Florida youth recognized in first-ever Prudential Emerging Visionaries program

NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jonah Basi, 17, of Fort Lauderdale; Sayers Grooms, 16, of Gainesville; and Jonathan Tamen, 17, of Miami Beach, today were each named a 2022 Prudential Emerging Visionary for bringing powerful vision and meaningful change to their communities.

As three of 25 young people from across the country selected in this year's inaugural class, Jonah, Sayers and Jonathan will each receive $5,000 in funding as well as an invitation to participate in an awards summit from April 23-26, 2022. The summit will include a lively agenda packed with skills development workshops, coaching sessions, networking opportunities and special recognition events. Select winners will also have an opportunity to participate in a pitch-off where a grand prize winner will receive an additional $10,000 in funding. What's more, Prudential employees will vote to name an Employees' Choice Award winner, who will receive an additional $5,000.

Prudential Emerging Visionaries recognizes young people ages 14-18 whose fresh perspectives and innovative solutions address the pressing financial and societal challenges in their communities. It is a collaboration between Prudential Financial and Ashoka, a leading social impact organization, with advisory support from the Financial Health Network, an authority on financial health and longtime partner of The Prudential Foundation. The program is an evolution of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, the country's largest youth recognition program, which for 26 years honored more than 150,000 outstanding youth volunteers.

"Emerging Visionaries is another way Prudential is demonstrating its commitment to our purpose: to make lives better by solving the financial challenges of our changing world," said Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey. "The students we're honoring have a sense of possibility that drives them to look beyond themselves. Their vision and dedication are key to creating fully inclusive communities, and we are humbled and inspired by their work."

That work includes addressing needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic, combating economic inequality, advocating for inclusion and closing the digital divide. This inaugural group of young leaders was selected based on four main criteria: their solution is innovative; it can create meaningful impact in the future and can scale to a wider community; it demonstrates a deep understanding of the issue; and it inspires the visionary to lead or take action and motivates others to do the same.

Here are Florida's Prudential Emerging Visionaries for 2022:

Jonah Basi, 17, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, founded "MangroLife" to restore South Florida's waterways through planting hundreds of mangrove trees, which provide natural filtration and habitat. He also organizes community efforts to remove trash and create a cleaner environment.

The waterways, which used to teem with life, from bottlenose dolphins to blue crabs, have filled with polluted water, plastic and invasive species. The problem grew close to home for Jonah when his family moved into their new home and the waterways became his backyard. Since October 2020, Jonah has organized 90 different community events, ranging from small-group trash cleanups to park restoration projects that have removed 1,800 pounds of trash from local ecosystems, while planting hundreds of mangrove trees across South Florida.

Sayers Grooms, 16, of Gainesville, Florida, created "Watch Me Run," a nonprofit organization that enables those living with impaired balance access to Frame Running — an innovative sport that allows people with disabilities the opportunity to run freely.

Sayers noticed that people with disabilities are often overlooked when it comes to accessing health and fitness equipment tailored to their needs. "Being able to run on a running frame changed my life," she shared, talking about how Frame Running transformed her mobility. "I felt so free, and I was eager to share the experience with others." Sayers wanted to spread this life-changing sport and founded "Watch Me Run" to give other kids the chance to access Frame Runners. So far, the initiative has raised more than $80,000 to increase awareness and help eliminate financial barriers to participate in the sport.

Jonathan Tamen, 17, of Miami Beach, Florida, started "Helping Hands MB" to provide 3D-printed prosthetics for children in Haiti. The goal of the organization is to reduce the stigma around disabilities and give children greater mobility.

Jonathan came up with the project after he and his brother used their 3D-printing equipment to make face shields for doctors and nurses at the start of the pandemic. Realizing the power of this technology to make a positive impact, Jonathan decided to teach these printing skills to his peers so they could develop prosthetics for children. So far, two children have been fitted with their prosthetics, and nearly 400 student participants have signed up to build these devices. Jonathan hopes to have another 10 prosthetics printed soon.

To read the names and stories of all of this year's Prudential Emerging Visionaries, 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.

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SOURCE Prudential Financial, Inc.