Congratulations to 2022’s Barron Prize Winners
Each year, the Barron Prize awards outstanding young people whose actions serve as an inspirational example of the power we all have to make a difference in the world. Over the past two decades, the Barron Prize has honored 550 young heroes from across the U.S. and Canada. They have helped the hungry and the homeless, invented life-saving technologies, protected our oceans and endangered species, and addressed climate change, almond myriad other initiatives. I invite you to take a moment to read through this year’s list of marvelous, accomplished young people, to visit their project sites, and learn more about them!
Anna D., age 17, of Alaska, who founded Promote Our Pollinators (P.O.P.) to raise awareness of pollinators’ importance and devastating decline, and to provide ways to promote their population growth.
Aseel R., age 17, of Texas, who developed an inexpensive and environmentally-friendly solution to mosquito-borne diseases. Her novel method uses household essential oils and baker’s yeast to create a larvicide that could be produced in industrial quantities.
Austin P., age 17, of Washington, who founded Save Our Salmon Through Art (SOS) to create vibrant public art projects and murals in the Greater Seattle area that engage, educate, and empower communities to restore salmon spawning streams.
Ethan H., age 11, of Alabama, who created Ethan’s Heart Bags4Blessings to support individuals experiencing homelessness in his city.
Hannah G., age 15 of Texas, who founded San Antonio Math Include (SaMi) to increase access to STEM education for underserved students.
Jack D., age 12, of New Hampshire, who works to protect critically endangered orangutans and their rainforest habitat, as well as to educate and inspire people to protect the environment.
Karina S., age 17, or Florida, who founded the Florida chapter of Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB), an international student-led nonprofit committed to reducing the amount of plastic on the planet.
Karun K., age 17, of California, who created X-Check-MD, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software that can diagnose COVID-19 and pneumonia with 99% accuracy in under one minute. His tool is an initiative of Democratize Health, the nonprofit he founded to save lives in impoverished regions using fast, accessible, and cost-effective technology.
Khloe J., age 9, of Texas, who founded A Book and a Smile to help build kids’ home libraries and to improve relationships between children and the police.
Laalitya A., age 18, of Ohio, who invented Nereid, a low-cost, globally applicable device that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect water contamination within seconds.
Lucy W., age 18 of Illinois, who founded LucyClimbs to raise awareness of the need for clean water in developing countries by climbing the world’s highest mountains. She is the youngest American woman ever to summit Everest.
Luna A., age 17, of Oregon, who founded the Effective Climate Action Project (ECAP) to increase awareness of solutions to climate change – especially the possibilities of systemic thinking and collective action.
Sahana M., age 15, of North Carolina, who co-founded Foundation for Girls (FFG) to economically empower homeless single mothers and support their children.
Sri Nihal T., age 13, of New Jersey, who created Recycle My Battery, a nonprofit that installs free battery recycling bins and educates young people and adults about battery recycling.
William C., age 16, of Florida, who founded We are Forces of Nature and its A Million Mangroves initiative to combat climate change and to protect coastlines from the effect of sea level rise.
These young leaders work hard to make their ideals and passions a reality and are an example to us all. Please join me in celebrating their accomplishments!
