Meet Our Team

Founder Bio

Reese Whittier

Director of Operations

Braedyn McClelland

Director of Outreach

Emily Van Dixhorn

Director of National Engagement

Alexis Mollema

Social Media & Design Intern

Diya Vijayarajan

Outreach Team Volunteer

Shivani Shanmugam

Outreach Team Volunteer

Samhita Krishnamurthy

Founder

Samhita Krishnamurthy is the 16-year-old founder and CEO of Spark Civics, a youth-led international organization and movement working to redesign civic engagement through technology and innovation. Drawing on her interests in public policy, technology, and youth advocacy, she founded Spark Civics around a simple idea: young people already care deeply about the issues around them; they need better pathways to turn that interest into action.

Under her leadership, Spark Civics has grown into a network of civic innovation programs, technology, and resources reaching more than 1,000 young people. Its work includes Civic Innovation Forums, a Civic App Accelerator, Spark Activity Walls, the Spark Civics app, and 100 Civic Innovator Toolkits being distributed across two countries.

Beyond Spark Civics, Samhita serves as a District 6 Representative on the Minnesota Youth Council and founded the Minnetonka High School Girls Who Code Club. Her work sits at the intersection of civic engagement, technology, and youth leadership, with the goal of creating new ways for young people to shape their communities.

Her guiding philosophy is reflected in Spark Civics' call to action: “Turn your spark into action.”

CEO & Chief Technologist

Samhita Krishnamurthy