Meet our 2024 Prize recipients.
Click on their names to see detailed descriptions of their projects.
Jada has been a driving force behind promoting diversity and fostering a strong sense of community for African American students attending Solon High School.
Katia founded "What We Wish Teachers Knew," a diversity initiative for teachers within the Hoover City School District.
Sreenidi has made substantial contributions as the youngest intern on the state's Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO).
Ismail is the co-founder and youth outreach director of Community St. Louis, an organization that champions diversity and inclusion within area high schools.
Olivia discovered that a local street, Lindner Place, was named after Paul Lindner, a Ku Klux Klan member, and worked with students and village board members to change the name of the street, now named Acorn Way.
Torey is a passionate social justice leader and advocate for the area's Black community. For the past two years, he has served as the co-leader of his school's Black Student Union (BSU).
Noah is co-chair and founding member of the school's Inclusion and Diversity Leadership Council (IDLC) and serves as the south-central regional teen foundation chair for Jack and Jill of America.
Tanirika is president of Asian American Progressive Student Union (AAPSU), a youth-led organization focused on promoting civic engagement and advocating for educational equity.
To foster a more inclusive environment and support her peers, Amanda spearheaded the "Respect for All" advisory class to teach first-year students how to have respectful conversations around race, bias and identity.
Maiya is the creator of I Remember, a program designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn about various ways that hate manifests in society, empowering them to combat it after participating.
Grace serves as the vice president of the student government and the creator/president of the Seven Hills School's LatinX club in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ahmed is a climate researcher, author and activist who focuses on climate education, specifically targeting youth with learning disabilities.
Yohanna is the founder of Uplifting Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to challenging the discrimination and inaccessibility that perpetuate health inequities.
Mina founded AAPI Youth Rising (AYR) after speaking out against xenophobia targeting the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
Faith serves as president of her school's Black Student Union and chairs the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging subgroup of the student senate. Faith has also championed the CROWN Act.
Flematu is the founder and president of the Carroll County NAACP Youth Council, which she has worked to build up.
Alondra serves as both a Youth Power Project leader and a Student Success Center fellow within Make the Road New Jersey, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the restoration of immigrant communities.
Hannah is particularly passionate about encouraging voter registration and participation. She created the Pledge to Vote Project to inspire high school juniors and seniors in urban communities to commit to registering to vote when they turn 18.
In Dekalb County, Anna founded and led a group aimed at creating a new equitable dress code, one that removed biased language and established guidelines for objective enforcement.
Jeramie is the founder and president of the Crescent Valley High School's Cultural Appreciation Club, a youth-led affinity group seeking to build community by learning through differences.
Tendo is the president of both Students Organized for Anti-Racism (SOAR) and the Black Student Union (BSU). He is also the youngest docent in Northwest African American Museum's history
Johnathan is actively involved in initiatives promoting race relations, advocacy and inclusion. He founded the club Minority Empowerment, which holds weekly discussions about overcoming systemic barriers to succeed academically.
Ella created the I CARE Day event in response to incidents of racism, antisemitism and homophobia at her school. Her efforts have advanced diversity and understanding at Cypress Bay High School.
Maya founded the Black Student Union (BSU) and launched the African American Mentor Program (AAMPed) to connect high school students with local middle schools for mentorship and support, recruiting her peers and training them as mentors.
Blessyn's commitment to community service led her to found her school's United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) club, which provided her high school and local community with opportunities to learn about and support the rights of children in underdeveloped countries.
Kemi is student ambassador for the Youth Volunteer Corps' Stand Together Against Racism (STAR) initiative. Student-created and student-led, STAR focuses on combating racism within the Berks County community by promoting education and open dialogue.
T'Emi co-founded Dow High's first-ever Black Student Alliance (BSA), leading a dedicated group of changemakers in eradicating racial barriers and advocating for diversity, ensuring no one feels isolated because of their identity.
Talia founded Toolbox ATX, a volunteer-based organization working to promote integration by providing financial literacy and ESL classes to refugee and immigrant communities.
At 13 years old, Celine founded The Reclamation Project @ 916 (TRP@916), a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting social justice and achieving systems change, equity and liberation.
Mateo is the co-lead of Diversify Our Narrative: Houston Private Schools, a local chapter of the nonprofit fighting for an anti-racist future. Mateo and his co-lead created an affinity group guide to support the establishment of safe spaces for underrepresented students in schools.
Marlene serves as a vice president of the Arlington County NAACP youth council and as a member of the Arlington Career Center (ACC) equity action team. She designed and facilitated a series of professional development sessions on implicit bias and identity for more than 200 teachers, administrators and staff.
Adrian is the founder and executive director of Pathway Tutoring, a free peer-to-peer tutoring program for underprivileged and low-income Hispanic K-12 students in his local community.
Yvonne is the co-founder of the Idaho Asian American Pacific Islander Youth Alliance (IAAPIYA), a student-led organization dedicated to promoting AAPI cultures and fostering community across Idaho.
Hermela spearheads 2 Blocks and is the cofounder of the "Voices of 2 Blocks" podcast. These initiative foster meaningful collaborations between businesses and educational sectors to systematically provide opportunities and career exposure for underrepresented students.
As the president of her school's student diversity initiative, Izzy has created a platform for students from diverse backgrounds to voice their struggles and experiences.
As the president of Bergen County Academies' Black and Latine Student Union (BLSU), Alyssa has helped create a more welcoming environment for the Black and Hispanic students at the high school.