North Carolina youth recognized in first-ever Prudential Emerging Visionaries program

NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ella Gupta, 17, of Raleigh, and Sahana Mantha, 15, of Charlotte, today were each named a 2022 Prudential Emerging Visionary for bringing powerful vision and meaningful change to their communities.

As two of 25 young people from across the country selected in this year's inaugural class, Ella and Sahana 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 North Carolina's Prudential Emerging Visionaries for 2022:

Ella Gupta, 17, of Raleigh, North Carolina, started the "Initiative for Financial Literacy Exploration" to address gender economic inequality by empowering young women to gain self-confidence and invest in themselves through financial education. By providing free workshops, lectures and resources, her initiative creates a safe space for young women to learn about money management.

Ella has worked as a consultant to over 300 personal finance and leadership teams, helping them adapt their classrooms to better engage younger generations. Her book on personal finance and investing, and its corresponding curriculum have been implemented in 120 schools, reaching more than 10,000 students. She is currently leading an online campaign to guarantee financial education for all high school students.

Sahana Mantha, 15, of Charlotte, North Carolina, co-founded "Foundation for Girls," which empowers mothers experiencing homelessness, connecting them with long-term coaches who accompany them on their journey to financial health and economic security. Working alongside her sister, the project focuses on supporting women to be financially savvy, career confident, digitally capable and socially connected.

"I began my journey by understanding the issues in my community to learn about the root causes of issues impacting women and children," she said. Over the past six years, "Foundation for Girls" has impacted more than 2,500 single mothers and their children experiencing homelessness in nine states through group workshops, coaching and care packs.

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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