About Us
Our Founder and President
Heeta Thakkar is currently a student at the Bronx High School of Science. Dedicated to saving our environment and making a change, Heeta founded Zero Waste Schools. Observing the effects of climate change throughout her life as she grew up, she took control of the voice she had to bring light to these issues to people who could make a change. Never being content with progress achieved through others, she decided to be the change. Her career in activism started in her early childhood, where she would take any chance she got to educate herself on issues in society, and went on to implement solutions to these problems in the community around her. Furthermore, Heeta has been serving our communities for years, working with outside organizations to feed the hungry during Covid-19 and conducting seminars about our effect on the environment.
executive members:
VICE PRESIDENT
Moreen Massillon is a junior at the Bronx High School of Science and the Vice President of this organization. Growing up she realized how little her schools educated and encouraged students to recycle properly. She grew up singing and using her voice in different ways to reach crowds of people, along with a passion for activism. She is now putting her voice and energy into combatting the serious environmental issues of our country through our organization.
SECRETARY
Andrew Friedland is a junior at the Bronx High School of Science and the secretary of Zero Waste Schools. He is incredibly passionate about all things science and helping his local community. Ever since the 6th grade, Andrew has been organizing and attending climate strikes as well as speaking out about proper nutrition and waste management.
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Leslie Sampaney is a student at the Bronx High School of Science and if the operations director of Zero Waste Schools. He often encountered large landfills while growing up with his aunt and uncle in Ghana, and learned of how harmful landfills can be. If there are such massive landfills in a small country like Ghana, then the problem would be even bigger in this country. He enjoys playing basketball and football, and is planning to pursue a career in STEM after high school
ORGANIZATIONS & COMMUNICATION CHAIRPERSON
Lea Woodruff is a junior at the Bronx High School of Science and the chair of organizations and communications for Zero Waste Schools. Throughout her life, Lea has enjoyed being in nature and observing the outdoors. Lea is passionate about preserving the beauty of nature and therefore wants to help reduce the production of waste through recycling. One of her favorite pass times is hiking and she wishes to go backpacking in her future. Along side environmentalism, Lea enjoys playing lacrosse and soccer, fashion, and aspires to purse a career in biochemistry.
LOGISTICS CHAIRPERSON
Noah Jouvert is the Head of Logistics at Zero Waste Schools. Noah has been interested in environmentalism since middle school when he started an Environmental Club to implement proper waste management and educate his fellow students about climate change. He also organized cleanups to pick up litter along Pelham Parkway. Now, he is using his passion for helping the environment and his knowledge of waste management and environmental policies to help ZWS work towards its goal of implementing waste management systems in schools across NYC.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIRPERSON
Noshin Hasan is a student at the Bronx High School of Science and is the social media and public relations chair for Zero Waste Schools. Throughout her life, Noshin has seen a lot of waste in New York City and knew she always wanted to do something about it. She was inspired by the Zero Waste Organization, as she learned what the organization wanted to pursue environmentally and how they donated effective waste management systems to schools. Due to that, she put her social media skills for a good cause and constantly educated herself on the effects of environmental neglect. She enjoys drawing, makeup, and photography, and plans to pursue a career in business.