Iniya Nandakumar

Iniya Nandakumar (she/her) is an Indian-American high school student in Dallas, Texas, and a dedicated advocate for public school funding and student representation in the political sphere. She is the founder of Fund the Future, a student-led education advocacy initiative through which she has created campaign internship opportunities for students, organized Coppell ISD's first student-led school board candidate forum, and is leading a district-wide school supply drive to support classrooms and educators across North Texas.

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Iniya serves as Head Intern for Texas State Representative Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, where she leads a team of more than 50 interns and supports community outreach efforts, including canvassing and constituent engagement. She has also testified before the Texas State Board of Education and local school boards, advocating for stronger student representation and increased investment in public education. Her advocacy has been featured by the Dallas Morning News and in an ACLU documentary.

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Beyond her work in Texas, Iniya is the co-founder of the Mann Nalam Foundation, a youth-led nonprofit inspired by her family's agricultural roots that supports thousands of organic farmers across South India through fundraising and the creation of organic community gardens. Iniya also serves as Treasurer of the League of Minority Voters National Youth Council and is a Fellow with Civics Unplugged, the Youth in Policy Institute, and Riley's Way Call for Kindness. Iniya is proud to support SEAT as a board member and hopes to ensure that students have a meaningful seat at the table.