Congressional App Challenge

In 2016, my team and I won the Congressional App Challenge for the MD-07 Congressional District with our app Foodspin. This was an app concept that I came up with while toiling over what to eat when I was in Baltimore during my internship with Optio Labs in June of 2016. I fashioned a spinner with a paper clip and a pencil (much like you would do in elementary school for the probability unit) so that the other interns and I could decide where to eat via chance. However, I knew I wanted to make a digital version that would be able to pull data from Yelp, so I enlisted the help of my friend Priyanka who was well-versed in Android app development, and my friend Will, who was passionate about design. Much later, in June 2021, I joined the Congressional App Challenge Alumni Advisory Board for a one year term as the lead of the Ambassador Program, where I directed the high school Congressional App Challenge ambassadors to drive signups to the competition. I also helped planned the annual #HouseOfCode event, where winners of the Congressional App Challenge get to hear from top lawmakers, interact with sponsors and partners at our STEM Expo, and demonstrate their apps for their Member of Congress and the broader general public.

TeCanal

From 2017-2021, I was heavily involved with TeCanal, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to providing STEM education and technology resources to underserved communities. I was previously the CTO (2017-18) and CEO (2018-19) of this organization, before becoming the Director of Technology in 2019, which I served as until 2021, when the organization dissolved. In these roles, I spent my time developing curriculum and technological tools to teach Computer Science in underresourced schools, most of the time with limited Internet connections. In the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, I ran a Software Engineering Internship program where we had 7 interns develop games and educational resources for TeCanal Kids Corner. As a result of my work with TeCanal, I was recognized as the 2017 Howard County (Youth) Volunteer of the Year. I was also awarded the Baltimore Ravens Community Quarterback Award in 2017 and the Daily Point of Light Award in 2018.

Microsoft Council for Digital Good

In 2017, I was a part of the inaugural Microsoft Council for Digital Good which was comprised of 15 students from around the U.S. We met around and discussed digital civility, social media, privacy, and other Internet-related topics. Our work centered around us each creating a "manifesto" for a safer internet, before finally merging them into a singular cohort manifesto. You can view my manifesto that my friend animated for me here. As a result of being a part of the Council, I was able to speak on a panel at a UNICEF-Microsoft joint hosted event called Empowering Children in a Digital Age to provide a youth perspective. I was also able to (digitally) attend the 2017 Internet Governance Forum. In February 2021, when Microsoft published their 5th annual Digital Civility Index Report for 2020, I was interviewed about my experience with the Council, as well my thoughts about why Digital Civility increased so much as a result of youth activity.