AgriTrader wins Rep. Mike Kelly’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Pennsylvania’s 16th District
Rep. Mike Kelly has named Giovanni Di Domenico of Sewickley Academy as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Pennsylvania’s 16th District. Their app AgriTrader is an all-in-one agricultural marketplace and analytics platform designed to help farmers make smarter selling decisions.
When asked what inspired the creation of AgriTrader, Giovanni Di Domenico said, “Living in PA-16, I see the value that farmers and agribusiness provide to our local economy every day. I have been deeply interested in financial markets for a long time, and having experience in modeling in financial markets with Python, I wanted to build something that could combine my technical interest with making a real-world impact in my local community. After researching the agricultural industry in Pennsylvania, I learned that some of the largest issues facing farmers in our state and district include environmental challenges, such as crop loss and damage due to unpredictable weather, as well as economic challenges, including market volatility and rising input costs. As such, I designed AgriTrader’s machine learning models with future weather indicators like temperature, precipitation, and drought index, as well as economic indicators such as historical pricing throughout the year, unemployment data, and CPI in mind to give farmers the biggest advantage possible in the face of uncertain natural and market conditions.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.