our founders
Yashna Sureka
Yashna grew up in Bangalore, India (just 30 km from Nelamangala!) and graduated from Smith College in December 2016. She majored in Economics and has always dreamt of being a social entrepreneur. Having been conscious of India's economic inequality throughout her life, developing Paysa has allowed her to bridge her academic studies with her social concerns. When Yashna is not at school or at her Odissi dance lessons, you can be sure to find her napping, watching TV shows, or at the gym.
DARPAN BOHARA
Darpan is from Pokhara, Nepal and is currently a junior at Smith College. She is majoring in Computer Science, hoping to use technology to open careers and provide assistance in the developing world, and particularly her home country. Darpan believes that a mobile payment system is critical in economic development, as well as encouraging women in tech. Outside of school, she loves to hike, camp and kayak. Darpan loves traveling and hopes to fill the pages of her passport before it expires.
ChristinE Yee
Christine was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand and moved to San Francisco when she was 11. She is currently a senior studying Economics and Data Science. Christine is passionate about developing a platform where people can have access to formal payment systems. With this project, she hopes to provide people with more opportunities to attain financial independence. In her spare time, Christine enjoys playing tennis, reading biographies and going on taco runs with her family, and friends.
OUR TEAM
Sarah Moore
FACULTY ADVISOR
In 2006, Moore graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the Department of Chemical Engineering. In 2008, she received her master of science in Bioengineering from Stanford University, a department jointly housed in the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine. Moore continued her education at Stanford and in 2012 completed her doctoral degree in Bioengineering. Moore enjoys spending time outside, including running, cycling, backpacking, snowshoeing, and rock climbing.
Nicholas Howe
FACULTY ADVISOR
Nicholas grew up in Connecticut and attended the local public schools. Graduating from Princeton with a bachelors degree in Physics, he joined the Teach for America program and spent two years teaching math, physics and French in southern Arkansas. In 2001, he earned a Ph.D in Computer Science from Cornell University. He now teaches at Smith and carries out research in algorithms for computing on images of historical documents. In his spare time, he runs, swims and plays ice hockey.
Zuliat Owoade
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Zuliat is from Oyo, Nigeria, and she is currently a senior at Smith College double majoring in Computer Science and Biology. Zuliat is passionate about ways of using technology to advance issues in health, education and poverty. One day, Zuliat hopes to begin a computer literacy program in areas of the world where computer education is difficult to access. Zuliat enjoys dancing, cooking and playing squash.
Victoria Yan
WEBSITE DESIGNER
Victoria is from New York, and is a Smith College '16 alum. She is currently reporting for The Daily Star newspaper in Beirut, Lebanon.