NSHSS Member Event at UCLA

Helena Coloma is a Pre-Med/Pre-Dental undergraduate student majoring in Biology at Harvard University. She has also attended UC Berkeley, had an internship with NASA, and is a former Miss Teen California and Miss Michigan. Helena is the Collegiate Council Executive Board Co-Vice President of Member Engagement and is a two-time NSHSS scholarship winner, including the 2018 STEM Innovation in Artificial Intelligence $1000 Scholarship and 2021 Collegiate Council Leadership $1500 Scholarship.

Nawana graduated from North Carolina A&T State University (HBCU) with a BS in Electrical Engineering. She built non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons then manufactured fiber optic amplifiers before being recruited by the Agency. Nawana spent the first 14 years of her career working in technical operations and lived overseas for 12 years straight. In 2012, Nawana returned to the Washington, DC area and turned her focus from operations to talent. A few positions Nawana has held since then are Diversity Recruiter, Student Program Manager, Intelligence Instructor, EEO Officer and now the Mid-Atlantic Regional Recruiter. Lastly, along the way, Nawana obtained a Master's in Management from Webster University and Master's in HR from Georgetown University!

Jen Kaifesh is the Owner/Founder of Great Expectations College Prep and has provided standardized test preparation and college counseling services to high school students for nearly 20 years. She founded the organization in 2006 and created a curriculum that has helped thousands of students develop a narrative that is both authentic and unique, enabling them to differentiate themselves from other applicants and thus earn acceptance at some of the best colleges in the world! But more importantly, she has assisted students to gain acceptance into colleges that perfectly fit their needs.

First Lieutenant Katie Carrigan was born and raised in Albany, Louisiana. She attended Loyola University New Orleans, where she obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and was commissioned as an Active Duty Military Police Officer in 2019. After completing the Military Police Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Leonard Wood, MO, 1LT Carrigan began her career at Fort Carson, CO. As a Platoon Leader for 127th Military Police Company, she completed a short-notice deployment to Kuwait and Bahrain to assist civilians during Operation Allies Refuge. With this, her platoon was integrated into a Joint Task Force alongside Navy and Marine personnel. Following platoon leadership, she became 127th Military Police Company's Executive Officer. 1LT Carrigan currently assists the Bruins Battalion with multiple tasks, including instructing, recruiting, and mentoring Cadets.

Adra has been working in education for over a decade. After an unconventional K-12 education that included taking courses through homeschooling, public school, private school, community college, and more! She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, after high school and then the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for graduate school. She taught high school in Las Vegas and English as a second language in Santiago, Chile, before returning to California to work in undergraduate admissions at her alma mater, UCSB. She now enjoys combining the knowledge and skills acquired throughout her career to do outreach for UC Scout and increase access to college prep courses for high school students. In addition to her passion for education, Adra loves teaching fitness classes and spending time with her husband and their two cats in her spare time.

Eden Nasher (he/him) serves as the Program Coordinator for the Pre-College Scholars program with its four different tracks (virtual, residential, non-credit and commuter) under UC Berkeley's Summer Sessions and University Extension collectively known as SSALLEX. He manages the lifecycle of each incoming student starting with admissions and recruitment all the way to program completion. In addition to supporting students, Eden works with parents, legal guardians, and high school/private counselors to help address any questions or concerns. Professionally, Eden lived and worked with youth in different parts of the world including Yemen, Egypt, Southern California, and the Bay Area. He holds a BA in anthropology from the American University in Cairo and an MA in higher education leadership studies from the University of San Diego, which he attended as a Fulbright scholar. He is specifically passionate about access and working with students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, as well as first generation students.