The five Grand Prize winners were among 25 young people
honored this week by football legend Eli
Manning and Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey for their work addressing the
challenges of a changing world
NEWARK,
N.J., April 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For
initiatives that range from promoting financial inclusion to
advocating for economic equality, five young people were named
Grand Prize winners by Prudential Financial's Emerging Visionaries
program at a four-day summit held this week at Prudential's
Newark headquarters.
The Emerging Visionaries program is conducted by Prudential
Financial in partnership with the social entrepreneurship
network Ashoka, with advisory support from the Financial Health
Network. It honors young people between 14 and 18 years old across
the United States for leading
initiatives that produce fresh, innovative solutions to current
financial and societal challenges.
"Supporting the efforts of these Emerging Visionaries is another
way we are working to fulfill Prudential's purpose: to make lives
better by solving the financial challenges of our changing world,"
said Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles
Lowrey. "We're honored to celebrate the initiative,
creativity and empathy of these young leaders, and look forward to
seeing all the great things they accomplish in the future."
The 25 winners, named in February, each earned a
$5,000 prize and an all-expenses-paid
trip to this week's Emerging Visionaries Summit, plus a chance to
win an additional $10,000. The
summit included an awards ceremony, where finalists were celebrated
by special guests including philanthropist and two-time Super
Bowl-winning quarterback Eli
Manning. The students also consulted with Prudential senior
leaders on topics of strategy and impact, and worked with
Prudential employee coaches who helped them refine and advance
their projects.
As part of the four-day event, five young people were selected
to pitch their ideas for advancing financial equity to a panel of
judges for a chance to win an additional $10,000 in funding for their initiative.
Pitch-off judges included Lowrey, leaders from Ashoka and the
Financial Health Network, and two program alumni.
The panel was intended to select one Grand Prize finalist from
the five who pitched their projects. However, after hearing the
pitches, judges decided to award $10,000 to each of the five presenters, in
recognition of the societal impact of their initiatives.
In addition to the Grand Prize winners, Prudential employees
voted on an Employees' Choice Award winner, who received an
additional $5,000.
Read on to learn about the five Grand Prize winners and the
Prudential Employees' Choice Winner.
Grand Prize Winner: Ella
Gupta, 17, of Raleigh, North
Carolina
Ella started the Initiative for Financial Literacy Exploration
to address gender economic inequality by empowering young women to
gain self-confidence and invest in themselves through financial
education. By providing free workshops, lectures and resources, her
initiative creates a safe space for young women to learn about
money management.
Ella has worked as a consultant to more than 300 personal
finance and leadership teams, helping them adapt their classrooms
to better engage younger generations. Her book on personal finance
and investing and its corresponding curriculum have been
implemented in 120 schools, reaching more than 10,000 students. She
is currently leading an online campaign to guarantee financial
education for all high school students.
Grand Prize Winner: Isaac
Hertenstein, 16, of Greencastle,
Indiana
Isaac founded Students Teaching Finance, an initiative that
empowers high school-aged changemakers to teach financial literacy
to K-8 students and promote financial inclusion in his rural
community. The program is modeled for students globally through its
website and the initiative has an open-source curriculum, making it
a collaborative creation. Isaac works to maintain and augment the
inclusivity of the program's resources by tailoring lessons to a
range of developmental levels and backgrounds.
In 2020, Isaac started this initiative after witnessing the
stark wealth gap impacting his community firsthand. "The financial
discrepancies in my community sickened me, and I pondered a
potential solution," he explained. To date, "Students Teaching
Finance" has brought its lessons to more than 325 students with all
participants reporting that they are now more motivated to invest
and save.
Grand Prize Winner: Rachel
Holmes, 18, of San Jose,
California
Rachel started Black Girls Mean Business, a career
development and networking program for Black high school girls that
fosters the skills and confidence needed to become successful in
their careers — ultimately increasing their representation in the
corporate world. "Since I want to be a businesswoman myself,
I've become aware of the daunting lack of representation in the
field," she said.
The program includes virtual courses, hands-on learning,
networking opportunities with professionals and university-led
workshops. Participants reported that they overwhelmingly enjoyed
the program and felt better prepared to take on a business career.
Rachel wants to expand the program's reach and offerings, providing
year-round programming and opportunities such as college tours and
internships.
Grand Prize Winner: Sahana
Mantha, 15, of Charlotte, North
Carolina
Sahana co-founded Foundation for Girls, which empowers
mothers experiencing homelessness, connecting them with long-term
coaches who accompany them on their journey to financial health and
economic security. Working alongside her sister, Sahana focuses the
project on supporting women to be financially savvy, career
confident, digitally capable and socially connected.
"I began my journey by understanding the issues in my community
to learn about the root causes of issues impacting women and
children," she said. Over the past six years, "Foundation for
Girls" has reached more than 2,500 single mothers and their
children experiencing homelessness in nine states through group
workshops, coaching and care packs.
Grand Prize Winner: Faaris Zuberi, 17, of Rockville, Maryland
Faaris 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.
Employees' Choice Winner: Naomi
Porter, 17, of Rancho Palos
Verdes, California
Naomi founded EntrepreYOUership to make entrepreneurial
education more accessible, equipping the next generation of
innovators with skills and startup funds to launch their own
businesses. Founded on the idea that "you can do it too," the
program includes free workshops, funding opportunities,
mentorship and individualized coaching.
Participants learn everything from managing cash flow to
interpreting financial data and writing a business plan. "Very
little of what I learn during school hours prepares me for these
real-life business challenges, which is why I launched this project
to provide resources and support for youth," Naomi explained. The
organization has 141 ambassadors from 35 countries, and the
curriculum has been translated into five languages. The
project has served 3,300 young innovators.
To learn more about Prudential Emerging Visionaries and all 25
winners, 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.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/young-changemakers-awarded-15-000-each-from-prudential-financial-at-inaugural-emerging-visionaries-summit-301535498.html
SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.