Our team
High school students, four chapters, one mission.
A big hello from the Invest2Empower team. We are passionate about simplifying the complexities of the financial world and making it easy to digest for young students and for people who have had no exposure to financial planning before.
Invest2Empower is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in New Jersey, run entirely by high school students across New Jersey, Texas, Georgia and Ukraine, with mentors from the nonprofit and business worlds.
Leadership
Karan Verma
Co-founder & CEO · Texas
Karan is a high school senior from Texas who co-founded Invest2Empower as a freshman. He has a passion for football, the culinary arts, and the latest Shark Tank episodes, and aspires to be an entrepreneur.
He volunteers at a local chef academy and organizes community events. He believes financial literacy is a fundamental right, and that education can break the cycle of poverty and inspire economic independence.
Aditya Herekar
Co-founder & CEO · New Jersey
Aditya is a high school senior from New Jersey who co-founded Invest2Empower around the two things he cares most about: finance and teaching. He loves basketball and creative writing, and volunteers at a veteran memorial home.
He has volunteered with ENGin for more than three years, meeting weekly with Ukrainian students — the experience that led to our Ukrainian-language course.
Chapter directors
New Jersey · Texas · Georgia · Ukraine
Danylo Bondarenko
Director, Ukraine Chapter
A high school junior from Kyiv, Ukraine, drawn to Invest2Empower by financial education, youth empowerment, and expanding access to practical skills. He is interested in economics and entrepreneurship, plays soccer, and enjoys mentoring younger students through workshops on budgeting, saving, and career readiness.
Ava Borkar
Director, New Jersey chapter
A high school senior from New Jersey, drawn to Invest2Empower by educational opportunity, youth empowerment and community development. She cheerleads, plays lacrosse, and is pursuing her Girl Scout Gold Award teaching children about civic responsibility.
Raya Ahmed
Co-director, Texas chapter
A high school junior from Texas who runs her own business and makes 3D art. She aspires to a career in medicine and advocates that everyone deserves to be educated about money, so they can reach stability through better decisions.
Maheen Rafique
Co-director, Texas · CMO
A high school sophomore from Texas who co-directs the Texas chapter and leads our marketing. She paints, photographs and sculpts, and wants a career in veterinary medicine. She sees financial education as prosperity that resonates through generations.
Rayan Batada
Director, Georgia chapter
A high school senior in Georgia who started our newest chapter. He is passionate about advocacy, coding and reading, and volunteers at local cleanups and shelters — with a focus on minority and underrepresented communities.
Volunteers
~15 per chapter
seasonal volunteers from high schools
Students join us for a term or a summer to help run sessions, translate material, edit video and reach their own communities. Numbers rise and fall with the school year — the work does not.
What they give us
Reach we could not have alone — more classrooms, more languages, more communities, and the perspective of students who are the same age as the people we teach.
What they get back
Verified service hours, real experience teaching and presenting, financial knowledge they will use themselves, and something substantive for a college application — earned, not padded.
Mentors & advisors
Tracy Tanner
Founder & CEO, Wealthy Habits
An advocate for financial literacy education and youth empowerment with 12+ years in strategic planning and program development. Her background in nonprofit leadership, partnerships and curriculum development shapes how our programmes are built.
Dr. Jairo Borja
President, Borja Consulting Group
"Dr. B" works to uplift small business owners and entrepreneurs, is an international best-selling author on networking, and serves as VP of Corporate and Entrepreneurial Programs at the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.
Melanie Barrett
Director of Development, The HOPE Program
A development professional leading The HOPE Program's fundraising strategy. HOPE empowers New Yorkers to build sustainable futures through training, jobs and financial literacy guidance. Previously at The Michael J. Fox Foundation.
“If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.”
Edmund Burke
Want to start a chapter at your school?
We are looking for students who want to bring financial literacy training to their own community — in the U.S. or in Ukraine. Tell us where you are and what you would like to teach.
Email us