Francesca Varias received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Grinnell College. When she realized a majority of the disparities in the health care system are derived from education, she decided to join Teach for America upon graduation. She taught 6th grade science at KIPP One Academy in Chicago from 2018-2020. Her work in education inspired her to find a way to maximize her impact on the future generation when she stumbled upon the field of speech language pathology. She is currently interested in researching the impact of COVID-19 on the screening and diagnosis of speech disorders in children in the Chicago Public School district.