Kirkland and Bellevue students honored with $5,000 award and invitations to the 2023 summit
for their work addressing the challenges of a changing
world.
NEWARK,
N.J., Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Austin
Picinich, 17, of Kirkland,
Washington, and Kosha
Upadhyay, 16 of Bellevue,
Washington, today were named a 2023 Prudential Emerging
Visionary for their inspiring commitment to improving the lives of
others.
As two of 25 Prudential Emerging Visionary winners, Austin and
Kosha will receive a $5,000 award to
help take their innovation to the next level. They are also invited
to attend an all-expenses-paid trip with their parent or guardian
to Prudential's Newark, New
Jersey, headquarters for a three-day summit in April where
they will receive coaching, skills development and networking
opportunities with Prudential employees and other young
leaders.
Prudential Emerging Visionaries recognizes young people ages
14-18 whose fresh perspectives and innovative solutions address
pressing financial and societal challenges in their
communities.
"The goals of our Emerging Visionaries program reflect
Prudential's overarching purpose: to make lives better by solving
the financial challenges of our changing world," said Chairman and
CEO Charles Lowrey. "We applaud all
of our honorees for their commitment to improving the lives of
others and creating inclusive and thriving communities."
Washington's 2023 Prudential
Emerging Visionaries:
SOCIETAL PROJECTS CATEGORY
Austin Picinich created
the "Save Our Salmon Through Art" initiative, which stages public
art projects that encourage community members to be stewards of
local salmon to preserve their once-thriving populations and
spawning streams in the greater Seattle area.
Austin, an artist, was inspired to start this project after
learning about the decline of Northwestern salmon. "I believe that
art, when combined with a community-focused purpose, can have a
much larger impact and inspire others to make a difference," he
says. So far, the initiative has engaged more than 370 volunteers
and raised $22,500 for restoration
efforts.
Kosha Upadhyay started
"Buzz Bowl," a quiz game that aims to elevate the percentage of
female STEM graduates by giving fifth- through eighth-grade girls
access to an AP-level education in science and math subjects.
"Buzz Bowl" is a buzzer-based competition that challenges young
people to answer questions across a variety of STEM topics. Kosha's
goal was to make the process of learning STEM more exciting and
increase girls' participation in competitive STEM activities. So
far, more than 200 young people have participated in the
initiative.
Emerging Visionaries is a collaboration between Prudential
Financial and Ashoka, a leading social impact organization, with
support from the Financial Health Network, an authority on
financial health and longtime partner of The Prudential
Foundation.
During the summit, to be held April
22-25, 2023, five winners will also have the opportunity to
present their solutions in a pitch-off, where a grand prize winner
will be awarded an additional $10,000
in funding. What's more, Prudential employees will again vote to
name an Employees' Choice Award winner, who will receive an
additional $5,000.
The program is an evolution of Prudential's Spirit of Community
Awards, which, over 26 years, honored more than 150,000 outstanding
youth volunteers.
To read about all 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 each
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.