Oregon youth honored as Prudential Emerging Visionary

Portland student will receive a $5,000 award and an invitation to the 2024 summit for his work addressing the challenges of a changing world.

NEWARK, N.J., Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ethan Zhang, 16, of Portland, today was named a 2024 Prudential Emerging Visionary for his inspiring commitment to improving the lives of others.

As one of 25 Prudential Emerging Visionary winners, Ethan will receive a $5,000 award to help take his innovation to the next level. He is also invited on an all-expenses-paid trip to Prudential's headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, where he will be coached by Prudential employees and have the chance to meet 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 program's goals align with Prudential's purpose: to make lives better by solving the financial challenges of our changing world.

"I am inspired by the students' sense of purpose and commitment to driving positive change in their communities," said Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey. "We're honored to support these young leaders as they bring their extraordinary projects to life."

During the summit, to be held April 20-23, 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.

Oregon's 2024 Prudential Emerging Visionary:

Ethan Zhang co-founded "Youth Secure Initiative," a project that equips young people with cyber-literacy skills that can be deployed to help small businesses in enhancing the security of their websites, preventing financial losses, business interruption and non-compliance.

As a high schooler, Ethan met with a local business owner who used an online system to exchange sensitive documents with clients and was deeply concerned about the consequences of a data breach. As the owner's business was small, accessing an expensive cybersecurity firm was out of reach. Ethan saw a way to help the business owner, bringing together a group of high school students like himself who were fascinated with the rapidly changing world of cybersecurity. Ever since, "Youth Secure Initiative" has provided young people with educational sessions and skill-building resources, connecting them with local businesses to provide accessible online security.

Prudential Emerging Visionaries is sponsored by Prudential in collaboration with Ashoka, a leading organization in the social impact sector, with advisory support provided by the Financial Health Network, an authority on financial health and a longtime partner of The Prudential Foundation.

The program is an evolution of Prudential's Spirit of Community Awards, which honored more than 150,000 outstanding youth volunteers over 26 years.

To read about 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 each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem. For more information, visit ashoka.org.

SOURCE The Prudential Insurance Company of America