Finding Your Roots with Athina Ramphal

About this episode

Athina Ramphal discusses her work in genealogy and youth empowerment through her nonprofit initiatives.

Athina Ramphal is a psychology student at Johns Hopkins University, founder and CEO of The Genealogy Club, and Miss Diwali 2026, a preliminary titleholder for Miss Maryland (June). Through her nonprofit work, she has launched initiatives including Seedlings of the Caribbean , a grant-funded international program empowering youth across the Caribbean to explore identity through genealogy, and Project I.D.E.A. (Identity, Diversity, Exploration, All-Inclusive): Who Am I? , which encourages young people to begin exploring questions of identity early by seeing themselves reflected in history and the world around them. She also serves as an ambassador for Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings , a three-time Emmy Award-winning, WPSU-produced web series and educational program inspired by Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s PBS series Finding Your Roots . Athina is deeply committed to helping young people connect with their heritage, understand their stories, and build a stronger sense of identity and belonging.

People in this episode

Guest: Athina Ramphal

Topics covered

• genealogy
• identity
• youth empowerment
• heritage
• psychology

Keywords

• genealogy
• identity
• youth
• heritage
• psychology
• Miss Diwali
• Caribbean

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Genealogy Club, Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings, WPSU, PBS

Books & works: Finding Your Roots

Places: Johns Hopkins University

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