Rock and role model
Ava Mitchell is many things — an honors student in global health, singer and guitarist for rock band Daughters of Venus, writer at The Daily — but first and foremost, a Husky.
Ava Mitchell, ’27, who music fans may recognize from her riffs and vocals in the all-Husky, all-female Daughters of Venus, loves making music. She also loves helping people. And she loves learning about nutrition and social justice, making art and writing stories, film, fashion, fundraising. The list goes on.
When she came to the University of Washington in 2022 planning to study pre-med — a dream born from many COVID-era hours spent watching “Grey’s Anatomy” — she wanted to do it all.
For the most part, she has.
Mitchell grew up in Southern California, where she attended an arts-based high school. This meant taking classes in film, dance, creative writing and more, and managing a rigorous academic schedule on top of rehearsals and practices.
Her UW experience has been much of the same mix of passion and purpose. By spring of her first year, Mitchell was writing for The Daily, applying for a healthcare scholars program, and taking a diverse load of classes like marine biology, communications and stage management. “[High school] taught me to believe in myself — how to juggle school and artsy stuff, which translated into me doing a lot at UW. But just thinking about that quarter stresses me out,” she says, laughing in hindsight. “It was crazy. But good things came out of it.”
From left, Daughters of Venus members Ayeda Masood (keys), Jenny McMillan (drums), October Allen (vocals and guitar), Kiri Nakagawa (bass and vocals) and Ava Mitchell (vocals and guitar).
One of the best things: Her first assignment for The Daily serendipitously ended with a late-night dorm room chat with friend Kiri Nakagawa, ’26, and fellow Daily contributor Ayeda Masood, ’26, that launched the initial idea for Daughters of Venus. This trio formed their rock band with fellow Dawgs October Allen, ’25, a fellow McCarty Hall resident whom Mitchell had already been writing songs with, and Jenny McMillan, ’26, the final piece of the puzzle. The self-proclaimed “glitter grunge” group’s first show was through UW Husky Jam, a student club devoted to live music performances.
“When we first played at Husky Jam, I felt so lucky to have the opportunity to share music that my friends and I wrote,” Mitchell says. “Music has always meant so much to me, and to have a space on the stage to share our version of it is so special.”
Mitchell (left) and a School of Public Health classmate display their research on truthfulness in the nutritional messaging of prominent social media accounts.
The COPE Health Scholars program, which pairs aspiring healthcare workers with firsthand patient care, was also instrumental in Mitchell’s path ahead.
“It was a lot of hands-on experience of what it was like to be working in a hospital for eight hours straight. I just realized it wasn’t really for me,” Mitchell says. In the breakroom waiting to be paged, she found herself writing songs on her Notes app. “There were other things I was interested in, and I didn’t want to sacrifice for such a big commitment.”
Mitchell pivoted from pre-med to the School of Public Health’s global health department. It’s been a great fit, fostering her desire to help others and adding emphasis on sustainability, social justice, “big picture stuff,” she says. Plus, she had the chance to study abroad in Rome in winter 2026, which really put the “global” aspect in perspective. “My dream was always to do something like Doctors Without Borders,” she says. “But I’ve realized I don’t necessarily have to be a doctor to make change like that.”
Indeed, Mitchell is already making a difference at home. In January, she and her Daughters of Venus bandmates held a fundraiser show at Neumos in Capitol Hill that raised $3,000 for the University District Food Bank. They’ve planned another for January 2027 at the Neptune Theatre.
“This is a good example of how social justice work and the arts can really be coupled together,” Mitchell says. “My favorite types of art are pieces that explore social justice or sustainability issues. It’s so cool to be educated in something like global health because now, for the rest of my life, I can make creative things that say something.”
Daughters of Venus perform at the Orange Room in The Daily's newsroom, October 2025.
As the band’s presence expands beyond campus — they played Bite of Seattle and Bumbershoot this summer and appeared on King 5’s “New Day Northwest” — Mitchell wants to stay grounded in her senior year. “My goal this year is to focus on having the undergrad student experience for the last time,” she says. “I want to continue at The Daily; I’m interested in exploring more of my creative writing side in the Black Student Journal. This band has grown so fast, but we launched from UW. For my last year, I want to be really intentional about being a student, too.”
Story by Chelsea Lin // Photos courtesy of Ava Mitchell
Originally published September 2026
