The Rhode Island Resilience Lab is proud to welcome a Youth Advisory Board (YAB), members of local Rhode Island-based schools and communities. The purpose of the YAB is to enhance our adolescent-focused research studies with the perspectives and experiences of youth community members. Meet our YAB members!
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Jalika Barrie (she/her) is a senior at The MET High School in Providence, Rhode Island. With a passion for giving back and helping others, she actively serves her community. She has a knack for internships and has previously interned with the first black female broker in Rhode Island to explore her interests in real estate. As a member of the United Youth Subcommittee, she tackles issues related to teen substance abuse and mental health. When she’s not helping in the community, she enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, and exploring new hobbies. She is thrilled to gain new knowledge and experiences with the YAB team. |
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Lila Boutin (she/her) is a junior at School One. Aside from academics, she is involved in many leadership positions and creative endeavors. She is committed to helping the health and wellness of her school and community; she is the elected representative of the student body to her school board, she participates on her student council’s Community Reconciliation Committee, and she is the chief editor of the yearbook. She also is a dancer on the internationally regarded professional dance crew LIV3LIHOOD; she teaches dance classes to a variety of levels and ages and enjoys sharing the joy of dance with everyone, including by volunteering to teach senior classes at an assisted living facility. She is the creator of a project that works on conservation and hiking initiatives across Rhode Island, and she is an intern with the Stormwater Innovation Center and Audubon Society participating in pioneering research and advocacy projects in local green spaces. She works as an art and architecture tour guide of Providence, and she is passionate about photography, art, writing, reading, and nature. She is excited to bring her experiences and thoughts to the YAB to make a difference in the state of mental health and media use today. |
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Hanna Chong (she/her) is a junior at Cranston High school West. She plays Varsity volleyball and participates in several other extracurricular activities, both inside and outside of school. This includes “Best Buddies” (a club focused on interacting and befriending the special needs community), Culinary arts, as well as The American Red cross club. Outside of school, she spends a lot of lot of her time taking care of children participating in Hong’s Taekwondo afterschool care at Hoxie Elementary school. As someone who has always seen an importance for mental health awareness, Hanna has also participated and attended several mental health awareness conferences over the last year. This is what brought her to Project DREAMS, where she hopes to make an impact on the research taking place. |
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Simone Punchak (she/her) is a current senior at Classical High School in Providence. This is her second and last year as a member of the board. Looking to promote substance and suicide prevention throughout her community, Simone is a part of other prevention organizations, as well, such as Tobacco Free RI and the Mayor’s Youth Prevention Team. On her free time, she enjoys working out, the arts, and learning. Fun fact: next year, she will study International Studies and Business at UPenn! |
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Bailey Borkowski (she/her) is a junior at Coventry High School. She is an aspiring physician and dreams of working in a hospital alongside other healthcare professionals. Aside from her commitment to academics, she is involved in a number of extracurriculars, in and out of school. She has a competitive spirit, competing state-wide in her school’s math club and internationally on her dance studio’s competition team. Having always had a musical inclination, Bailey also takes violin lessons and volunteers with a nonprofit organization called Community Music Works, aimed at giving low income students an opportunity to learn music. Bailey has had a strong passion for the health sciences since she was young, which aligned with the motives for Project DREAMS and encouraged her to join. On school breaks and long weekends Bailey makes it a priority to get time in the clinical setting, shadowing and learning about the different positions, primarily in Brown Physician’s Primary Care facilities across the state.” |
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Laila Hekking (she/her) is a sophomore attending Rogers High School in Newport, RI. Laila joined the Project DREAMS YAB to share her thoughts and learn new perspectives from others. She plays soccer as well as lacrosse and is active within her community, and extracurricular activities at school like Key Club, Women Who Lead and is apart of the Diversity and Relevancy Committee. Laila has a strong passion for learning and is interested in psychology and the medical field, being on this board has allowed her explore this interest authentically and learn more about how sleep, social media, and substances take part in teenagers lives. Outside of school, she enjoys going to the gym, baking, traveling, and hanging out with friends! |
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Iysis DaSilva (she/her) is a junior at School One in Providence where she serves on the Community Reconciliation Council. She plays varsity soccer at Cranston East. She is active in helping her community when she goes to her church’s food drive every Thursday and helps with feeding over 300 homeless people every Sunday morning. She is an aspiring criminal defense lawyer. She is working towards her goal by going to a two week Harvard undergrad law program. She believes that Psychology plays an important factor in law; it is important especially in mental and behavioral health related law. This is why she decided to join YAB to learn about how sleep, social media, and mental health affects teenagers like her. She hopes to bring her knowledge and learn about other people’s experiences. |
| Heidy Gomez (she/her) | Heidy Gomez (she/her) is an aspiring future physician, who likes to learn something new everyday. In her free time, Heidy enjoys reading, listening to music, watching movies, and playing with her siblings. One of her dreams is to travel around the world and explore the different cultures that surround us. |
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Makayla Senesi (she/her) is a senior at Coventry High School. She runs varsity cross country, varsity indoor track, and varsity outdoor track. She lifts 4 times a week and has a passion for fitness. Makayla is involved in National Honor Society, Math Club, Peer to Peer, Unified Oakers, and Rhode Island Academic Decathlon at her school. Makayla also has two jobs and works 20 hours per week. Makayla is an aspiring physician. |
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Bella Quiroa (she/her) is a Senior at the East Bay MET high school. She plans to study Environmental Science and Public Policy in college, and is working towards a career grounded in community involvement and environmental activism. She has always felt passionate about activism and has aimed to better her research and observational skills through this board. She takes part in many youth groups due to her love for community engagement. To name a few, she is a part of the RIDOH Youth Health Ambassador Program, working to engage with Rhode Island communities and provide them with crucial information and resources to better their health, FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council, working to mitigate the effects of natural disasters on locals through community-based projects, and co-founded the Youth Composting Campaign Initiative, to encourage and increase composting in RI schools. Additionally, she loves being creative, which she engages with through her hobbies of photography, filmmaking, playing the violin, and writing. |