Leadership team

Zain Zaidi
Founder
Chicago
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Zain Zaidi
Chicago · University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Zain started Rooted Forward after going back and forth between the Near South Side, where he lives, and Hyde Park, where he goes to school, and running into how completely the city changed from one block to the next. He sits on Chicago's Mayor's Youth Commission and is on its Education Working Group, which is where the policy work here comes from. He also teaches public speaking and writing to refugee students through Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America. He debates, golfs, codes, and walks Chicago neighborhoods.
Ayomide Olatunji
Chicago
Harvard University
Ayomide Olatunji
Chicago · Harvard University
Ayomide works on getting science-based health information to more people, particularly around mental health and cancer prevention. He sits on Chicago's Mayor's Youth Commission, where he is part of the Public Health working group and both the Summit Planning and Charter committees. His academic interest is in how cellular and metabolic changes drive neurological disease and long-term health outcomes, and he plans to study neuroscience and public policy on the way to becoming a physician and an educator. He plays the talking drum, cooks, and plays club soccer.
Ahmed Agha
Washington, DC
Georgetown University
Ahmed Agha
Washington, DC · Georgetown University
Ahmed grew up in Dallas and is now an undergraduate at Georgetown University. He conducts medical research and plans to pursue a career in medicine. His research includes a study on how a patient's insurance affects the outcomes of simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplants. In Washington, DC, he researches how urban development has shaped racial inequality across the city, helping Rooted Forward better understand the communities it works with. In his free time, Ahmed enjoys cooking, especially experimenting with new recipes.
Osheanna Tyler-Hudson
Chicago
DePaul University
Osheanna Tyler-Hudson
Chicago · DePaul University
Osheanna finished at Christ the King Jesuit College Prep and starts at DePaul this fall. She works with nonprofits in Austin that create ways for young people to get involved in their own neighborhood, and she wants a firsthand understanding of how Chicago politics actually works. She is going for a business degree first, and law school after that.
Sabina Aliyev
New York
Xaverian High School
Sabina Aliyev
New York · Xaverian High School
Sabina attends Xaverian High School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She spends much of her free time walking through New York's neighborhoods and searching for restaurants she has not tried before. As she explored more of the city, she began noticing how quickly the streets, housing, businesses, and public spaces could change from one neighborhood to the next. Her research helps turn what she notices while walking through the city into a clearer understanding of how New York was built and how it could become more equal.
Javonte White
Chicago
Collins Academy High School
Javonte White
Chicago · Collins Academy High School
Javonte is from North Lawndale and goes to Collins Academy High School. He writes stories and poems, and uses writing as the place he works out what he is thinking. He listens to a lot of R&B and lo-fi rap. He graduates in 2028 and wants to write screenplays for television and film. He also wants to be a leader people notice, inside his own school and across Chicago Public Schools.

Leadership team

Zain Zaidi

Ayomide Olatunji

Ahmed Agha

Osheanna Tyler-Hudson

Sabina Aliyev

Javonte White