Congratulations to the 2024 Barron Prize Winners!
It’s my honor to introduce the winners and finalists of the 2024 Barron Prize, a spectacular group of incredible young leaders dedicated to helping others and protecting the planet. Their work gives me hope for the future, and I know their stories will inspire you as well.
I invite you to take a moment to read through this year’s list of marvelous, accomplished young people, visit their project sites, and learn more about them!
2024 Barron Prize Winners
Adeline S., age 17, of Idaho, who co-founded Growing the STEM, a nonprofit that creates math and science programs for students in 14 underserved Idaho schools.
Artash N., age 18, of Canada, who created MonitorMyOcean.com to investigate, analyze, and display changes in human-caused ocean noise, which disrupts whales’ communication.
Arya G., age 15, of Texas, who invented a novel catalyst to improve upon the Bionic Leaf technology, a solar-powered device that mimics photosynthesis to create a highly efficient, alcohol-based fuel from just water, sunlight, and bacteria.
Cash D., age 14, of Tennessee, who has removed more than 35,000 pounds of trash from the Tennessee River and has placed 150 fishing line collection bins across his state.
Charlotte R., age 17, of California, whose Community Photobooth has organized young photographers to hold more than 550 donation-based photoshoots to raise over $40,000 for global causes that are often overlooked.
Clelia P., age 17, of Illinois, who founded Hands Together to Feed Chicago and with her team of volunteers, has prepared and served over 8,000 meals and desserts from scratch for those in need.
Ekansh M., age 17, of Oregon, who has developed a way to identify genes responsible for resistance to cancer-fighting drugs and has created a novel 3D model to validate the effectiveness of targeting these genes.
Elizabeth D., age 18, of Alaska, who helps protect Pacific salmon through her research on environmental DNA metabarcoding and leads the student arm of the Alaska Science and Engineering Fair, supporting STEM education for youth.
Esther B., age 17, of Maryland, who founded Nurture Natives to protect biodiversity through education and native plant giveaways, where she has distributed more than 47,000 native seedlings.
Genshu P., age 16, of Hawaii, who created Bottles4College, a nonprofit that helps protect the environment by recycling cans and bottles and uses the proceeds to provide college scholarships for Hawaii students.
Heman B., age 15, of Virginia, who has developed an inexpensive bar of soap that helps treat skin cancer, providing an affordable alternative to traditional skin cancer treatments.
Nirbhuy A. and Alexis N., ages 9 and 10, of Washington, who co-founded Kids for Urban Trees, which has helped plant more than 300 trees at schools, parks, and low-income housing complexes in Eastern Washington.
Sebastian T., age 16, of Pennsylvania, who founded OutsideConnection, an online hiring platform that has matched more than 10,000 previously imprisoned individuals with jobs that fit their skills and aspirations.
Varin S., age 16, of California, who invented AirCat, a Direct Air Capture system that removes carbon dioxide from the air on a large scale and holds the potential to significantly mitigate climate change.
William C., age 18, of Tennessee, who makes and sells pure vanilla extract through his nonprofit, Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow, and has donated more than $210,000 in profits to his community’s regional food bank.
2024 Barron Prize Finalists
Aaryan D., age 17, of California, who created CirFin to educate young people about moving from our take-make-waste linear economy to a more sustainable circular one that promotes the reuse of products.
Adyant B., age 13, of California, who has developed a reliable and cost-effective alternative energy source that converts mechanical energy into electricity, specifically designed to power low-voltage devices.
Andrew L., age 16, of California, who created Beewell, an AI-driven system that improves bee colony health monitoring for beekeepers by running bees’ appearances and sounds through neural networks to provide real-time livestreams of beehives and accurate assessments of hive health.
Chase H., age 18, of Florida, who co-founded Eco Brothers, a nonprofit that promotes literacy, education equity, and conservation, raising more than $165,000 to buy thousands of new books and redirecting hundreds of thousands of gently used books from landfills to students in need.
Elana K., age 16, of New York, who founded Koenig Childhood Cancer Foundation (KCCF) and has raised more than $1.5 million to help over 3,500 children and their families battling cancer.
Henry L., age 18, of California, who founded ChessPals to provide free chess lessons to underserved youth and has taught, along with his team, more than 1,000 students.
Legacy J., age 15, of Missouri, who founded Little Legacies Community Service at age 7 to provide opportunities for young people to serve their communities, leading more than 200 youth volunteers in completing over 100 projects to help people in Saint Louis and beyond.
Mari C., age 17, of Michigan, who has raised $1,000,000 to provide water filters to people living with elevated levels of lead in their tap water, many of them residents of low-income and minority neighborhoods.
Mia L., age 18, of California, who founded LingoX, a nonprofit that provides free language classes for refugees, indigenous communities, and low-income students in 136 countries across six continents.
Rohan K. and Jack R., age 18, of Pennsylvania, who developed the Go Green filter, a novel solution to reduce vehicles’ carbon emissions through a filter clamped inside the exhaust pipe.
These extraordinary young heroes’ stories remind us all that no matter our age, each of us has the power to make a difference — whether it’s protecting the environment, helping those in need, or standing up for what we believe in. I’m proud to celebrate these 2024 Barron Prize winners and finalists, and I am endlessly inspired by their courage and kindness. Their actions light the way for all of us, showing that with enough passion and perseverance, we can truly change the world.
