Meet your E-Board

Sara xiao Stienecker, President

Pronouns: she/her

Hometown: Redondo Beach, CA

Sara is a senior studying Political science with minors in Social Justice & Law and East Asian Languages and Cultures. She is from Redondo Beach, CA and this is her fourth year in Trojan Democrats. This is her second term as President. She has previously served as the Trojan Democrats Vice President, Political Director, and Head of Messaging. Her main legislative focus is abortion rights and access to reproductive healthcare. On campus, she is also the President of VoteSC, the External Vice President of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action Chapter, and a member of the USC Helenes.

Outside of school, Sara has completed several political internships. She interned on the Hill during the summer of 2022 and 2023 for the Chair of Veterans Affairs (Rep. Takano) and the Vice-Chair of the Democratic Caucus (Rep. Lieu). This summer she was a Legislative and Public Policy Clerk at Arnold & Porter in Washington D.C.. In LA, she has also worked on several campaigns and interned for Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All.

In her free time, Sara loves learning languages, baking with her friends, and traveling.

shwetha rajmohan, Vice President

Pronouns: She/her

Hometown: Greenville, SC

Shwetha is a junior from Greenville, South Carolina studying Political Science and Economics.  Shwetha is the Vice President of Trojan Democrats. She previously served as the Political Director.

On campus, Shwetha is an Administrative Coordinator at the USC Center for Political Future (CPF) working to support office operations, events, and the Fellows Program. Shwetha also works at Doheny Memorial Library. She is passionate about fair voting mechanisms and equitable elections. Previously, she worked with her state representative to create a bill to implement ranked-choice voting into South Carolina's municipal elections. 

Outside of school, Shwetha likes to go to the beach, spend time with her friends, and read.

Erin Buchanen, Vice President

Pronouns: she/her

Hometown: Pasadena, California

Erin is a senior pursuing a bachelor’s and a masters in Public Policy at USC’s Price school of Public Policy. This is her third year in Trojan Democrats— she previously served as an advocacy committee member, and most recently spent the 2021-2022 school year creating and chairing the Committee on Labor. Erin is passionate about worker’s rights, and has partnered our organization with Unite Here Local 11, a union which represents many of USC’s hospitality workers. Erin also serves as an associate editor for The Trojan Review, USC’s first undergraduate law journal, and she holds membership in USC’s Blackstonians Pre-Law Honors Society.

Outside of school, Erin has spent her last two summers working public service jobs in Washington, DC. She brought her love of government back to Los Angeles last fall, where she served as the grassroots outreach intern for Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s (CA-37) congressional campaign!

In her down time, Erin loves camping, playing guitar, and decoding Taylor Swift’s Instagram captions.

elizabeth farrington, director of external affairs

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Elizabeth is a junior majoring in Political Science and minoring in Popular Music Studies. Having been in Trojan Democrats for two years, she is now the Director of External Affairs. Elizabeth's political ambitions follow in the footsteps of her great-grandmother, who fought against voter disenfranchisement in segregated North Carolina. Her political focus is infrastructure, rural outreach, and Southwestern and Southern US grassroots campaigns. Previously, Elizabeth interned with Adam Frisch for Congress. There, she led media outreach projects for the closest congressional race in the 2022 midterms. She has previously campaigned for Mayor Karen Bass, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. This previous summer, Elizabeth completed research on rural healthcare and early childhood education at Think New Mexico.

Outside of Trojan Democrats, Elizabeth is the Academics Chair for the NAughty Nu Alpha chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. She enjoys solving crossword puzzles, making jewelry, and live music in her free time.