Maryland youth recognized by Prudential Emerging Visionaries program

La Plata and Gambrills 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/ -- Sydnie Collins, 18, of La Plata, Maryland, and Joshua Oh, 14, of Gambrills, Maryland, 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, Sydnie and Joshua 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."

Maryland's 2023 Prudential Emerging Visionaries:

SOCIETAL PROJECTS CATEGORY

Sydnie Collins is the founder of "Perfect Timing," an international podcast that promotes youth positivity by giving young people the space to celebrate their achievements and combat mental health stigmas.

The goal of "Perfect Timing" is to build confidence among young people and give them a safe space to share their stories. Sydnie invites young role models onto the show who are using their platforms to motivate, raise awareness or educate others. "Exposing these changemakers to my audience will not only show them who they can be, but also empower them to use their voices in a way that uplifts their own communities," she says. Since its launch, 109 episodes have been released.

Joshua Oh co-founded an initiative to increase access to diapers across the United States through innovative distribution methods and lobbying to remove diaper taxes.

Joshua's initiative currently runs biweekly pop-up pantries at local elementary schools, which have distributed more than 200,000 diapers. His team also successfully lobbied the state senator of Maryland to remove the diaper tax, saving families $12 million a year. They are now using the same toolkit to campaign against the diaper tax in 29 other states.

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 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.