Liyana Illyas, 18, is the creator of The Latest with Liyana, also known as The Latest.

She has been writing for a decade, with the ambition to inspire and educate minds from all generations. She was the Editor-in-Chief of her high school’s newspaper, one of the Editors for the Yearbook Club at her high school, the Journalism Director of the Bergen County Chapter of Dear Asian Youth, a contributor writer for In the Write Blog, a published NYU Urban Journalist, and the creator/Editor-in-Chief of the newsletter for TASMINA, The Association of Sri Lankan Muslims in North America.

Illyas now attends The George Washington University in Washington D.C., where she is pursuing Journalism and Political Science on a Pre-Law track.

Illyas also enjoys singing, playing instruments (guitar, ukulele, piano), reading fiction, cooking, and spending time with her family and cats.