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Two Tri-Valley high school students started a youth-led global initiative this year to prevent human trafficking through education, awareness and advocacy.
In January 2026, Livermore High School rising senior Archismita Mukherjee founded Project A.S.H.A., which stands for awareness, safety, hope and action, although “asha” also means hope in multiple languages. Within the last six months, the student initiative has partnered with other anti-trafficking organizations and expanded internationally to countries including India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Canada.
The beginnings of Project A.S.H.A. started from a sophomore class presentation in Mukherjee’s Advanced Placement seminar class. From a list of topics, she thought it would be good to choose a topic she didn’t have much prior knowledge of. When she decided on human trafficking, Mukherjee said she immediately noticed how taboo and sensitive the topic was among classmates, teachers and parents.
During her research, she realized just how important the issue of human trafficking was, piquing her interest. She also found that there were educational gaps in the teaching and training of human trafficking causes, and how education could help prevent it.
Mukherjee wanted to be a part of this prevention effort, leading to the birth of Project A.S.H.A. With the help of Dublin high school student Afnaan Islam, they launched the initiative, “created by youth, for youth,” to address an issue often not discussed in schools or communities, Mukherjee said.
In the beginning months, Mukherjee and Islam sent several emails to schools, organizations and conferences – initially facing a lot of rejection. Mukherjee said the most challenging part was getting off the ground, especially with the large quantity of student initiatives advocating for similar issues in the Bay Area.
However, Mukherjee said she slowly started making connections through networking, partnerships, and posting on social media. As months passed, both high school and college students throughout the country in Missouri and Virginia expressed interest, and soon enough, communities across the globe in India and Pakistan wanted to join Project A.S.H.A.
“It’s a very challenging process, and it did require a lot of hard work because there were some days where I’m awake until 3 or 4 a.m. taking international calls,” Mukherjee said. “The whole process is challenging, but a rewarding process.”
Mukherjee said interest led to new Project A.S.H.A. chapters, which consist of an executive director and at least four additional core members. The chapters make partnerships, attend advocacy events and reach out to schools or libraries to secure presentations.
“Personally, being someone who’s Indian, it’s a very big concern in my country, but that’s why we wanted A.S.H.A. to also expand in that area,” Mukherjee said. “Our goal is to expand as much as we can because the more chapters, the more prevention.”
In addition to presentations, chapters also go directly to communities in slums to teach children about trafficking and safety. Mukherjee said she’s also been able to expand the initiative through partnerships with other anti-human trafficking organizations, such as Love Never Fails, also based in the Bay Area, which became A.S.H.A.’s parent organization.
Looking forward, both Mukherjee and Islam are headed to the Model United Nations Headquarters in New York this week to represent Project A.S.H.A. at a youth conference on mental health. Mukherjee was also invited to attend an ACLU conference in Washington, D.C. to advocate for women’s rights, human rights and trafficking.
With one more year in high school, Mukherjee said it won’t stop her from continuing to grow A.S.H.A. wherever she ends up attending college.
“We’re definitely expanding it more,” Mukherjee said. “Wherever I go in the future, A.S.H.A. is definitely going to be there.”
— Story by Kelcie Lee, Bay City News
