2020 Winners
Clockwise from top left: Riya, Emmy, Sosina, Anikait
Anikait Dhond attends Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, VA. An avid environmentalist, Anikait uses his YouTube channel, Danikat Fishing, to explore local waterways and highlight fishing methods that minimize ecological damage. Anikait led an effort to Adopt-a-Highway in his local community and was the recipient of the VA Governor’s Stewardship Award for Land and Water Conservation. He is Captain of the Club Soccer Braddock Road Youth Club and Lake Braddock Varsity Tennis Team, as well as a volunteer soccer coach for DC Scores and a talented french horn player. He plans to attend Virginia Tech to study biological systems engineering.
Emmy Song attends Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD. Emmy uses creative writing to speak out about social issues and has had her writing published in 24 print/online magazines, such as Writing for Peace, Pulitzer Center, and National Poets Quarterly. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper and an online literary magazine. In addition to her passion for writing, Emmy has founded interGIRLS, a national organization that supports women in math, and brainpowHER, a weekly programming class for middle school girls. Emmy is also a violist in the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra. She plans to attend Princeton University to study mathematics and economics.
Riya Maheshwari attends Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn, VA. Riya has spent over 300 hours as an Emergency Room and Labor/Delivery Volunteer at StoneSprings Hospital Center and participated in George Washington University’s Medical Laboratory Sciences Program. As a Bank of America Student Leader, she helped develop a program at the YMCA to expose youth to medical careers. Riya participated in her school’s first foreign exchange to Durban, South Africa and she currently serves as a Global Ambassador at her school, welcoming foreign exchange students to the DMV. Riya plans to attend Georgetown University to study human science on the pre-med track.
Sosina Gebremichael attends Benjamin Banneker High School in Washington, DC. She has founded a Financial Literacy Club and a Coding Club at her school and helped develop a Community Organizing for Racial Equity program at the Latin American Youth Center to engage youth in racial justice advocacy. Sosina was appointed to lobby alongside the president of College Board to increase funding and access to the AP curriculum for low income and rural areas. Additionally, Sosina has completed coursework at Columbia University and Northwestern University in Psychology and Microeconomics. She plans to attend American University to study Mathematics-Economics and Computer Science.
2019 Winners
Praneeth Penmetsa is from Ashburn, VA and attended Rock Ridge High School. Praneeth 
was the President of Future Business Leaders of America, the Key Club, and Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, as well as a Co-Founder of Peers and Students Taking Action, a nonprofit organization supporting children and families in Loudoun County. Praneeth worked as a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT for the Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department. He attends the University of Virginia and studies Global Development and Commerce with an Entrepreneurship Track.
Nina Tang is from Germantown, MD and attended Poolesville High School. She was the founder and captain of the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Team #13100 and founder of a STEM outreach program for young children at the Maggie Nightingale Library. Nina has worked as a Research Intern at the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards & Technology. She is an award-winning pianist and self-taught Korean speaker. Nina attends Cornell University, where she studies Computer Science and minors in a foreign language.
Maya Woods-Arthur (not pictured) is from Washington, DC and attended Washington Latin Public Charter School. She spent a month studying political science at the St. Albans School of Public Service and was the first ever high school intern at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Maya earned the Girl Scout Gold Award and worked as a Girl Scout Congressional Aide to Congresswoman Norton of DC. She attends Harvard University, where she studies politics and the Middle East.
*Maya was the recipient of the Ambassador Andrew L. Steigman Merit Award, an award honoring the memory of our distinguished late colleague and past President.
2018 Winners
Lauren Espinoza is from Rockville, MD, and attended Montgomery Blair High School. She served as team leader for the FIRST Robotics Competition Team 449 and was a research intern for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute where she analyzed single- photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Lauren was active in the Keep America Beautiful Youth Advisory Council, Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth, and the Girl Scouts. She attends Harvard University and plans to study both economics and Near Eastern languages and civilizations in preparation for law school.
Sheyda Tribble is from Washington, DC, and was dually enrolled at School Without Walls and The George Washington University (GWU) Early College Program. On campus, Sheyda was an anchor on a political radio show for the student- run station WRGW and an active member of GWU’s NAACP chapter. She is an active photographer and poet and recently self-published her own book of poems, Adolescence: Poetry and Musings of a Young, Black Girl. She attends Northwestern University and studies economics and international studies.
Sherry Xie is from Falls Church, VA, and attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST). She founded, developed curriculum for, and taught an introductory computer science and animation camp for elementary to high school students. Sherry was team captain for TJHSST Cross Country and Indoor Track and is a four-year TJHSST Varsity Soccer player. Sherry has served as Student Government Association Vice President (17-18), Treasurer (16-17), and Class Treasurer (15-16). Sherry attends Harvard University and studies government, economics, and computer science.
2017 Winners
David Edimo is from Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended Richard Montgomery High School. As President of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, he assembled the most diverse executive board in recent memory by applying lessons learned in his IB anthropology class to value varied manifestations of merit. He also lobbied for a bill requiring suicide awareness training for school staff and, as a member of the Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth, created and chaired the Access to Mental Health Resources Committee. David attends Yale College.
Abigail Koerner is from Washington, DC and attended Woodrow Wilson Senior High School. She worked as a Peer Educator for three years at the Young Women’s Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to sexual health education, and as an advocate for issues like health education standards in public schools. She was Vice President of her school’s Best Buddies program and helped establish a tutoring program to increase DC elementary school student reading levels. Abigail attends Harvard College.
Ava Sharifi is from Chantilly, Virginia, where she attended Chantilly High School. She was captain of her school’s debate team and Under-Secretary-General of her school’s Model UN team. An active volunteer in her community, Ava has served as president of the Key Club, debate coach at Rocky Run Middle School, and intern for several political campaigns. Ava attends the University of Chicago and majors in economics and comparative literature with a minor in Russian.
