BFB Peer Mentors

Sunya Afrasiabi is currently a first-year student at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated from Williamsville North High School in 2024, where she was honored as a New York State School Boards Association “Tomorrow Leaders Today” and received the Williamsville PTSA Council Scholarship, Janet H. Griswold Memorial Scholarship, and Williamsville Education Foundation Scholarship.

In 2021, Sunya founded the BFB #MyStory Program, a storytelling project and youth empowerment program that shares the stories of immigrants and refugees through a combination of oral history, narrative therapy, and portrait exhibition. During her time with this project, she oversaw 30+ volunteers, worked with 20+ community organizations, and secured $24k+ in grants, including funding from Riley’s Way, Ashoka, and Prudential.

Sunya was recognized for her service work as a Prudential Emerging Visionary, Princeton Prize Certificate of Achievement Recipient, Riley’s Way Call for Kindness Fellow, and Independent Health and Business First Diversity & Inclusion All-Star.

Sunya comes from Iranian and Chinese descent, and hopes to use her multicultural background to bring people of diverse backgrounds together.

Pronouns: she/her