Hi, I’m Ananya Cleetus, a senior in Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the founder of Anemone, a mental health crisis app for people in emergencies. I am currently the chair of the CS Mental Health Committee but in the past, I’ve taught a freshman honors course, CS196, and helped run Reflections|Projections, the largest student-run technology conference in the Midwest. In addition to my work at UIUC, I’ve also developed my own low cost 3d-printed robotic prosthetic arm for leprosy victims in India which I presented at the White House and started Magikstra, a Carnegie Science Award-winning social network for high school students to find mentors. I also have a day named after me in the city of Pittsburgh. In my free time, I make memes and pecan pies.Besides tech, my other main passion is mental health. I started getting involved in the mental health advocacy space through my own struggles with bipolar disorder and depression. I took over a year off from school to focus on my health and create Anemone, before returning to campus. I even gave a TEDx talk about my mental health journey, if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Since returning, I’ve helped lead initiatives across campus such as the development of an Engineering-wide mental health syllabus statement, a student mental health forum, and a project to get the suicide hotline on student ID cards. I’ve also served on Mental Health America’s Collegiate Mental Health Innovation Council, UIUC’s Counseling Center Advisory Committee and worked on projects with We Are Saath and Active Minds. This past year, I was also fortunate enough to receive funding from the Fiddler Innovation Fellowship and Carle Illinois Health Maker Lab for my app, Anemone.Check out my website at www.ananyacleetus.com