“¡Hola estudiantes!” is what one may hear when they scroll through their Instagram Reels and reach the account of SpeakUp Scholars. Whether it’s through daily video lessons or free tutoring lessons, SpeakUp Scholars is a student-led nonprofit organization that aims to support individuals who are learning English as their second language. High schoolers from across Ventura County make up the backbone of this program and promote public speaking, advocacy, and support in core subjects such as science and math. More than 6,400 students and five countries across the world have been reached.
Known for his determination, Rishi Sikh, founder and junior at Westlake High School [WHS], created SpeakUp Scholars back in June of 2025 to give English as a Second Language [ESL] students a comfortable environment to practice debate and public speaking.
“I am defining the strategic vision for our organization. Talking about things like ‘Hey, this is what we want to do. Let’s work towards achieving that,’” Sikh said. “I [also] serve as the ambassador [and] face of the program, so I represent SpeakUp Scholars during events like this [and] other press conferences or meetings.”
Trishah Shah, junior at WHS, initially joined SpeakUp Scholars with the desire to help her peers with everyday schoolwork. Shah is currently serving as a Chief Creative Officer and the lead of the India team.
“I’ve helped coordinate a lot of programs with schools in India, as well as get additional materials out there to help those kids learn English and help them get more confident in speaking English. Mainly, we do this through sending out videos and lesson plans,” Shah said. “As Co-Creative Officer, I’ve done a lot with making promotional materials, marketing, creating designs, logos, etc. and then also just getting that out there a lot through social media, as well as paper fliers,” Shah said.
Shah not only appreciates the collaborative aspect of creating advocacy videos on social media and biweekly team meetings, but also the organization’s global impact.
“I appreciate just how international the outreach has gone. Like in the United States, we’ve reached numerous different states. But also internationally, I know we have people in India, we have Romania, we have China. I want to say Singapore as well. It just feels really nice to be a part of something that’s really connecting the globe together,” Shah said.
Nawal Fatima, junior at Newbury Park High School, got involved with SpeakUp Scholars after her friends told her about it and mentioned they were looking for a biology tutor. Right now, Fatima is the Chief Marketing Officer.
“Mainly what I do is, along with our social media manager Elena, control our Instagram. We post, edit, and caption all the videos. We keep the daily video schedule running,” Fatima said. “Mainly, I [teach] biology and film the daily video lessons in Hindi.”
I [also teach] biology and film the daily video lessons in Hindi,” Fatima said.
On top of handling social media, Fatima finds joy in seeing the impact the group has on kids, even right at home.
“I am part of something that is making a difference, and SpeakUp Scholars has actually helped so many kids, and it’s helped even my little brother. I think that it’s important that I can see the difference not only across the world but at home in my own house,” Fatima said.
Sikh feels the group stands out because of the close dynamics and commitment between the volunteers.
“Every single one of those volunteers has this drive in them to achieve the mission they’ve set themselves to,” Sikh said. “I intend on continuing SpeakUp Scholars throughout my collegiate careers.”
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