regularly help organize and volunteer at community cultural events for The Fine arts and service society of N.A. 

Languages

• Fluent in English, Spanish and Tamil.

• Completed Tamil language studies for eight years from Level 1 to Level 8 (Final level) through LI Arts. Diploma (American Tamil Academy) - 8 years of Tamil language study

Other Courses, Certifications, Miscellaneous

• Preparing for the New York State EMT-B Certification Exam, completed FEMA (National Disaster & Emergency Management University) training and received Certificates of Achievement in Introduction to the Incident Command System (ICS) and Introduction to the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

• Participated in a 2 day MIT Sloan Inclusion Hackathon sponsored by the following Companies: Danaher, Ford, Microsoft, Toast, Bain & Company, Liberty Mutual, Catalyst, Generation W, Girl Scouts of the USA, Hack.Diversity, MIT Sloan CDO, and Union Capital Boston (worked on a solution for the company, Hack diversity). Also interviewed Alumni Board members, Ovidio, and Kiki from Hack diversity for the hackathon.

• Completed “COVID-19 Contact Tracing” Course offered by Johns Hopkins University

• Completed a 5-day Community COVID-19 Collaborative and Epidemiology training course offered by Columbia University in partnership with the Nassau County department of human services (2020)

• Completed “COVID vaccine ambassador training” Course offered by Johns Hopkins University

• Participated in White hat Junior Artificial Intelligence Coding Curriculum classes.

• Volunteered in ORCS Girls, attended a “Finding answers from databases” workshop by ORCSGirls, and attended a photo editing class by ORCS girls.

• Selected to be in a team for the Technovation Girls app competition and was mentored by Dr. Thomas Proffen, and created an app called Emoceans.

• Presented at the STEAM night (New York Hall of Science) which received a special mention from the Chancellor (New York City) in 2016.

• Presented to Microsoft's New England Research and development team on Diamond Finders (a project that uses already established infrastructure to connect underrepresented tech talent to jobs in the greater Boston area - 2021). 

• Created a fundraising website for cancer survivors/patients (pennies for patients) - Elementary school

• Selected for the Principal’s Shared Decision-making committee in Cantiague Elementary school (representing student’s voices to incorporate ideas into the school system).

• Member of middle school’s Student Council, where we voiced inputs to incorporate into our school system and help plan events. Also was in charge of the school’s Instagram account from 2020 to 2023 and presented the Middle school report in the Board of Education meeting on a regular basis.

• Was a finalist in the global sneaker design competition conducted by Play day (May 2020 - Top ten).

• Maximum score of 4’s on all Math state tests (Elementary and Middle school), received an almost perfect score in the 2021-2022 state test for English Language Arts and Mathematics, received 4’s in both.

• Was part of an accelerated program, “Homogeneous class”, in Elementary school and selected for Gifted & Talented program.

• Was selected from top of my class to be in my school’s Math Olympiad team and attended various in-person/online competitions since 5th grade.

• Qualified for the geography IA Competition regional level (Regional Geography Bee) from 6th-8th grade.

• Submitted a research paper and presentation to Toshiba Exploravision research competition. 

• Participated in an environmental research focused 30-day daily research challenge, Project Green Challenge.

• Created my own social media pages devoted to different forms of music; singing, dance, and more. 

Media and public recognition

Community work and accomplishments featured in various news outlets and recognized by elected representatives.

• Featured in National History Day’s Instagram post

• Featured in Jericho Public Library’s Teen spotlight feature

• Featured in Newsday newspaper.

• Featured in News India Times

• Featured in Desi Talk newspaper

• Appreciative citations received from the Nassau County executive and County legislator.

• Featured in appreciative social media posts by US Congressional Representative and US Senator.

• Featured in Nassau County Asian American affairs Instagram post

• Was mentioned in Susan Ahn Cuddy’s website for NY State National History Day

• Congress.gov - Library of Congress