Two Cornellians, Cherie Animashaun ’27 and Priya Abiram ’26, were awarded the Her Campus e.l.f.ing Amazing 22 Under 22 Class of 2026 award on March 26. The award showcases 22 graduating college women who are young changemakers in their respective fields, including advocacy and public policy, entrepreneurship and environment and STEM.
Her Campus, a media platform “dedicated to empowering college women around the world,” partnered with e.l.f. Cosmetics, a beauty brand known for its affordable and cruelty-free makeup and skincare, for the award’s third consecutive year.
The Amazing 22 Under 22 award emphasizes not needing to “wait until you graduate college, move to a new city, or land your first ‘real’ job to start chasing your dreams.”
Through the award, Her Campus and e.l.f recognize how “these bold disruptors are transforming ideas into action, leading with kind hearts, turning passion into purpose, and dreaming with their heads in the stars.”
Cherie Animashaun: “Closing The Opportunity Gap For Young Women In Leadership, Policy, & Business”
Animashaun is a junior who studies government in the College of Arts and Sciences. She founded her own nonprofit, called Her Rising Initiative, at 16 years old in 2021. The initiative now has nearly 100 chapters in middle schools and high schools across the country.
Her Rising hosts after-school clubs that inspire young girls, especially girls of color, to get involved in politics and business, whether it is through bringing them to the United Nations headquarters or meeting a member of Congress at Capitol Hill, according to Animashaun.
The nonprofit also hosts an annual Girls Who Lead conference, bringing women at the top of their fields to lead free workshops about fashion, business, engineering and more, according to Animashaun.
In an interview with The Sun, Animashaun explained her background and how it led her to start Her Rising. She grew up in Evanston, Illinois and noticed that, “there were very few opportunities for [young women of color]” and that “a lot of girls get left behind.”
”I knew if I was able to create something more culturally relevant, intentionally designed and youth-led, it’d actually reach those girls that often get left behind,” Animashaun said.
The idea did not come without challenges, however.
“When I first told people about the nonprofit, they were really, really confused — even the people who were really close to me,” Animashaun said. “Where I’m from, that’s not the traditional path. I was in high school, I was broke and I’m trying to build a nonprofit to give resources to other people, whereas most nonprofits are [created by] rich people who are much, much older.”
Aminashaun said her biggest challenge was getting taken seriously. She said she would send 50 to 100 emails every day to potential partners and sponsors, with most not replying or only responding with words of encouragement.
Animashaun said these challenges “built a resilience” in her. Being at Cornell further taught her to be resilient, she said.
The University has “not been the most helpful when it comes to supporting nonprofits and social impact work,” Animashuan said. “There’s very few nonprofit founders at Cornell, but we all agree that the funding here is really scarce for that.” She hopes Cornell will provide more support for students serving their communities through nonprofit work.
However, Animashuan is “really grateful” for professors and classes that gave her a “roadmap” for her ambitions.
“When I came here, I had ideas and dreams, but coming here it was like ‘No, this is how you actually get it done,’” she said.
On her showcase for the Amazing 22 Under 22 award, Animashaun said she prioritizes sharing how she lands these opportunities and how she can pass her knowledge about being a founder onto others. Aminashaun frequently posts scholarship and internship opportunities for other young girls on her social media.
“Anytime there’s a cohort of people who are equally as ambitious and driven [coming] together, I’m excited,” Animashaun said. “I never thought I could get these kinds of awards.”
Priya Abiram ’25 M.Eng. ’26: “Defining The Future Of Space With Women in Mind”
Abiram is a masters of engineering student studying aerospace engineering at Cornell’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in the Duffield College of Engineering.
Abiram told The Sun that as an undergraduate student, she was a recovery and payload engineer for the Cornell Rocketry Project Team, a researcher for Cornell’s Alpha CubeSat team and the president of Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Cornell. She told The Sun that “Cornell has opened a lot of doors [for her].”
Whether it was being recruited for internships through clubs or working closely with professors in research labs, Abiram said that “professors are very caring about the success of the students.”
Beyond Cornell, Abiram is passionate about making space a more inclusive place for women.
“I realized a lot of space systems are often designed around a default human body, and that default human body was the Apollo astronauts that went to space … [who were] white men from the military,” Abriram said. “[Women are expected] to adapt to fit into these systems, which affects their operational ability and performance.”
She is currently developing a robotic uterus payload, or piece of equipment to study menstrual mechanics in microgravity, and partnering with organizations such as Operation Period to license and fly the technology on space missions. Operation Period is a youth-focused organization dedicated to “advancing menstrual freedom,” according to their website.
As a woman of color in STEM, Abiram said she has seen the challenges of the gender imbalance in the real world. She recalls working at an aerospace startup and debating what to wear so she would not feel judged by her male counterparts.
“There was … a lot of struggle to portray my value, perspective and worth, and be able to prove the experience that I do bring to the table,” Abiram said.
At Cornell, Abiram said she has “never … felt left out or discriminated” for being a woman or a person of color. She urges the engineering industry to “catch up” to Cornell.
To further this mission, Abiram is in the process of founding OrbitEd, an educational organization to expand access to STEM for young people. With three cohorts of students so far, OrbitEd hopes to bring youth together from across the world to learn about the engineering, medical and business components involved in science and space.
Abiram said she is excited to meet the rest of this year’s 22 Under 22 cohort in person at a conference in New York City this summer.
“It’s so awesome to see what they have accomplished with their nonprofits and organizations at such a young age,” Abiram said.
