CLASS OF 2020

Maya Albold - Saint Augustine, FL

Maya Albold is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, FL. In addition to her strong academics, she has a passion for women’s rights and environmental advocacy. Since her sophomore year, Maya has worked for a variety of environmental organizations to advance sustainability policy. As an intern at Jane West Law, a local environmental law firm, she researched and drafted reports on policy related to the beach restorations in her county in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. She also works for Care About Climate, an international non-profit dedicated to promoting climate policy, as a social aid.  At her school, Maya runs the Conservation Club and started a sustainable garden project that runs on natural resources and volunteered help. She is currently working on expanding the project to teach elementary school children about the benefits of sustainable gardening. She is also a lead organizer for her school’s Blessings in a Backpack chapter, which provides weekly bagged lunches to 200 children at a local elementary school. In 2019, Maya helped
coordinate the ‘SOUPer Bowl’ event for Blessings. The event raised over $30,000 in funds for the program.  Outside of school, Maya enjoys social organizing and advocacy. In 2018, she helped organize the March Against Fracking in the city of Saint Augustine. In 2019, she organized a women’s march and a climate strike in her community. She is a member of the Environmental Youth Council, an organization focused on local eco-advocacy, and spoke with Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Friend and Senator Bill Nelson about the environmental issues facing Florida and youth involvement. In the summer of 2019, Maya attended Florida Girl’s State, a summer program focused on educating young girls about government, and served as a city Mayor and the state Chief Supreme Court Justice.  

In honor of Aaron and Cheryll Albold (parents)

Jackson Baker - Larchmont, NY

Jackson Baker is a member of the Class of 2020 at Mamaroneck High School. In addition to his academics, Jackson has a passion for emergency medicine and helping others. Jackson is an EMT in his home state of New York as well as a member of The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, allowing him to practice in any state.  At 16, Jackson joined Larchmont Volunteer Ambulance Corps and after six months was promoted to Captain of the Junior Corps. He has completed over 1,000 hours of volunteer service and has responded to hundreds of 911 medical calls. Jackson is also a Stop The Bleed instructor, a member of the local Rescue Task Force and a firefighter at the Town of Mamaroneck Fire Department.  Jackson’s dedication to emergency services is reflected in his Original Science Research project at Mamaroneck High School, where he used a federal database to study the impact of how time spent on the scene of emergency calls affects cardiac arrest resuscitation rates. Jackson’s findings have motivated him to improve the health care system by advocating for accurate Patient Care Records in order to combat stagnancy and bad practices in emergency services. For his research, he received a medical award at the Westchester Science and Engineering Fair and a summer internship at The Westchester County Department of Emergency Services. In addition to emergency services, Jackson is is also an active member of his high school community as a peer mentor and 4-year varsity ice hockey player.  Jackson will be attending Georgetown University in the Fall of 2020.

In honor of Meridith Jamin (Mother), Joseph Baker) Father, & Gerald Jamin (Grandfather)

Grace Beal - New Castle, PA

Grace Beal is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from Neshannock High School in New Castle, PA. Grace is a student-athlete whose other passions include community service, history, politics, and leadership. Grace is the founder and executive director of the youth-led 501(c)(3) Layups for Lucy. Layups for Lucy has contributed significantly to the supportive/palliative care department at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, in memory of Grace’s younger sister Lucy. Lucy was a patient at Children’s before she passed away from a congenital heart disease at 11-months-old. Grace leads the 60 students who organize this event, which was named Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s “Youth Fundraiser of the Year.” The organization has also provided funding for the area’s only sibling bereavement camp and financially assisted local families dealing with pediatric health challenges. She was named a National Honoree for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, a Carson Scholar, and received the Jefferson Award for Community Service. At school Grace is student government president, Rotary Interact president, a calculus tutor, yearbook photographer and proof editor, a member of the basketball team, and a captain of the volleyball team.

In honor of my sister Eliza, whose support gives me confidence, and my sister Lucy, whose memory inspires and motivates me each and every day.

Jessica Chiriboga - Glendora, CA

Jessica Chiriboga is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from Glendora High School in Glendora, CA. In addition to her strong academics, Chiriboga has a passion for history, the Supreme Court, and advocacy. Miss Chiriboga is a second-year National Student Council member for GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network), a national non-profit working to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying of LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools. As a student leader and proud Latina, Chiriboga produces blog content for educators and coaches, curates a monthly policy newsletter, and develops resources for students to use for GLSEN’s national Days of Action. She brings her LGBTQ+ advocacy to her local high school as Vice President of her school’s Gender-Sexuality Alliance. Most recently, she shared her story and action steps with her district’s high school and middle school teachers. She is also the founding president of NAMI Healthy Minds, a local club dedicated to destigmatizing mental illness. NAMI Healthy Minds organizes weekly Wellness Circles for students, fundraises for NAMIWalks Los Angeles, and plans Mental Health Awareness Month activities. In spring of 2019, NAMI Healthy Minds organized its first annual Mental Wellness Night that brought students, parents, and community leaders to interact with self-care methods and mental health resources. Beyond her advocacy work, Chiriboga is a proud delegate of California YMCA Youth and Government. She has competed in the National Judicial Competition and was awarded the distinction of Outstanding Justice given to the top 3 justices in the competition. At school, Chiriboga is the Student Council Vice President of Outreach, editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper, president of San Gabriel Valley YMCA Youth and Government, and an active member of the varsity tennis and varsity soccer teams. Miss Chiriboga has a published Op-Ed in the Advocate and has been featured in Teen Vogue magazine. Chiriboga begins her first year at Dartmouth College in the Fall of 2020.

In honor of Ms. Jennifer Bell (AP Language and AP Seminar teacher at Glendora High School)

Josephine Cureton, San Francisco, CA

Josephine Cureton is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from Lowell High School in San Francisco, CA. A passionate social activist, she is currently in her second term representing District 4 on the San Francisco Youth Commission, serving as Chair. In this role, she has led campaigns to close down San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall and expand Miranda Rights protections to all youth under age 18, along with hosting the first-ever District 4 Youth Forum to politically energize her neighborhood. She’s done additional advocacy work for the Generation Upwards Coalition around Proposition 13 Reform and works to elect progressive candidates to local office, most recently District Attorney Chesa Boudin. She plans to devote her life to bringing progressive reform, especially around criminal justice, to her city. At school, Josephine is the Senior Commander of the Exhibition Drill Team, the former Battalion Commander of Lowell’s JROTC Battalion, a California Scholarship Federation tutor, and a member of the Shield and Scroll Honor Society. In her free time, she enjoys exploring San Francisco’s many diverse neighborhoods, drinking extreme amounts of boba, and following local politics. 

In honor of Charles Walker (Grandfather)

Joshua Hechtman - Spokane, WA

Josh Hechtman is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington. Josh has a passion for ending food waste and hunger. With this passion, Josh founded a nonprofit program, ReProduce 81, that collects uneaten food students would otherwise throw away and donates it to students in need. In addition to its waste-reduction efforts, ReProduce 81 provides food-service related volunteer opportunities to its 80 members from four high schools throughout the region. Through his work with ReProduce 81, Josh has received a US Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition for Philanthropy. Josh has led a similar initiative in local community colleges, where he spearheaded the creation of self-sustaining food recovery programs in three local community colleges, designed and implemented an online ordering system for students to pre- order from the pantries, and created “Pop-Up” food pantries around the campuses. Additionally, Josh is the Site Director for Food Rescue US, a national food recovery organization. Josh has recruited 33 restaurants throughout Spokane, rescuing and donating nearly 80,000 meals. Josh was also selected as a Subject Matter Expert by the Washington Department of Agriculture to be on the Food Waste Education/Behavioral Change and Hunger Relief Stakeholder Groups for a Washington State bill aimed to reduce food waste in half by 2030. He is currently collaborating with legislators, government agencies, and community partners to propose a WA Food Waste Reduction Plan to the WA legislature by November of 2020. Josh continues his dedication to food policy in his membership of the Spokane Food Policy Council, being a founding member of the Second Harvest Hunger Action Team, and participating on the Development Committee of Spokane Edible Tree Project. Josh is the founder of Tiger’s for Change, a school club focused on engaging youth in local politics, serves as Associated Student Body President for Lewis and Clark, and is a three-year Varsity Tennis Captain and a two-year Varsity football player. He is a 2019 Bank of America Student Leader.

In honor of my family for their endless support, guidance, and love.

Matine Khalighi - Denver, CO

Matine Khalighi is a member of the graduating class of 2020 at Smoky Hill High School. In addition to academics, Matine is passionate about helping those who are less fortunate. Inspired by his project in his “Building a Better Community Class” in eighth grade, Matine was motivated to do something more to help those in need. In 2016, he co-founded the nonprofit Helping the Homeless Colorado, a 501(c)(3) youth-led nonprofit organization. As the Executive Director, Matine helped the organization develop a teen-led board of directors which creates life changes for those in need in Colorado. His organization has distributed over 50,000 basic necessities to those experiencing homelessness across Colorado, awarded over $15,000 in scholarships for homeless students to attain associates degrees, and even launched the state-wide social campaign on live television. Also, Matine is also involved in his Baha’i religious community, serving as a Children’s Class teacher, and also is an author for BahaiTeachings.org. Matine is the Student Body President of his school, an Ashoka Young Changemaker, a TEDx Speaker, a Prudential Spirit of Community Distinguished Finalist, and a two-time winner of the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

In honor of Mrs. Amy Bainbrige (8th Grade Teacher).  

Peyton Klein - Pittsburgh, PA

Peyton Klein is a member of the graduating class of Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to her strong academics, Peyton is a fearless conversationalist, community builder and founder of Global Minds Initiative. Created in her freshman year, Global Minds is a student-led movement working to combat cultural intolerance and discrimination in schools internationally. Through after school programming bridging English Language Learners and Native English Speaking (NES) students, Global Minds builds intercultural understanding and empathy through courageous conversations. Since 2016, Global Minds has expanded into 25 schools and 2 countries impacting over 2,600 students. Peyton is a TEDx speaker, HERLEAD fellow, Bezos Scholar, 2019 Global Teen Leader and Princeton Prize in Race Relation winner. Her work has been featured on the Today Show, Fox News, in Teen Vogue, and the New York Times. In addition to her nonprofit work, Peyton is arguably the weakest member of the Allderdice Field Hockey team, a middle sister and hugger.  Peyton will begin her first year at Stanford University in the Fall of 2020.

In honor of William and Margie Klein (Grandparents)

Akshaj Mishra - Evansville, IN

Akshaj Mishra is a member of the Class of 2020 from Signature High School, an International Baccalaureate charter school in downtown Evansville, Indiana. Passionate about world hunger, Akshaj founded an online social enterprise startup known as “GroPronto” that serves as a grocery delivery platform direct to consumers. For every grocery delivery executed, meals are provided to children facing chronic hunger in India, South Africa, and the US, with more than 20,000 meals provided in the past year. Furthering his passion for entrepreneurship, Akshaj co-founded the Business and Entrepreneurship Club, which strives to increase financial literacy and promote an entrepreneurial spirit through collective management of a portfolio larger than $40,000 amassed from several investors and through entrepreneurship and fundraising competitions. Also enthusiastic about research that helps to solve tough challenges, Akshaj developed a novel method for the synthesis of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), which can drastically reduce the amount of illegal opioid production. This research has won awards at science fairs such as Intel ISEF and the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposia (JSHS). Akshaj also enjoys volunteering at local organizations such as the Evansville Rescue Mission and the WNIN Radio Reading Service.

In honor of Braj Misra (Grandfather)

Michael Murray - Lake Oswego, OR

Michael Murray is a member of the Class of 2020 from Lake Oswego High School in Lake Oswego, OR. Michael is the founder and executive director of Hunger Fighters Oregon, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit food pantry that has provided over 34,000 meals to food insecure families in his hometown. Open every Saturday and staffed by volunteers, the pantry offers many items, including canned foods, cooking staples, hygiene items, diapers and pet food; fresh items such as milk and eggs are gleaned from local grocery stores. Michael currently serves as the Director of Development for the Lake Oswego Youth Council, of which he was an inaugural member.  He has helped to organize youth forums, city council candidate debates, and an annual community speaker series. Michael is also an Eagle Scout whose passions include both backpacking and photographing the Oregon wilderness. As a monthly columnist for his hometown paper, Michael writes about local politics and school-related issues, working to jump start conversations and turn readers into activists. Michael is a four year competitor on both his high school’s cross country team and speech and debate team. He is looking forward to studying public policy and environmental science in college, with the goal of one day working in government.

In honor of David and Marla Murray (parents)

Lillian Petersen - Los Alamos, NM

Lillian Petersen is a member of the graduating class of 2020 from Los Alamos High School in New Mexico.  Lillian has spent the last three years working to improve food security in sub-Saharan Africa by creating an early warning system to predict crop yields 3–4 months before the harvest in every African country using satellite imagery. She also forecasted malnutrition prevalence using developmental, economic, and environmental variables and created a model to optimize the supply chain of acute malnutrition treatments. For this and other work, she is the sole author on two peer- reviewed papers in Remote Sensing (doi.org/10.3390/rs10111726) and Climate (doi.org/10.3390/cli7030040), and has been an invited speaker at eleven international aid and research organizations, including USAID, FEWS NET, and the USDA. During her junior year, Lillian sparked a new interest in computational molecular biology, which she now plans to major in.

In honor of Mark and Kimberly Petersen (parents)

Peyton Robertson - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Peyton Robertson is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from Stanford Online High School. He holds 13 patents for inventions and is the youngest person named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Science List. Peyton received the Giuseppe Sciacca International Award for Environmental Innovation, the XPrize Visioneering People’s Choice Award, and is the youngest winner of the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Growing up in South Florida, Peyton has approached the question of hurricane protection and prediction from multiple angles and joined others working to do the same. He is a published researcher; most recently, he is the lead author on an article studying Jupiter’s synchrotron radiation submitted to the Journal of Astronomy Observations, Theory, & Methods. At his school, he has served as a Teaching Assistant for classes such as History & Philosophy of Science, Astrophysics, and Astronomy Research Seminar. After winning funds at the Pebble Beach Golf Pro Am, Peyton founded the Multiplied Foundation to promote access to STEM education. He has a passion for quantum physics and hopes to use his studies to contribute to answering fundamental and elusive questions about our universe.

In honor of my family and Kalée Tock (Science Instructor)

Molly Smith - Clermont, FL

Molly Smith is a writer, filmmaker and storyteller. Her work as a young filmmaker has been profiled in online publications like Today.com and PopSugar. At age 16, she wrote and directed, "I Don't Know,” a short film that used poetry to speak about race issues in America. It has screened at over 18 film festivals nationwide, winning 6 top awards. Her next film, “Dear America” highlighted the effects of gun violence on generation Z, and has received over half-a-million views online, a National Student Emmy, and the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Youth Free Expression Film Award. Molly also enjoys speaking to students and community groups about the importance of using art for social change in her #GENZSPEAKS campaign. An accomplished playwright, her dystopian play, “God Bless America” went on to win a Scholastic National Gold Medal in 2019 and recently premiered on stage at the Be Original Theatre Festival in Orlando, FL, winning Molly the award for top playwright under age 24. Her writing was recognized with a 2019 National Student Production Emmy in the writing craft category. Molly’s goal is to use the medium of film and her passion as a writer to tell stories which spark conversations and change perspectives. She will graduate from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida and plans to attend college to study screenwriting and film.

In honor of Lori and Phil Smith, for teaching me to learn, create, and never stop fighting for change.  (Parents)

Raymond Suo - Louisville, KY

Raymond Suo is a member of the graduating Class of 2020 from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, KY. Raymond is the founder of Origami Education Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This mission of this organization is to impact students through the math, cognitive, health, creative, and artistic benefits of origami while sharing the joy and culture of paper-folding. Raymond has published a workbook, “Origami and Related Mathematics,” which is distributed through origami kits at month-long workshops hosted at elementary and middle schools. Raymond also loves sharing his joy for music with the elderly in his community; as the executive director of the Youth Musicians Group of Kentucky, he leads and performs piano with ten students monthly at several nursing homes. Additionally, Raymond has been a volunteer coach for the Louisville chapter of The First Tee national golf organization and teaches other kids about the inherent life values of golf. Ramond is also deeply passionate about math; he qualified twice for the USA Junior Math Olympiad, formed the first Kentucky team to compete in the Harvard MIT Mathematics tournament, and hosted math workshops for students in his community. For the past few summers, he has attended several math programs, including Stanford Math Camp, the Ross Mathematics Program, and Honors Summer Math Camp. By incorporating math into his other academic pursuits, Raymond has also been successful in computer-science research. Utilizing a mathematical parametric spline, Raymond was able to develop an efficient and accurate 3D-modeling algorithm that has applications in building design and in the medical field. With this research, Raymond has won awards at several science fairs, including Intel ISEF and the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.

In honor of Wenjie Qin (Mother)

Robert Wachen - Potomac, MD

Robert Wachen is a member of the 2020 graduating class of Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, MD. Robert’s interests include music (particularly jazz), playing saxophone, student advocacy, community service, and business. Robert is Co-Founder and President of Birthday Cakes 4 Free Maryland (BC4F; bc4f.org), which bakes, decorates, and delivers birthday cakes to financially and socially disadvantaged children and seniors in the D.C. metropolitan area. With the help of over 750 volunteers and a 39-member student Executive Board, BC4F has donated over 5,000 cakes to 23 charities, currently donating over 200 cakes a month. BC4F has received national and local media attention, with features by ABC News, MSN, and People. Robert also serves as Treasurer of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association (MCR), representing over 50,000 high school students. Through his six years of countywide advocacy, Robert, named “Leader of the Year” in 2019, has organized and lobbied for important school system changes, such as improved mental health programs, $750,000 in additional funding to the county’s English for Speakers of Other Languages program, and a reconstructive plan for an improved Career and Technical Education program. An avid saxophone player, Robert has had the opportunity to perform with groups at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. Robert was a Young Artist in Residence at Maryland’s Strathmore Music Center in 2019 and is Captain of his school jazz band. Robert also enjoys studying computer science, marketing, and behavioral economics, all of which he uses to provide digital marketing services to local businesses. Robert will attend Harvard College in the Fall of 2020.

In honor of his supportive family, for their wisdom, optimism, and unconditional love.