Prudential Financial empowers young changemakers with $15,000 each at Emerging Visionaries Summit

Hoda Kotb and Caden Harris at the 2024 Prudential Emerging Visionaries Summit. PRNewsfoto/Prudential Financial, Inc.
Hoda Kotb and Caden Harris at the 2024 Prudential Emerging Visionaries Summit. PRNewsfoto/Prudential Financial, Inc.

Prudential Financial empowers young changemakers with $15,000 each at Emerging Visionaries Summit

The five grand prize winners were among 25 students recognized for their work addressing the challenges of a changing world and honored this week by co-anchor of NBC's "Today" show, Hoda Kotb, and Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey.

NEWARK, N.J., PRNewswire -- Twenty-five outstanding young people were honored by the Prudential Emerging Visionaries program for their initiatives to address pressing financial and societal issues.

Presented by Prudential Financial in partnership with the social entrepreneurship network Ashoka and with advisory support from the Financial Health Network, the Emerging Visionaries program honors young people ages 14-18 from the United States and internationally. These individuals are selected from a wide pool of impressive candidates for their leadership in crafting fresh, innovative solutions to today's financial and societal challenges.

"You are joining a community we want to help grow — a community of young people working to create positive change around the world," said Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey. "Thank you for your hard work and for setting such an inspiring example."

Each of the 25 national winners, named in February, earned a $5,000 award and an all-expenses-paid trip to this week's Emerging Visionaries Summit. The summit included an awards ceremony, where winners were celebrated by co-anchor of NBC's "Today" show, Hoda Kotb. The students also consulted with Prudential senior leaders on the topics of strategy and impact and worked with Prudential employee coaches, who helped them refine and advance their projects.

During one of the liveliest segments of the event, five of this year's winners were selected as grand prize finalists and given the opportunity to pitch their ideas for advancing financial equity to a panel of judges. The prize: an additional $10,000. The judges included Lowrey, leaders from Ashoka and the Financial Health Network, as well as two program alumni.

The judges were tasked with selecting one grand prize winner from the five finalists. However, after hearing how impactful the finalists have been in promoting financial inclusion, the judges unanimously decided to award $10,000 to each of the five presenters, who received a total of $15,000 each.

In addition, employees voted to name an Employees' Choice Award winner, who was awarded an additional $5,000 to support their work.

Grand prize winner: Michael Brode, 17, of Winterville, North Carolina, is the founder of "Crypto Debunked," an immersive learning platform that teaches young people about financial topics such as cryptocurrency and blockchain to bridge the financial education gap facing young people in underserved communities.

Grand prize winner: Jonathan De Caro, 16, of Moodus, Connecticut, founded "One Loan Fund," a financial platform that provides microloans to unbanked rural women in Latin America with the goal of fostering economic mobility, inclusion and sustainable financial health.

Grand prize winner: Caden Harris, 14, of Stonecrest, Georgia, is the founder of "Financial Literacy for All," a program on wheels that aims to create a world in which financial literacy is integrated into the curriculum of every school and is accessible to all young people. Financial Literacy for All operates a financial literacy bus that travels the country hosting events that teach students the importance of fiscal responsibility.

Grand prize winner: Sebastian Tan, 16, of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, is the founder of "OutsideConnection," an online job site that drives economic opportunity for previously incarcerated individuals by allowing them to search for open positions at businesses and make meaningful contributions to their local communities.

Grand prize winner: Remy Tsukahira, 17, of Los Angeles, is the founder of "Artemis Girls Business Academy," a network connecting teen girls to professional women mentors that expands access to the information, connections and skills needed to pursue careers in business and entrepreneurship.

Employees' Choice Award winner: Sreenidi Bala, 16, of Farmington, Connecticut, is the founder of "Code for All Minds," a computer science program for neurodivergent students that provides educators and families with a curriculum to make STEM career paths a possibility for young people with learning disabilities.

To learn more about Prudential Emerging Visionaries and all 25 national winners, visit prudential.com/emergingvisionaries.

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.


Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.