Rithi grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Andover, Massachusetts. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2010, majoring in Chemistry. Her interest in community health started during her college years with her work at Community Health Center, Inc. in Middletown, CT. She contributed to various community-run initiatives including a farming-themed summer camp, a summer concert series, obesity prevention programs and a research project on new forms of prenatal care. Upon graduating, Rithi joined the HealthCorps program in San Francisco working at Native American Health Center. There, she helped provide mobile dental services for young children throughout San Francisco. This past year she trained to become both a crisis counselor at the Trevor Project and a rapid HIV test counselor at University of California at San Francisco's Alliance Health Project. Rithi is an avid musician playing various instruments for the past 18 years including piano, organ, carillon bells and guitar.