Lilliana Silva | Spring, TX

Lilliana is a disciplined, dedicated, and well-rounded student who has been shaped by a desire for more opportunities and success for herself, her family and her peers. She balances many  obligations and activities, with an unrelenting will to take something positive from every experience. 

Lilliana is most proud of her commitment to managing her time between family, extracurriculars, and rigorous dual credit coursework. She lives in a first-generation Angolan-American, low-income, single parent household with her large family. Lilliana helps her disabled mother as a caretaker for her polyneurodivergent older brother and her autistic younger sister.  

Lilliana is captain of the QuizBowl team where she assigns topics and helps improve team efficacy. She is a 9 year member of her community swim team where she also coaches younger swimmers. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Yearbook, which earned national recognition under her leadership.

Outside of school, Lilliana re-builds classic cars from scraps, a skill she learned from her grandfather.  Lilliana is also a dedicated volunteer with 150+ volunteer hours primarily planning lessons, tutoring, grading, and working in small groups with special needs students.  

Lilliana plans to pursue urban planning in order to help create parks, communities, and cities, to combat many of the struggles she, her family, and her peers face. She aims to create places where every resident can thrive and grow, prioritizing affordability, efficiency, and accessibility.

Jason Nguyen | Seattle, WA

Jason is a hardworking, ambitious, and motivated student who will go above and beyond to find opportunities to help him succeed. He is a rising senior who was born and raised in Seattle and has had a lifelong interest in STEM. Jason enjoys working with others in a team to learn different ideas and perspectives, and he values getting feedback from teachers and mentors so he knows what he needs to work on to continue to grow and improve his skills.

Jason is proud to be chosen as Student of the Month in the Mathematics Department by his school for academic achievement and math ability. He is a dual enrollment student at a high school and community college. Jason willingly took higher-level college courses to challenge himself and learn content that is not offered at his high school.

In addition, Jason volunteers at West Side Baby to help low-income families who cannot afford baby products. Jason is a Green Team officer at his high school, a club that teaches members about environmental issues affecting the world and steps to take action. 

Jason plans to become the first in his family to attend college and graduate with a degree in engineering or computer science. He plans to use his degree to make technology accessible.

Helin Wang | Houston, TX

Helin Wang is defined by her deep roots in the under-represented neighborhood of Alief, in Houston, TX. Whether organizing large-scale community events or advocating for policy change, Helin leads with the conviction that the people most affected by a place are the ones best positioned to transform it. 

She is most proud of her work as Events Manager for AliefVotes, a student-founded nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing youth political participation across the Alief community. She spearheaded the AliefVotes Annual Youth Conference, bringing community members together directly with local city councilmembers, state representatives, Congress members and dozens of nonprofits to address their issues.

Helin also founded and heads Global Rising Innovators in Policy (GRIP), a youth policy fellowship launched through the Institute for Youth in Policy. GRIP’s competitions give young people the tools to develop real policy solutions for the issues that affect their lives. 

Additionally, Helin serves as Vice Chair of the Houston Mayor’s Youth Council, representing the interests of both district F youth and the youth of Houston at the municipal level. As a Mary Beth Tinker Fellow at the Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, she met with 80 congressional offices and dropped into 200+ offices to advocate for mental health, public school funding, and secure firearm storage. She also serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of her school newspaper, The Kerronicle, and president of a mentorship club at her school. 

Helin plans to attend law school and then work on Capitol Hill in civil rights law.

Hazik Aiyan | Amarillo, TX

“The best Texas Transplant ever” is what Hazik’s eighth-grade teacher calls him to this day. As a native born Bangladeshi, Hazik saw firsthand how terribly poverty, pollution, and corruption affected people. He always aspired to do something about it; however, it wasn’t until he immigrated to America that he found a land of opportunity that gave him the chance to fulfill the civic duties he wanted to. 

After settling in Amarillo, Texas, Hazik discovered that Amarillo was sitting on a goldmine of rich history that warranted admiration. After that, he and other youth partnered with the National Geographic Society and Blank Spaces Murals to find local legends and interview and write about them, highlighting inspiring stories of success from people in his hometown. He is proud to have contributed to the project. 

Hazik also prides himself on his advocacy against a prospective local AI data center. He has also helped reduce environmental issues in his city by hosting trash cleanups and beautification projects- something he wanted to do back in Bangladesh but didn’t have the chance. 

Hazik has multifaceted other interests. He lives his passion through a flying program with his local Rotary Club. He is also currently completing an internship on mapping and conservation in partnership with National Geographic Society and The Nature Conservancy.

Hazik wishes to tackle the world’s biggest issues, especially those affecting the environment with his unique Bangladeshi and West Texan perspectives. 

Griselda Santos | King City, CA

Griselda Santos-Perez is a first-generation student from the rural agricultural community of King City, California, whose passion for public service, civic engagement, and advocacy drives her commitment to strengthening underserved communities. Through rigorous dual enrollment programs, she is earning associate degrees in Political Science and Administration of Justice, alongside her high school diploma. 

Griselda’s most significant leadership experiences have come through National Future Farmers of America (FFA). After serving as Secretary and Vice President of King City FFA, she was elected Chapter President and later South Coast Regional Vice President, representing students from San Jose to Greater Los Angele. In this role, she helps spearhead conferences and workshops that strengthen student leadership and advocacy. As a National FFA Delegate, she was 1 of  36 students selected to represent California nationally where she debated constitutional amendments and voted on policies that help guide the future of agricultural education in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education. 

Griselda has served as an intern to Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez. She helped organize community listening sessions, connecting rural residents with local government. She was the event coordinator for Operation Santa, providing food and gifts to 400 families. Through TurnUp Activism, she promoted voter engagement and youth participation in civic life. 

Inspired by her parents’ sacrifices, Griselda hopes to become an attorney and public servant. She is passionate about advocating for rural communities, agricultural workers, and families whose voices are often overlooked, using law and public service to expand opportunity and strengthen representation.