Yoni Gruskin, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Yoni Gruskin is the founder of Concerned Youth of America and serves as its president and CEO. He is currently a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in economics. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Zeta chapter of Phi Delta Theta.

Before attending Penn, he graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. During his time at Andover, Yoni served as the co-president of the Philomathean (debate) society, the vice president of the Model United Nations club and co-editor of the Commentary section of Andover’s student-run newspaper, The Phillipian. Yoni was also on the Varsity lacrosse team, where he started as a close defenseman for Andover’s competitive squad.

Yoni has been interested in politics since a young age, and served as an intern for the successful campaigns of Ken Salazar for U.S. Senate in 2004 and Bill Ritter for Governor in 2006. During the summer of 2008, he interned for the Obama campaign’s Democratic National Convention office in his hometown of Denver.

John Gwin, Chief Operating Officer

John Gwin is the COO of Concerned Youth of America and a sophomore at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachuetts in 2007. At Andover, John was Co-President of the Andover Economics Society, frequently wrote for the school newspaper and played varsity lacrosse.

For the 2007-2008 academic year, John accepted a fellowship to work and study at King's Academy in Madaba, Jordan. Based on American-style boarding schools, His Majesty King Abdullah II founded the academy to provide a top-quality, coeducational experience to students from throughout the Middle East.

John is also a competitive amateur triathlete. His recent results include a 7th place overall finish at the Olympic distance (.9 miles swimming, 24 miles cycling and 6.2 miles running) 2008 Cleveland Triathlon.

Prateek Kumar, Vice President and Chief Policy Officer

Prateek Kumar, who serves as the Chief Policy Officer for Concerned Youth of America, is a resident of Latham, NY and is currently a junior at Harvard University, where he is majoring in Economics and Government. Prateek is one of 50 College Scholars from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a private, independent foundation established in 2000 to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education.

During his time at Andover, Prateek was President of the Phillips Academy Republican Club, Deputy Managing Editor of the Phillipian, and a community service Project Coordinator. He attended the Academy as a President George H.W. Bush Scholar. Prateek was also involved with the Philomathean Society, Model UN, and the Phillips Academy Cantata Choir.

Prateek was named as an Apex Scholar by the American Psychological Association and studied constitutional law under Professor Alan Morrison of Stanford Law School. Prateek received the Gold Congressional Award from U.S. Representa¬tive Michael McNulty (D- NY 21st) for completing, among other things, 450 hours of community service between 2004 and 2006. During the fall of 2006, Prateek volunteered for the campaign of Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI). In the summer of 2007, Prateek will be interning in the Revenue Forecasting Division of the New York State Division of Budget under Director Paul Francis.

Michael Tully, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Michael Tully serves as the treasurer and CFO for Concerned Youth of America. He is currently a senior at the University of Pennsylvania where he plans to major in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). Mike is a member of the Pennsylvania chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters and plays open side flanker for the UPenn rugby team, for whom he also serves as recruitment chair.

Before attending Penn, Mike graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. While at Andover, Mike served as the president of Andover’s award winning Model U.N. team, executive committee member of the Andover Economic Society, and co-founder and Editor of Andover’s monthly satirical newsletter, the Ape. Mike also played fullback and linebacker for the Andover football team, guard on the basketball team, and was by far the least reliable member on their golf team.

Mike spent the summer of 2008 interning in corporate investment at Equity Group Investments, Sam Zell’s investment company, in Chicago.

Martin Serna, Deputy Executive Director

Martin Serna is Deputy Executive Director and one of the founders of CYA. He is a student at Yale University, where he is majoring in Economics. He is a member of Timothy Dwight College, Yale's finest residential college, and active in St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel at Yale.

Martin has interned with the House Ways & Means Committee at the Massachusetts State House, Yale University Office of Development, and the Boston Stock Exchange.

Martin graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 2007. Martin played defensive tackle for the Varsity Football Team and threw shotput for the Varsity Track & Field Team. He was the President of the Catholic Student Fellowship, Publisher of the campus multicultural magazine, and Managing Director of the Andover Economics Society.

Carolina Delgado, National Field Director

Carolina Delgado is the National Field Director of Concerned Youth of America. She is in her sophomore year at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service this Fall, where she plans on majoring in International Political Economy.

Before attending Georgetown University, Carolina graduated from Cherry Creek High School in Denver, CO. During her time at Cherry Creek, Carolina was a 4-year senator for the Student Senate, serving on various boards within that organization. She also served as Speech and Debate Team Captain, the President of National Honor Society and Spirit Task Force, and the Vice President of French Honor Society and El Pomar Youth Community Service.

Carolina was born in Caracas, Venezuela, moving to the United States at age six. She has been interested in politics and economics from a young age and has interned for the Denver-based, nationally recognized economics consulting firm BBC Research and Consulting.

Jake Bullock, Secretary and Chief Development Officer

Jake Bullock serves as CYA's Chief Development Officer. He is a Denver resident and currently a junior at Duke University, where he will major in Economics and Political Science. As an executive board member for the Duke Conservative Union, Jake has worked on events to bring speakers, including Former Senator Rick Santorum and political pundit Bay Buchannan, to campus, as well as on events to raise awareness against islamofascism and the communist/marxist movement.

Jake engaged in his community through various service projects ranging from developing inner-city summer school programs to reaching out to the growing Hispanic community. He interned for Congressman Bob Beauprez’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign and for former Congressman Bob Schaffer’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race in 2008.

Caroline Matthews, Chief Communications Officer

Caroline Matthews is the Chief Communications Officer for Concerned Youth of America. Currently, Caroline is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania where she is double majoring in History and French. On Penn’s campus, Caroline is a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and is a local tutor for middle school students.

Before coming to Penn, Caroline studied at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School for girls in Washington DC. In high school, she was an active member of student council, a staff writer for the alumnae magazine, and volunteered at Georgetown University Hospital. As a junior she spent her winter term in Nairobi Kenya volunteering at a HIV AIDS orphange. Upon returning from Nyumbani orphanage, Caroline wrote articles for Newsweek.com and Capitol File magazine describing her experience in Kenya and started an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention group at her high school that fundraised for Nyumbani and for clinics in the DC area.

This past summer, Caroline lived in Paris where she worked as a Features Assistant for the International Herald Tribune.

H. Shawn Xu, Director of Technology

H. Shawn Xu returned to Concerned Youth of America as its Director of Technology in the summer of 2008. Shawn, a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover, is currently a junior biomedical engineering and economics double major at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.

At Andover, Shawn won the National AP Scholar Award and Siemens Award for Advanced Placement. He also graduated as a member of the Cum Laude Society. Outside of class, Shawn was the manager of the Phillips Academy Subscription Service, the only student-operated business at Andover. He was also a contributing member to various other organizations, such as WPAA (Andover’s radio station).

In addition to his work for CYA, Shawn keeps busy working part time for Deitel & Associates, Inc. He is also a voting member of the Marshal Salant Student Investment Team at Johns Hopkins and the Business Director of WJHU Sports, the sports broadcasting division of the Johns Hopkins radio station.