Kora wins Rep. LaMonica McIver’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in New Jersey’s 10th District

When asked what inspired the creation of Kora, the students said, “Kora started with the understanding that technology tries to ‘fix’ people, rather than assist in understanding them. While researching and volunteering with families of autistic children, we encountered the same problem over and over: caregivers misread emotional signals. A child’s frustration might be expressed in anger, silence could suggest overstimulation, and a smile might mask anxiety. Such moments were not just confusing. They created emotional distance between the children and their families. We sought to close that distance.

“The underlying philosophy of our initiative is that understanding is essential before intervention. We focused on AI’s capabilities for understanding complex images and behavioral patterns, and developed emotion-recognition frameworks within the family domain. When we encountered families of children who found it emotionally exhausting and frustrating to understand what their children were feeling, the pieces fell into place. What if we could use that same AI not to label or diagnose, but to translate emotion into empathy?

“For the next couple of months, we focused on gathering and understanding insights from therapists, special education professionals, and families. One mother told us about her heart-wrenching experience of the crying, non-verbal child, and the desperation she felt of not knowing if he was in pain or scared. Another similar experience she spoke about was ‘a window into his emotions.’ These, and many similar accounts, became the core of Kora. We designed every aspect of the app to make emotional understanding more intuitive. We used AI to bridge the gap between what’s expressed and what’s felt.

“What moved us the most was seeing the change that occurs when technology unlocks connection. During early testing, a parent from Warren County told us, ‘For the first time, I didn’t feel like I was guessing.’ That moment reminded us why we started: to change silence into understanding, confusion into confidence, and technology into compassion. 

“Kora is an app, but more importantly, Kora is a demonstration of our faith that empathy can be designed and that the most powerful innovations begin with listening.”