Keynote Speaker

Megan Torrey

CEO of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut

She oversees the development and delivery of world class programming that educates the community on global affairs. Recently, Megan implemented a nation-wide World Affairs Council series focused on global women’s health, helped pilot a leadership mission to Brazil and produced a mini-documentary on Henry Kissinger that featured several former Secretaries of State. Megan has facilitated the visits of several world leaders to the Council in Hartford. During her time at CTWAC, the Council has expanded the scope and reach of its programming by implementing new technology and communications initiatives. Ms. Torrey has two degrees in international relations and diplomacy.

Learn more about our Megan at https://ctwac.org

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Junior Senator from the State of Connecticut

Senator Murphy has been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, sensible gun laws, and a forward-looking foreign policy.

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) Senator Murphy has worked to make college more affordable and ensure that our public education system works to serve all students. Senator Murphy also led a bipartisan effort to reform our mental health system, working across the aisle to craft the first comprehensive mental health bill in the Senate in decades.

Senator Murphy has laid out a forward-thinking foreign policy vision for the United States. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been an outspoken proponent of diplomacy, international human rights and the need for clear-eyed American leadership abroad.

Following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, Senator Murphy became one of the leading proponents of commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence. He has championed a number of bipartisan bills aimed at expanding background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murphy has fought to increase investments in Connecticut manufacturing and promote procurement of world-class national defense products made in the state. He has fought to expand American manufacturing and create jobs through his Buy American initiative, which urges the U.S. government to spend taxpayer dollars on American-made goods. Additionally, Senator Murphy has worked in partnership with local city and town leaders to rehabilitate former brownfields and factory sites so that they can be developed into new community spaces and businesses.

Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Murphy served Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in the House, Murphy worked to improve access to housing for homeless veterans, foster job creation and advocate for affordable healthcare for all Americans. Murphy authored the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act to revitalize housing programs for people with disabilities. The bill was signed into law by the president in 2010.

Himaja Nagireddy

11th Youth Observer to the United Nations

Himaja Nagireddy, from Acton, MA, is a proud daughter of South Indian immigrants. As the 11th Youth Observer to the UN, she serves as the highest-ranking youth representative to the UN from the US, elevating youth voices in global policy dialogue around international issues by working closely with stakeholders at the US State Department, US-UN Mission, UN Youth Envoy Office, UN Youth Delegate Program, and UN Foundation. She meets with thousands of young Americans to garner a deeper understanding of their concerns, priorities, ideas, and calls to action for the US working to advance global human rights. These data informed her authorship of the 2022 American Youth Priorities Report* and have helped her represent the interests of young people at UN conferences and forums such as the Transforming Education Summit (TES), 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA77), World Food Forum (WFF), 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP27), the 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67), 2023 UN Water Conference, and the ECOSOC Youth Forum. This year, Himaja is also representing American youth as the Head of the U.S. Delegation for the Y20 Summit, the official youth constituency of the G20 which convenes young professionals to develop policy solutions to the most pressing current global challenges.

Himaja is currently a Public Health Law Fellow at the CDC and just finished her term as a health equity research fellow at the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). She graduated with an MS (SM-80) in Environmental Epidemiology and a concentration in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in May 2022. As a graduate student, she was selected as a 2021 Presidential Public Service Fellow and served as Vice President of the Harvard Graduate Council, the university’s student government representing all 12 professional and graduate schools. In 2020, she graduated as an Honors Scholar from the University of Connecticut with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physiology & Neurobiology and Molecular & Cell Biology, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. 

Among her works in public service, she has served as a UNA-USA representative on the US Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security (CSWG) at the US Institute of Peace. Himaja has also worked for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Maryland Department of Public Health, and the Massachusetts State House with Senator Jo Comerford. She uses her scholar-activism to advance health, environmental, and gender justice and equity. 

Passionate about youth civic engagement and localizing the global goals, Himaja ran for and served as the youngest member and first Indian American in history on the Select Board of her town of Acton, MA with a constituency of 25,000 residents - a position equivalent to a city councilor for her municipality. As one of the principal administrative officers, she worked with other members of the Board to set local policy and strategic direction, coordinate the activities of over 50 sub-boards and committees, hear appeals & resolve high-level administrative, policy, and public issues, and direct the Town Manager's work for overseeing staff and departments.

*2022 American Youth Priorities Report: https://unausa.org/2022-american-youth-priorities-report/”