NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Faaris Zuberi, 17,
of Rockville, and Arthur Wang, 17, of Columbia, today were each named a 2022
Prudential Emerging Visionary for bringing powerful vision and
meaningful change to their communities.
As two of the 25 young people from across the country selected
in this year's inaugural class, Faaris and Arthur will each receive
$5,000 in funding as well as an
invitation to participate in an awards summit from April 23-26, 2022. The summit will include a
lively agenda packed with skills development workshops, coaching
sessions, networking opportunities and special recognition events.
Select winners will also have an opportunity to participate in a
pitch-off where a grand prize winner will receive an additional
$10,000 in funding. What's more,
Prudential employees will vote to name an Employees' Choice Award
winner, who will receive an additional $5,000.
Prudential Emerging Visionaries recognizes young people ages
14-18 whose fresh perspectives and innovative solutions address the
pressing financial and societal challenges in their communities. It
is a collaboration between Prudential Financial and Ashoka, a
leading social impact organization, with advisory support from the
Financial Health Network, an authority on financial health and
longtime partner of The Prudential Foundation. The program is an
evolution of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, the
country's largest youth recognition program, which for 26 years
honored more than 150,000 outstanding youth volunteers.
"Emerging Visionaries is another way Prudential is demonstrating
its commitment to our purpose: to make lives better by solving the
financial challenges of our changing world," said Chairman and CEO
Charles Lowrey. "The students we're
honoring have a sense of possibility that drives them to look
beyond themselves. Their vision and dedication are key to creating
fully inclusive communities, and we are humbled and inspired by
their work."
That work includes addressing needs created by the COVID-19
pandemic, combating economic inequality, advocating for inclusion
and closing the digital divide. This inaugural group of young
leaders was selected based on four main criteria: their solution is
innovative; it can create meaningful impact in the future and can
scale to a wider community; it demonstrates a deep understanding of
the issue; and it inspires the visionary to lead or take action and
motivates others to do the same.
Here are Maryland's Prudential
Emerging Visionaries for 2022:
Financial Challenge category winner:
Faaris
Zuberi, 17, of Rockville,
Maryland, is a leader of "Financial Literacy Introduction
Program," which offers financial literacy to student members of the
Youth Economic Initiative — the largest coalition of economics
clubs worldwide — to help young people prepare for the real world.
Faaris was surprised to learn that many adults lack financial
skills, and in response, he co-designed the initiative's
peer-to-peer program to distribute financial literacy content to
youth on a national scale.
The initiative works with students in grades seven to 12 and
covers important topics like budgeting, loans, credit, taxes,
investing and retirement. The program has hosted over 30 training
sessions and distributed its curriculum to more than 70 clubs.
Societal Challenge category winner:
Arthur Wang, 17, of Columbia, Maryland, started the "COVID Teacher
Care Kits Initiative," to deliver free, handmade mask kits to
teachers and staff. The kits include 20 colorful, course-themed
mask designs and accessories, offering practical and moral support
to teachers. "I observed how much effort and time my teachers put
into keeping the virtual, hybrid and in-person classrooms full of
positivity and engagement," Arthur said. "I wanted to do something
for them."
So far, the project has delivered more than 1,300 kits to 62
schools across Maryland, and 42
students from 12 schools are taking part in the project. One
teacher wrote to the group saying, "Thank you so much for making
the masks and providing them to the ELMS teachers. This has been a
rough year, but these moments bring clarity and love and remind me
why I am a teacher."
To read the names and stories of all of this year's Prudential
Emerging Visionaries, 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 every individual has the freedom,
confidence and societal support to address any social problem. For
more information, visit ashoka.org.
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SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.