Meet The Team

Ellen Lurie is the founder of The 4th Branch. She lives in Washington, DC and is a sophomore in high school. She got into political organizing about a year ago through various school clubs and student organizations. Currently, She works with the Youth and Government team and organizes volunteer opportunities for students at her school. In her free time, she plays on a field hockey team, listens to music, and hangs out with friends! 

Tola Aluko is a member of The 4th Branch's communications leadership, particularly in Internal Communications.

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William Trinh is The 4th Branch's the head of Press Communications. Things that he loves to do include debating, walking, and watching Madame Secretary on Netflix. When he's not screaming at the other side for making a bad point, he's reading a book or playing League of Legends. One of the reasons he's here at the 4th branch is that he is extremely passionate about ensuring civil liberties, particularly the right to vote.

Josh is a Senior from San Jose, California. Josh works as part of the Communications Leadership, specifically focusing on the website you are on right now! Outside of the 4th Branch, Josh is a member of the Secretariat at their high school Model United Nations program, the President of their high school's a cappella group, and very active in all things performing arts! Josh looks forward to promoting democratic reform and the rights of all peoples with the 4th Branch!

Austen Wyche is a junior from Madison, Alabama who has worked in the past for many causes, both political and activist oriented. He has worked on the campaigns for candidates such as Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff, Doug Jones, Stacey Abrams, and many more on all levels of government. In addition to that, he has worked in his community to promote racial equity, LGBTQ+ equality, and gender equity through protest and local organizations. Recently he has attended the ACLU National Advocacy Institute and taken two courses at American University on activism. He is highly interested in politics and issues such as racial equality, immigration reform, and LGBTQ+ rights and cannot wait to work on protecting civil liberties here at the Fourth Branch!

Joe Ravese currently helps run T4B’s research team- He is ultimately named after the patron saint of workers and immigrants, and aspires to be worthy of the name. He's especially interested in protecting the rights of voters, workers, and the incarcerated. In his spare time, he enjoy listening to the dulcet tones of Pete Seeger. 

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Hi! I’m a sophomore from Potomac, Maryland and a part of the Project Management Team! I’m super passionate about equity and advocating for disadvantaged communities’ freedoms. I do a lot of work with local DC based organizations and national groups like HSDA. Outside of activism, as someone born-and-raised in the DMV I’m a diehard Nationals fan and a XC and Track runner! I’m excited to help fight for the fundamental freedoms we have as Americans this year!

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Lauren Thomas is a sophomore from Arlington, Virginia. She currently serves as the Project Managing Team Leader for T4B, where she develops, maintains, and facilitates T4B’s campaigns both nationally and regionally. She is passionate about increasing youth advocacy and political participation as she understands that the future lies in the hands of the youth. Furthermore, she is a strong believer that true change occurs at the grassroots level, and hopes to aid T4B in bringing about change. Outside of T4B, she actively participates in Model UN, plays on soccer and frisbee teams, and is one of the WL Victory Garden Club leaders. In her spare time she gardens, enjoys researching international issues and governments, and listens to hard rock. She is excited to be part of T4B and hopes to spread T4B’s mission! P.S. come to one of her foreign event sessions, they are a lot of fun!

Sarah is a high sophomore from North Carolina where she lives with her parents and two little sisters. She’s worked in politics since the 2020 election season, when she was a finance intern for North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s reelection campaign, and continues to work in the NC Association of Teen Democrats and for Politics, Simplified (Spanish) on Instagram. With her school, she is a member of the debate team and a writer for the newspaper, and she tutors to raise money for charity. She’s been apart of T4B since its founding. Sarah loves spending time with her friends, listening to music, and watching basketball.

Avani is a rising senior from Madison, Alabama. Aside from her involvement in the 4th Branch, she plays tennis competitively and is also a member of her school’s Global Research and Consulting Team. In addition to these activities, she also is an LD debater and loves to invest and learn about economic policy in her free time. She looks forward to working with the 4th Branch and is excited to see what they will accomplished an organization.

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