The Team
ARathi Sabada
President
Arathi is a junior in the Ross School of Business with a focus in Business Law and Management & Organizations. She has previously served on the Programming Team and as the Chief Operations Officer on the Central Student Government Executive Team. During her time on CSG, she spearheaded several projects, including the 2016-2017 Student Government Demographic Report, the Wolverine Consulting Group, and the creation of the Emergency Meal Fund. This year, Arathi has been working on the Leadership Engagement Scholarship and is excited to for the scholarship to launch soon. Outside of school, she enjoys watching reality cooking shows, going to workout classes, and trying new coffee shops. Arathi is excited to work on initiatives related to food insecurity, health, and accessibility, while engaging with different students and organizations to hear their ideas on improving campus life.
marianne Drysdale
Vice President
Marianne is a sophomore aspiring to major in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. This year she served as an elected representative and as the communications committee chair for Central Student Government. She is looking forward to working on a comprehensive mentorship program and on removing barriers to student involvement. Marianne is passionate about embracing as many different facets of U of M as possible. Throughout her time at Michigan, she has volunteered as a counselor at Camp Kesem, competed at Club Running Nationals, guided an activity on the Ted X stage, facilitated creative writing workshops in a women’s prison, and worked Festifall tables for clubs she wasn’t even in. Outside of school, Marianne can be found perfecting her homemade granola recipe, scheming samples at Cherry Republic, or running in the Arb.
Isabelle Blanchard
Campaign Manager
Isabelle is a sophomore majoring in Computer Science and Biomolecular Science hoping to find the connection between healthcare and technology. She served as the Chief Programming Officer for Central Student Government this year and has planned events such as a cultural food fair and show, illUMiNATIONS, and a pitch competition, INNOVATE. Outside of CSG, Isabelle is the marketing chair for Salto Dance Company and can usually be found at Sweeting on South University, where she works. She is a huge foodie and has a Bay Area Boba directory as well as an Ann Arbor food spreadsheet.
Haya Akbik
Party Chair
Haya is a sophomore in LSA hoping to transfer into the Ford School of Public Policy. This year she served as a representative on Central Student Government and is looking forward to carrying out specific initiatives that help students in their everyday lives. On campus, Haya is President of Syrian Humanitarian Aid, Vice President of Risk Management of her sorority Alpha Chi Omega and is also a member of the pre-law and public policy fraternity, Kappa Omega Alpha. Besides school, Haya loves historical fiction novels, movies, and is obsessed with Frank Sinatra. She also enjoys boxing at Title Boxing Club with her friends.
Jake Uchitelle-Cohen
Rep Director
Jake is a sophomore studying Business with a focus in Strategy. This is his first time on a Central Student Government campaign and he is very excited to be a part of True Blue and hopefully help implement initiatives that will allow students to maximize their experience at Michigan. At Michigan, Jake has written for the sports section of the Michigan Daily, is a member of Kappa Omega Alpha Pre-Law fraternity, and has helped fundraise for charity events like the suicide prevention walk and marco-madness. Outside of the classroom, Jake is an avid New York Sports fan, loves music, science-fiction and crime movies. Recently, Jake has been binge-watching It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and aspires to be as happy as Charlie.
Sydney Eisenberg
Rep Director
Sydney is a sophomore in LSA, hoping to major in Organizational Studies and Psychology. This is her second time working on a Central Student Government campaign, and she is very excited to be a part of TrueBlue to elevate the college experience of all students at Michigan! On campus, Sydney is a Community Outreach Chair for the Michigan Refugee Assistance Program, and the Recruitment/Outreach chair for Michigan GIVErs, where she spends a lot of time encouraging people to volunteer abroad like she did last summer. For fun, you can find Sydney doing yoga, sitting at a coffee shop (probably Literati or Roos Roast), making new Spotify playlists, or obsessing over this year’s Oscar nominated films.
Jerry Goosenberg
Rep Director
Jerry is a sophomore in the School of Kinesiology studying Sport Management. He is serving as Rep Director and this is his first Central Student Government campaign. Jerry is very excited to join TrueBlue and is eager to help make positive change for students at Michigan. On campus, Jerry is Risk Manager of his social fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi, Recruitment Chair for his professional fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon, and a member of the on-campus radio and television stations WCBN and WOLV TV. Jerry is a huge sports fan, particularly baseball. He is excited for his hometown team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to start the season in a few weeks and come back from their World Series Game 7 loss last year to bring home the championship.
Elle Shwer
Director of Communications
Elle is a senior in the School of Information studying Information Analysis and User Experience Design. She is also the SI Representative for Central Student Government where she is the Vice Chair for the Communications Committee. During her time on CSG, she piloted a School of Information Mentorship Program, created graphics for CSG & Innovate, and helped coordinate CSG Hot Cocoa and Donut days on the Diag. On campus, Elle is also an avid intramural sport participant (IM Dodgeball Champions ‘17), daily yoga-goer, and member of Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority. She is from St. Pete Beach, Florida and is moving to NYC to do Product Design when she graduates.
Alex Johnson
Director of Communications
Alex is a freshman in LSA studying Communications and Political Science. Throughout his first year on campus, he has found his way into Central Student Government, where he has worked on a variety of projects, most notably as a co-creator of the new CSG Podcast. Outside of student government, Alex is involved in Stonewall Dems and pursues a variety of extracurricular activities including creative writing, as he hopes to become a speechwriter upon graduating. When not on campus, he enjoys running through the neighborhoods of Ann Arbor, exploring downtown Detroit, and devouring the latest season of Broad City.
Micah griggs
Policy Advisor
Micah is a senior studying Gender & Health and plans to pursue public health after graduation. She has previously served as CSG’s Executive Vice President and a CSG LSA Representative. Micah wants to use her passions in racial equality, empowering women and access to higher education to combat social disparities and create more opportunities in our country. In her free time, she loves to do Zumba and go to concerts! She's so True Blue.
Victor Mahdavi
Director of Strategy
Victor is a sophomore studying Business with a focus on Strategy and Technology & Operations. He has previously served as an LSA representative on the Student Assembly and this will be his second Central Student Government campaign. On campus, Victor is a sophomore representative on BBA Council and is involved with the Michigan Spirit Association where he helps organize Maizefest, Michigan’s homecoming pep rally. Outside of school, Victor loves to watch soccer and basketball, listen to music, and spend time with his friends and family. He is excited to work towards improving the lives of students at University of Michigan with True Blue.
Kailan Mehta
Director of Finance
Kailan is a sophomore in the Ross School of Business, focusing in Strategy and Technology and Operations. This is her first campaign for Central Student Government and is looking forward to helping showcase all the unique identities at Michigan. On campus, Kailan is Vice President Internal of MECC Consulting Group, served on the finance team and backstage at TEDx at UofM, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity. Outside of Michigan, she is passionate about working with nonprofits, including a few local Ann Arbor ones such as Ele’s Place and A Brighter Way. Kailan enjoys trail running, reading, and trying every restaurant on main street with friends during restaurant week.
Sierra Stephens
Policy Advisor
Sierra is a sophomore in LSA and a recent cross campus transfer student from the BFA Acting Program in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Sierra is currently undeclared, aspiring to major in Public Policy, and is in the process of completing her minor in Community Action, Social Change in the School of Social Work. Sierra serves on the CSG 7th Assembly as the SMTD Representative. Additionally, Sierra is an IGR Facilitator in Training and will be co- facilitating Practicum in the Winter 2018 semester. She is the Director of Education for Project SOAR, a student org founded to promote DEI in arts education and serves on the youth council for The Representation Project, a nonprofit that addresses the socially constructed stereotypes marginalized identities face through film and media.