Hi everyone! Welcome to the first edition of the James River Academy of Diplomacy’s monthly newsletter. Every month, we will send you an update of our ongoing projects, ideas, and the work being done by our team. Each newsletter will be written by a different person and today I (Anandi Sarkar) am writing it! 

A little introduction about our organization. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Richmond, Virginia focused on providing affordable Model UN based education to underprivileged students. So far, we’ve hosted a summer camp for grades 4-8 in which we taught more than forty students about MUN, taken two travel teams to New York and DC (both of which we won awards at), and sponsored the Governor’s School Model UN of Maggie Walker. Our team is dedicated to improving the class disparity seen in the community and using Model UN as a tool of education via public speaking and critical thinking. 

We also have many on-going projects. Delegate Saanvi Sambangi (also our Chief Legal Officer) is going to the National American Model UN this weekend and Aditi Inamdar (Chief Education officer) and I have been working on the curriculum for our summer camp for 2025! We also officially confirmed the dates and cost of camp this year (the third week of July and $125, respectively). More details regarding registration, scholarship, instructor application, and location will be released soon. JRAD has also begun the early stages of development in our own 2026 conference, which we are very excited about.

My role in JRAD is the chairwoman. As any well-respected chairwoman, I claim all credit while my brilliant team does most of the work.  Every member of the board has a work ethic, passion, and a commitment to the future that I can’t help but admire and I am incredibly grateful to be working alongside all of them. More than anything, I am proud of the work we do. In a sentence, Model UN changes lives. It changed mine, and I am hoping JRAD can help change the lives of thousands of underprivileged youth in Richmond. 

The James River Academy of Diplomacy is made out of love, and I hope you’ll love us as much as we love you. 

Thanks,

Anandi Sarkar