Illinois youth recognized by Prudential Emerging Visionaries program

Two Chicago students honored with $5,000 award and invitations to the 2023 summit for their work addressing the challenges of a changing world.

NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nikita Agrawal, 17, and Mia Fritsch-Anderson, 18, both of Chicago, today were named 2023 Prudential Emerging Visionaries for their inspiring commitment to improving the lives of others.

As two of 25 Prudential Emerging Visionary winners, Nikita and Mia will each receive a $5,000 award to help take their innovations to the next level. They are also invited to attend an all-expenses-paid trip with their parent or guardian to Prudential's Newark, New Jersey, headquarters for a three-day summit in April where they will receive coaching, skills development and networking opportunities with Prudential employees and other young leaders.

Prudential Emerging Visionaries recognizes young people ages 14-18 whose fresh perspectives and innovative solutions address pressing financial and societal challenges in their communities.

"The goals of our Emerging Visionaries program reflect Prudential's overarching purpose: to make lives better by solving the financial challenges of our changing world," said Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey. "We applaud all of our honorees for their commitment to improving the lives of others and creating inclusive and thriving communities."

Illinois' 2023 Prudential Emerging Visionaries winners:

FINANCIAL PROJECTS CATEGORY

Nikita Agrawal is the co-founder and president of "FinPro World," an initiative that promotes financial literacy among middle and high school-aged students by teaching them computer programming skills. Through a 10-week series, participants learn financial concepts that they then apply and demonstrate through coding.

Nikita's spark moment came when she realized she could use her programming skills to build financial wellness and resiliency for those around her. "That feeling of being able to add value using my skills, along with my desire to make an impact in my community, triggered the idea of combining financial concepts with computer programming into a powerful educational platform for students," she explains. So far, her project has impacted more than 200 students across 17 countries.

SOCIETAL PROJECTS CATEGORY

Mia Fritsch-Anderson is the creator of "Choose to Breathe," a movement to educate young people about asthma and reduce the stigma around using inhalers.

Through the creation of fun and engaging videos on social media and by crafting inhaler covers that are colorful and fashionable, Mia is teaching young people about asthma and combating stereotypes and misconceptions about the disease. In just two years, the initiative has 20,000 followers and is now partnering with a nonprofit organization to increase outreach to young people.

Emerging Visionaries is a collaboration between Prudential Financial and Ashoka, a leading social impact organization, with support from the Financial Health Network, an authority on financial health and longtime partner of The Prudential Foundation.

During the summit, to be held April 22-25, 2023, five winners will also have the opportunity to present their solutions in a pitch-off, where a grand prize winner will be awarded an additional $10,000 in funding. What's more, Prudential employees will again vote to name an Employees' Choice Award winner, who will receive an additional $5,000.

The program is an evolution of Prudential's Spirit of Community Awards, which, over 26 years, honored more than 150,000 outstanding youth volunteers.

To read about 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 each 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.