Omaha Teen Council

Members

Morgan Ryan

Morgan Ryan is 16, and she's currently a junior at Westside High School. She joined Teen Council because she believes that everyone deserves to know how to keep themselves healthy and safe. And yet, schools are not required to teach any form of sex education in Nebraska. There are some really phenomenal resources for sexually-active teens in this state, but a lot of people don’t know about them. Being able to help her peers access the healthcare that they need is very rewarding to her.

Anjali Jayan

While being a junior at Millard North High School, Anjali Jayan decided to join Omaha Teen Council to explore her interest of advocating for better health education. Driven by passion, she takes pride in helping her peers and providing them with suppport. In addition, Anjali Jayan is a web developer and has been credited for creating Omaha Teen Council's website. When she isn't kept busy with Omaha Teen Council, Anjali Jayan loves to play the piano and compete in Speech!

Despina Quinta

Des is a Millard West senior. They joined Omaha Teen Council to add to the curriculum of health sciences they have. They strive to accumulate knowledge and recourses to help out their peers. As an advocate for reproductive rights and the right to proficient sexual education, they continually fight for these rights. Some of the goals for Teen Council are to spread information and resources and to help and guide people who may need help and information. They will stand up for what they think is right and will share information to others. If not found at at the TC meetings, they can be found doing art, in HOSA or helping out with they’re school’s thespian club.

Amanda Hingorani

Amanda Hingorani (she/her/hers) is a senior at Marian High School. Amanda joined Teen Council because it is such a unique opportunity for teenagers to get involved in their community while becoming equipped with necessary information and resources. She believes that sexual health is incorporated into and is just as important as mental and physical health, and that sexual education is crucial to a healthy lifestyle. Despite how important Sex Ed is, Amanda is aware that it continues to fall at the bottom of the list for conversation topics. Due to this unpopularity, Amanda is dedicated to erasing the stigma around talking about sexual education and believes it should be normalized! This is Amanda’s first year on Teen Council and she is excited to learn from experts and to be a resource among her peers. Along with Teen Council, Amanda is an active member of her school’s speech team, year-round volunteer at the Omaha Public Library, and a member of the Kim Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council for mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

Eva Burklund

Eva is a senior at Papillion-La Vista High School. She joined Teen Council because she wants to learn more about specific issues facing teens today. With Teen Council she hopes to start real conversations with her peers, and be able to pass on what she has learned. She also wants to be able to further reach out to her community and help improve our society. When she isn’t at Teen Council she works as the Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper, an officer of the GSA, the president and founder of her school’s Poetry Slam team, as well as a member of the Governor’s Youth Advisory Council. She expects to continue her advocacy throughout college and her future career.

Desiree Darwin

Hello, my name is Desiree Darwin! My pronouns are she/her. I have been involved with planned parenthood since I was 13 years old. I believe sex Ed is essential for everyone regardless of age, sexual orientation, or religion. I would love to educate my peers andbetter my community!

Hayden Batchelder

Hayden Batchelder is a Senior at Millard west and this is his first year on the Teen council. He spends lots of his free time doing photography, skateboarding, and listening to true crime podcasts. He is an activist for Lgbt+ and Black lives matter movement. He is involved in the Millard West Drama Department and was a finalist for Filmworks at Nebraska Thespian Festival, and featured in a short film in Omaha Film Festival.

Kati Kough

Kati Kough (she/her/hers) is a Health Educator for Planned Parenthood North Central States, where she provides sex education to teenagers, young adults, and professionals throughout the Omaha community. She cofacilitates the Omaha Teen Council program, which educates high schoolers on topics such as Birth Control, STIs/HIV, Health Dating, Gender and Sexuality, Communication Skills, Pregnancy Options, Presentations Skills, Values, and many more. In addition, Kati provides informational sessions about GetCheckedOmaha, a program that provides completely free and confidential birth control, STI testing, and STI treatment throughout Nebraska. She also facilitates the AskableAdults Matter training to local adults and youth-serving professionals who want to learn to be resources and trusted adults for the young people in their lives. She believes in providing information, tools, and access to young people so they can make important decisions about their lives in empowered and healthy ways. Before working at Planned Parenthood, Kati earned her master’s and bachelor’s in Sociology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she focused her research on pornography, sexual identity formation, transgender experiences, menstruation, and abortion. When Kati isn’t thinking about sex, she’s probably cooking with lots of butter, petting one of her cats, watering her plants, or working on a cross stitch!

Alexis Dickerson

Alexis Dickerson (she/her/hers) is a clinic-based health educator for Planned Parenthood where she provides sex education to youth and young adults between the ages of 13-24 and co- facilitates the Omaha Teen Council. In the clinic setting, 1 on 1 education covers topics such as STIs, Birth Control, Anatomy and Healthy Relationships. Alexis received her bachelor’s degree in Public Health from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is currently finishing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at Bellevue University. Upon completing her master’s degree, Alexis plans to become an ASSECT certified sex therapist to work predominately with the LGBTQIA+ community, sexual dysfunction, sex addiction, and individuals who have experienced sexual trauma. Much of her work experience includes working with victims of domestic and sexual violence and substance abuse prevention. She is on the board for Prevention Means Progress which is a coalition that serves both Nebraska and Iowa and focuses its efforts on educating youth on substance abuse prevention. Alexis’ biggest passions are dismantling stigma around mental health issues, educating people on healthy dating and providing youth with tools and skills to feel empowered in making decisions that have positive impact on their lives.