Ria Carlo (nee Persad) was born in Trinidad & Tobago, is of East Indian descent, and works for the US Defense Space Program. She was educated at Harvard, Princeton, and University of Cambridge and worked for the Hubble Space Telescope team and NASA. In high school, Ria took piano lessons at the New England Conservatory with high honors and was piano accompanist for the Princeton University Glee Club. She has studied early instruments at the Margaret Chaloff Foundation, organ and liturgical music, and has sung with college and church choirs throughout the United States. Ria has won various piano competitions including the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, has performed around the world from Rome to Carnegie Hall, has appeared on Good Morning America, and has been profiled as a pianist in a variety of publications such as Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine. Ria is married to Mark Christopher Carlo, a CIO and chemical engineer. They love traveling, learning, and helping people and are the founders of the

Freedom Scholars of America Scholarship Fund.