In its third year, the program honors 25 exceptional young
leaders for their work addressing the challenges of a changing
world.
NEWARK,
N.J., Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Twenty-five young leaders from across the U.S. have been
honored by Prudential Financial today as the latest class of
Prudential Emerging Visionaries.
Prudential Emerging Visionaries honors exceptional students ages
14-18 who have created innovative, bold solutions to financial and
societal challenges in their communities.
"I am inspired by the students' sense of purpose and commitment
to driving positive change in their communities," said
Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey.
"We're honored to support these young leaders as they bring their
extraordinary projects to life."
The program's goals align with Prudential's purpose: to make
lives better by solving the financial challenges of our changing
world.
Five winners' projects help overcome barriers to financial
inclusion and well-being, while 20 focus on societal issues,
helping to create more equitable and sustainable communities.
Through their work, the honorees address wide-ranging and critical
issues including the ethics of artificial intelligence, fostering
STEM careers for students with learning disabilities and improving
access to mental health services.
Winners were chosen based on four main criteria: their solution
is innovative; it will create meaningful impact and can grow beyond
the student's community; it demonstrates a deep understanding of
the issue it addresses; and the student is passionate about making
change and inspiring others to take action.
Each of the 25 changemakers has won $5,000 to take their projects to the next level.
In addition, they are invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to
Prudential's Newark, New Jersey
headquarters for a three-day summit in April, where they will be
coached by Prudential employees and have the chance to meet other
young leaders.
During the summit, the five winners in the financial solutions
category will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, with a
grand-prize winner awarded an additional $10,000. And Prudential employees will again vote
to name an Employees' Choice Award winner, who will receive an
additional $5,000.
Prudential Emerging Visionaries is sponsored by Prudential in
collaboration with Ashoka, a leading organization in the social
impact sector, with advisory support provided by the Financial
Health Network, an authority on financial health and a longtime
partner of The Prudential Foundation. The program also operates in
other countries where Prudential has a significant business
presence, including Brazil,
China, India and Japan. The program is an evolution of
Prudential's Spirit of Community Awards, which honored more than
150,000 outstanding youth volunteers over 26 years.
2024 Prudential Emerging Visionaries
Applicants focused their projects on two categories: Financial
Solutions for a Changing World and Societal Solutions for a
Changing World.
Financial Solutions for a Changing World Award
Winners
Michael Brode, 17, of
Winterville, North Carolina, is
the founder of "Crypto Debunked," an immersive learning platform
that teaches young people about financial topics such as
cryptocurrency and blockchain to
bridge the financial education gap facing young people in
underserved communities.
Jonathan De Caro, 16, of
Moodus, Connecticut, founded "One
Loan Fund," a financial platform that provides microloans to
unbanked rural women in Latin
America with the goal of fostering economic mobility,
inclusion and sustainable financial health.
Caden Harris, 14, of
Stonecrest, Georgia, is the founder of "Financial Literacy
for All," a program on wheels that aims to create a world in which
financial literacy is integrated into the curriculum of every
school and is accessible to all young people.
Sebastian Tan, 16, of
Sewickley, Pennsylvania, is the
founder of "OutsideConnection," an online job site that drives
economic opportunity for previously incarcerated individuals by
allowing them to search for open positions at businesses and make
meaningful contributions to their local communities.
Remy Tsukahira, 16, of
Los Angeles, California, is the
founder of "Artemis Girls Business Academy," a network connecting
teen girls to professional women mentors that expands access to the
information, connections and skills needed to pursue careers in
business and entrepreneurship.
Societal Solutions for a Changing World Award Winners
Sunya Afrasiabi, 17, of
Buffalo, New York, is the founder
of the "#MyStory Program," a storytelling project that amplifies
the experiences of immigrants and refugees through a combination of
oral history, narrative therapy and photography.
Sreenidi Bala, 16, of Farmington, Connecticut, is the founder of
"Code for All Minds," a computer science program for neurodivergent
students that provides educators and families with a curriculum to
make STEM career paths a possibility for young people with learning
disabilities.
William Charouhis, 18, of
Miami, Florida, is the founder of
"A Million Mangroves," a youth-led network in Miami mobilized to plant 1 million mangroves
by 2030, addressing climate change by sequestering atmospheric
carbon and protecting coastlines.
Yaduraj Choudhary, 17, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, is the founder of
"3 Tiny Bones," an initiative
working with policymakers to advance hearing health legislation and
create safe spaces within schools to destigmatize hearing loss.
Marie Dillard, 18, of
Englewood, New Jersey, is the
founder of "The Crescendo Lab," a classical music mentoring program
that works with youth of color to expand access to music education
and create an inclusive future for classical musicians of color in
American orchestras.
Angelina DiPaola, 18, of
Cincinnati, Ohio, is the
co-founder of "Compai," a smart home composting system that uses
digital sensors and a mobile app to increase the number of people
and community groups composting, connect them with experts in the
practice and help them build a community with fellow composters in
their neighborhoods.
Anika Dugal, 17, of
Matawan, New Jersey, is the
founder of "Girls for Algorithmic Justice," a global grassroots
coalition of young women acting through political action and
advocacy to address the gender and racial disparities in artificial
intelligence technologies.
Saawan Duvvuri, 16, of Nashville, Tennessee, is the founder of
"LiteratureDiversified," a youth-led nonprofit advocating for
equity by diversifying educational curriculums and working to solve
America's racial disparities in education.
Mackenzie Goldsteen, 16,
of Bethesda, Maryland, created
"Buildgirls," a nonprofit that works to empower young women in high
school to pursue careers in the fields of architecture,
construction and engineering (ACE), cornerstones of the economy
with dramatic gender disparities.
Donte Jennings, 17, of
Nolanville, Texas, is the founder
of "EmpowerME," a youth literacy project for Black boys struggling
with mental health challenges that cultivates a love of reading,
encourages self-expression and shared storytelling, and helps to
build a supportive community that advocates for mental health
awareness.
Anuj Kakkad, 17, of
Plymouth, Minnesota, is the
co-founder of "Vigilance Safety," a student-led nonprofit
organization developing technical solutions to improve school
safety and reduce casualties from school shootings.
Preston Lieu, 17, of
Falls Church, Virginia, is the
founder of "Youthward," an incubator that connects young activists
with community organizers to share resources, amplify efforts and
ensure lasting impact on the issues they care about.
OlaRose Ndubuisi, 16, of Pittsford, New York, is the founder of "The
Finding Scoliosis Kindly Project," an initiative that works to
increase global awareness of scoliosis, support young people in
coping with the challenging mental and physical effects of the
condition, and advocate for the early management and treatment of
scoliosis in children.
Saheb Nibber, 17, of Houston,
Texas, leads "Smart City Houston," an initiative that hosts
non‑coding hackathons for young people to design solutions that
address urgent community issues, introducing a new generation to
civic engagement.
Genshu Price, 16, of Hauula,
Hawaii, founded "Bottles4College," a nonprofit organization
dedicated to collecting recyclable cans and bottles for buyback
programs, helping to both safeguard the environment and generate
college scholarships for Hawaii's
youth.
Maegha Ramanathan, 16, of Dublin, California, is the co-founder of
"Girls4Sports," a youth-led organization dedicated to expanding
sports opportunities for girls in underserved communities so that
the benefits of athletics can be accessible to all.
Anjani Sharma, 17, of
Rockledge, Florida, created "Minds
Without B0rders," a youth-led initiative that works to reduce
stigma and normalize conversations around mental health, mobilizing
students to engage stakeholders and advocate for policies that
increase mental health support systems.
Prisha Shroff, 17, of
Chandler, Arizona, is the founder
of "Sustainability Stars," an initiative that empowers young people
to be changemakers by taking action to advance the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and increase awareness and
advocacy.
Adeline Smith, 17, of
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, leads
"Growing the STEM," an organization that develops and runs math and
science programs for students in underserved rural Idaho schools, with the mission to inspire
young people to pursue STEM education and careers.
Ethan Zhang, 16, of
Portland, Oregon, co-founded
"Youth Secure Initiative," a project that equips young people with
cyberliteracy skills that can be deployed to help small businesses
in enhancing the security of their websites, preventing financial
losses, business interruption and non-compliance.
For more information about Prudential Emerging Visionaries and
to learn more about their stories, visit
prudential.com/emergingvisionaries.
About Prudential Financial
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial wellness leader
and premier active global investment manager, has operations in
the United States, Asia, Europe
and Latin America. Prudential's
diverse and talented employees help to make lives better by
creating financial opportunity for more people. Prudential's iconic
Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and
innovation for more than a century. For more information, please
visit news.prudential.com.
About Ashoka
Ashoka is the largest global network of leading social
entrepreneurs — individuals with new ideas to systemically address
the world's biggest challenges and the entrepreneurial skill to
transform those ideas into national, regional and global social
impact. Over 40 years, Ashoka has supported more than 3,600 social
entrepreneurs in 90 countries with solutions addressing society's
most pressing issues. Ashoka's vision is a world in which Everyone
is a Changemaker — a society that responds quickly and effectively
to challenges, and where everyone has the freedom, confidence and
societal support to address any social problem. For more
information, visit ashoka.org.
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SOURCE The Prudential Insurance Company of America