Oh My Curry Goodness

Arissa Roy is the Founder and CEO of Project Power Global - a youth-led organization fighting poverty internationally through education. Arissa created this organization after taking a trip to India and was shocked by the poverty that existed and the lack of access to education. While education is important to Arissa, other issues she and her organization have raised awareness of include mental health, climate change, and social justice. With her work, she has impacted more than 50,000 people all over the world. Arissa is also the youngest guest so far on this podcast!

After taking a trip to India and seeing the issues that were present, it shocked Arissa because she had never seen that level of poverty and lack of access to education. This led her to think about creating an organization that can help address these concerns. While Arissa has good intentions to make an impact on as many people as possible, some people did not understand why. Whether teachers asking why she was wasting her time or losing friends because of how passionate Arissa was about making an impact. Despite not getting support from everyone, Arissa recognized the importance of finding a community of people who would support her and being the best supporter of herself throughout her journey. Some of the projects Project Power Global has done in the past include a Pen Pal program between a school in Edmonton, Canada, and a local town in India. She recently did a project called “Backpacks for Ukraine” where she partnered with schools in Canada to collect school supplies and backpacks for incoming Ukrainian families with children who will be starting school in Canada. In the future, Arissa is planning on going to Italy to attend the United World College of The Adriatic which is one of 18 schools globally that is part of the United World Colleges. She will be there to complete her last two years of high school and get her diploma in Italy. She also has a documentary coming up called “Between The Lines” which she recorded while going to India and Nepal. This documentary was made for people to understand other people’s perspectives that are different from their own.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Arissa Roy be sure to follow her on Instagram @arissa_roy as well as Project Power Global @projectpower_global!

You can also check out Project Power Global’s website as well:

Project Power Global: https://www.projectpowerglobal.org/

Khalid Dada is the President of the Muslim Student Association at the Ohio State University. A position he has held for two years, his job is to provide the best experience possible for Muslims on campus. Khalid is majoring in public policy and is getting ready to graduate from Ohio State at the end of Spring Semester. After graduating, Khalid plans to take a gap year before attending law school.

Ever since Khalid was a kid, he has been involved in giving back to the Muslim Community. He was raised in Columbus, Ohio and often attended the local mosque in order to be close to his community. He also gets inspiration from his family as he often saw them putting in more than they were receiving. When it came to which college to attend, choosing Ohio State was an easy decision given that his relatives attend there and also take part in the Muslim Student Association chapter. As its President, Khalid does his best to make sure Muslims are being seen and heard on campus. While there are difficult times in this role, Khalid knows that it will only make him a better person. Other important roles he has played as its President include working with other organizations to support victims of the Turkey-Syria earthquake and raising awareness on what is happening in Palestine. In the future, Khalid hopes to continue bringing Muslim Communities together and advocate for those who need help.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Khalid Dada, be sure to follow him on Instagram @khaliddadaa as well as Ohio State’s Muslim Student Association @muslimbuckeyes!

Mussab Ali is the current Student Body Co-President at Harvard Law School. Before this, he was a member of the Jersey City Board of Education in 2017, making him one of the youngest elected Muslim officials in the United States and the youngest in the city. He later became the President of the City’s Board of Education where some of his notable achievements include establishing a $17 per hour minimum wage and eliminating student lunch debt. In addition, Mussab is the founder of Ali Leadership Institute where he aims to empower the next generation of people to get involved in politics around the country.

Mussab Ali was born in Pakistan before his family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Early on, Mussab witnessed his parents being discriminated against based on the way they looked. These experiences led Mussab to become passionate about fighting for civil rights. Years later, Mussab ran for the Jersey City Board of Education after hearing remarks made by Donald Trump during his candidacy for President. He was determined to make an impact on his city despite being at a young age. The first time he ran for the position, he lost the race. However, he decided to try again and won by 68 votes to become the youngest and first Muslim elected official in Jersey City at 21 years old. Mussab made the transition from not only being a member of the Jersey City Board of Education but also being its President. After a few months into his new role, Mussab was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma. Initially, this diagnosis was kept private but decided to make it public after Mussab was losing hair from his head and eyebrows. Despite this difficult experience, it changed the way Mussab saw life. Mussab decided to not run for re-election and is now the Student Body Co-President at Harvard Law School. While he is handling duties for Harvard Law School, Mussab is giving back to his community by creating the Ali Leadership Institute because he believes that young people can make a change in their communities now even if they are not old enough or lack experience. 

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Mussab Ali, be sure to follow him on Instagram @mussabalijc!

Please note that this episode contains discussions of suicide.

Sam Gerry is a mental health advocate and Co-Founder of Kick It For A Cause, a charity kickball tournament turned nonprofit organization that is raising awareness for suicide prevention and mental health. In addition, he does research on teen mental health, including the relationship between sleep and social media. He also plays golf collegiately at Bates College.

While Sam is involved in mental health, he is an avid golfer. One of his dreams growing up was to play golf professionally. However, growing up Sam struggled with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, At one point, it caused him to lose interest in gold and later questioned his desire to live. At the time he was going through this difficult experience, he only discussed this only with people close to him. Things started to change for Sam in 2016, when he and his Grandpa went to the Master’s - which is one of the biggest Golf Tournaments in the world. Later, he would publish an op-ed talking about how golf saved his life through the difficult times. This led to an outpouring of support from many people who praised him for sharing his story. Now he is the Co-Founder of Kick It For A Cause, a nonprofit organization he started with a couple of friends where its proceeds go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. While Sam’s wish of being a golf professional may not happen, now he hopes to pursue a PhD in Psychology.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Kick It For A Cause, be sure to follow it on Instagram @kickitforacause!

You can also check out their website as well:

Kick It For A Cause: https://kickitforacause.org/

Kevin Patel is a climate change activist and the Founder and Executive Director of OneUpAction, a youth-led nonprofit supporting marginalized youth by helping them create change in their communities. In 2019, Kevin, along with a few of his friends, created the first-ever Youth Climate Commission in LA County, consisting of 88 cities.

Kevin was born to parents who immigrated from India. Both of them have a background in farming. This allowed Kevin to learn about their practices, such as growing food in his backyard and working with plants and animals. When he was little, he told his parents he wanted to become a botanist. However, when Kevin was in 6th grade, he was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat due to the poor air quality growing up in Los Angeles. This is something he will live with for the rest of his life. He has since been spreading awareness about the issue of climate change and advocating for marginalized groups who are being affected by climate change. Despite his passion, he has faced death threats for his involvement in this field. Even with the death threats, Kevin is still committed to tackling the issue of climate change and getting young people involved in the change-making process.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow “Oh My Curry Goodness,” subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more.

If you want to follow Kevin Patel, be sure to follow him on Instagram @imkevinjpatel as well as his organization OneUpAction International @oneupaction.

You can also check out Kevin’s website as well as OneUpAction’s website:

Personal: https://www.imkevinjpatel.com/

OneUpAction: https://oneupaction.org/

Justin Ah Chow is a student-athlete at The Ohio State University where he competes in gymnastics. Some of the events he has competed in events such as pommel horse, parallel bars, and the high bar. When representing Ohio State, he has performed at the NCAA Championships and as of this recording, entered one of his last years of eligibility before graduating. Throughout his gymnastics career, he has been a 2x national champion, an NCAA All-American, and a former member of the USA National Team & was a 2018 Youth Olympic Alternate.

Growing up, Justin played many sports such as soccer, basketball, gymnastics, and tennis. At one point, he did all four sports at the same time before dropping soccer and then later, basketball. Later on at the age of 12, he chose to drop tennis to commit to gymnastics. As Justin continued his passion for gymnastics, he started getting offers from different colleges around the country before choosing Ohio State due to the campus environment. Outside of competing for Ohio State, he is currently majoring in Communication Technology and Media and minoring in Computer Information Systems.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Justin Ah Chow, be sure to follow him on Instagram @justahchow!

Please note that this episode contains discussions of suicide.

Seika Brown is a mental health advocate and the Founder of Youth Lead Global (YLG) Research which aims to discover how mental health is defined across cultures. Before YLG Research, Seika founded “Archnova” in high school that focuses on mental health policy in the state of Washington. Outside of mental health work, Seika is a student at Cornell University majoring in Urban and Regional Studies and minoring in Anthropology.

Seika’s work in mental health started at 15 in a psychology class when her teacher assigned her class a final project. Seika worked on the problem of addressing the issue of anxiety and stress rates in schools with the solution of creating a resource hub in schools for students to utilize. However, when she presented her idea to her principal, it got rejected. This rejection started her journey of reaching out to different legislatures around the state of Washington to work on issues around mental health. In her junior year of high school, Seika founded Archnova and under the organization, got a bill passed that provided a student well-being advisory committee. Despite the passion Seika had with mental health, she struggled academically. By the time Seika graduated from high school, she had a 2.6 cumulative GPA and a low SAT score. However, that did not stop her from applying to Ivy League schools like Cornell in which she attends today. In the future, Seika plans to write a book that will discuss her time in high school and what it was like to work with friends on the issue of mental health.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Seika Brown, be sure to follow her on Instagram @seikabrown!

You can also check out her website as well:

Website: https://www.seikabrown.com

Tukwila City Councilman Mohamed Abdi is the youngest councilman in the history of Tukwila, Washington. Originally born in a refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya before moving to the state of Washington, he has held the position of City Councilman for about a year after being sworn in on January 3rd, 2022. Outside of being a Councilman, he is a big fan of the Boston Celtics in the NBA. One of his biggest dreams growing up was to play in the NBA before changing it to becoming a Councilman for the city he grew up in.

Tukwila Councilman Mohamed Abdi may have been born in Nairobi, Kenya, but his family is from Somalia. When he was young, his family moved to the state of Washington - which happens to have one of the biggest Somalian populations in the United States. As the eldest of eight children, Councilman Abdi knew the importance of being a role model and had to represent himself in the best way possible. His interest in becoming a City Councilman came at a young age when he met his Councilman at the time: Joe Duffie - who was the first Black City Councilmember in the history of Tukwila. He told him that one day he wants to be in his position. From Elementary School to High School, Councilman Abdi held many positions of service. Whether helping families cross the street, being a mentor to young children, or being the best basketball teammate, he was dedicated to playing a small role in people’s day. Becoming the City of Tukwila’s youngest Councilman is one of Councilman Abdi’s biggest accomplishments and has continued to become a role model for people in his city, especially for the younger generation.

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Tukwila Councilman Mohamed Abdi, be sure to follow him on Instagram @_moprince_!

Ziyaan Virji is the Founder and CEO of For The Menstruator - an organization that aims to create a world of menstrual equity. Since creating For The Menstruator, it has impacted more than 20,000 people in more than 10 countries worldwide. He has been involved in other spaces including Climate Change & Education. In addition to For The Menstruator, he founded “Leaders of Today” - whose mission is to inspire young people to start their leadership journey today. This is done through their newsletter, speaking events, and a podcast.

When Ziyaan was 15 years old, he got Dengue fever on his last day at boarding school. He spent the next three weeks in the hospital before being discharged. Despite a difficult experience, Ziyaan learned the importance of purpose and legacy as well as understanding that people will not live forever. When Ziyaan returned to school, he started a personal project inspired by watching a documentary about menstruation in India and conversing with his mom. When first starting For The Menstruator, there were many challenges Ziyaan faced, including selling shawarma to raise money for the organization because he was not old enough to receive funds from the government (Ziyaan was based in Kenya at the time). Some days he was able to make a profit while other days it did not happen. He was able to get funding once he turned 18. His organization started to slowly gain recognition which allowed him to speak at multiple events. One of the biggest awards he received was the Princess Diana Award which is one of the most prestigious awards any young person can win for humanitarian efforts. After taking time away from the media, Ziyaan continued to impact as many people as possible. Now with “Leaders of Today”, he wants to inspire people to start their leadership today and not wait. As his third-grade teacher used to say whenever he turned in his homework late: “Tomorrow Never Comes.”

In this episode, you will hear:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Ziyaan Virji, be sure to follow him on Instagram @ziyaanvirji as well as For The Menstruator @forthemenstruator! You can also follow Leaders Of Today @joinleadersoftoday.

You can check out Leader of Today on their website as well:

Website: https://newsletter.joinleadersoftoday.com/

Sophie Beren is the Founder & CEO of The Conversationalist - an educational platform founded to empower and unify the world through conversations. With The Conversationalist, she is the host of “POVz,” which is the first Gen Z Talk Show that allows guests share multiple perspectives on controversial topics. Before creating The Conversationalist, Sophie created TableTalk during her time at Penn University. Its mission is to give people a space to share their perspectives on different topics and have meaningful conversations.

Growing up in Wichita, Kansas, Sophie was the only Jewish student in her school. When she attended Penn University, Sophie was surrounded by many Jewish students but also people from other backgrounds. This experience led her to being passionate about conversations and creating TableTalk - which has since spread to more than 80 schools. The political environment that was present during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election inspired Sophie to emphasize the importance of hearing people’s point of view even if the viewpoint is different. Since creating The Conversationalist, the platform has reached many young people around the country. Sophie’s goal is to help every young person realize the power of their voice, and to make them feel seen and heard.

In this episode, you will hear about:

If you want to follow the “Oh My Curry Goodness” podcast, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow the podcast on YouTube as well. Be sure to also follow the podcast on instagram @theomcgpodcast for more information on guests, preview clips, and more!

If you want to follow Sophie Beren, be sure to follow her on Instagram @sophieberen as well as The Conversationalist @theconversationalist!

You can also check out her personal website as well as the website of The Conversationalist:

Personal: https://www.sophieberen.com/   

The Conversationalist: https://www.theconversationalist.com/