Meet Rizwan Khan | Founder and Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rizwan Khan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rizwan, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I believe that the most important factor behind our success is our incredible team at Politics For Teens. As a leader, sometimes it may be a little difficult to follow through a vision with a team that lacks passion and commitment. Here, I am grateful that this is not even remotely close to being true. We are a team that always works together to get tasks done diligently. Our team also works in that we are a combination of different personalities. My childhood friend Aaditya is in charge of setting up events, and he is extremely successful at it because he neutralizes my more exuberant nature by remaining calm in tense situations. Our Deputy Director, Maxwell Stephen, always works hard on any task he is given, despite any challenges that arise. He is also one of the most passionate individuals I have ever met. Our Director of Marketing, Katie Chou, is extremely driven to ensure that she reflects the best virtues of Politics For Teens at all times. She has also helped me personally become a great leader by pushing me to be more open to new ideas. Khosraw Azizi, our Director of Engagement, has been a tremendous aid to our team at Politics For Teens. He has helped organize and improve our online footprint and our curriculum development. Finally, Aryan Chilakamarthi, our Director of Expansion, has bolstered our expansion efforts tenfold, which has led to us achieving 20 chapters in one month.

What should our readers know about your business?
Politics For Teens started as a small club at the Plano West Senior High School back in 2022. Through the year, we began to grow in members and participation among the student body. Eventually, we decided that we need to spread our message throughout the United States. One may ask what that message is. Our answer is to bridge the partisan divide between both sides of the political aisle. We feel that political polarization has reached a decades’ long high in local communities and global geopolitics. The reality is that our global populous is more keen on argumentation over public policy, rather than civil discourse about our disagreements. We attempt to combat this by encouraging the youth to discuss their unique and nuanced perspectives over pressing political issues. We do this mainly through our student chapters in both middle and high schools where we present topics from a neutral lens, and then we allow for students to share their own perspectives in our interactive segments. In the past couple of months, we have held a meteoric rise to over 25 chapters and counting around the global. We achieved this success through pure dedication and passion to our mission. Our expansion faced stagnation in the beginning; however, adding Khosraw to the team and switching personnel around allowed for us to keep pushing on. This growth has also influenced me to learn the necessity of listening to diverse opinions, rather than solely listening to my own. It’s not the individual that makes a team successful, but everyone in the team. If even one person does not buy in, then it will be hard to achieve true success.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, I would love to take them to the AT&T stadium for a cowboys game. As an avid football fan, I have always loved the atmosphere and overall feeling in the stadium, despite our poor playoff performance. I would also take them to El Queso to order some Quesadillas. My good friend Daniel Dowran introduced me to the restaurant last year and I have been in love since. Finally, I would make the drive with my friend to Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas. The area is extremely beautiful and has so many incredible activities to partake in.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In our story, I believe that we have to shout out the man who helped us start it all, Mr. Darracott. When I first came up to him with the idea of starting a political club, he embraced it with open arms and excitedly helped us open one. He was there through all the club meetings and always provided us support. Now as a global non-profit, we can only thank him for all he has done for us, and we hope that we can one day return the favor in some way.

Website: politicsforteens.com

Instagram: politics_forteens

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/politics-for-teens/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Polticsforteens

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr95-vbclWYh1WKrrCNvEDg

Image Credits
Credit: Rizwan Khan