CAC: How did participating in the Congressional App Challenge contribute to your personal journey, career path, and accomplishments so far?

GR: Participating in the Congressional App Challenge at 14 years was one of the first times I realized the power of technology to create meaningful social change. My app idea “Kindly” was inspired by cyberbullying issues I saw around me, and the experience gave me the confidence to take those ideas seriously. It wasn’t just about coding. It was about identifying real problems, designing practical solutions, and sharing them with a broader audience.

That moment became a turning point in my journey. It encouraged me to pursue innovation as more than just a hobby, but as a career path focused on using science and technology for social good. Many of my later accomplishments such as collaborating with UNICEF to roll out the Kindly product as a digital public good grew from the same spirit I first nurtured during the challenge. Looking back, the Congressional App Challenge didn’t just teach me to code better; it taught me to think bigger, to connect with mentors and peers, and to see myself as part of a larger community of changemakers.

CAC: Try to remember back to competing in the CAC – what was your app about and why did you create it?

GR: Kindly, was a service and an initial prototype app I developed to help detect and prevent cyberbullying using AI / Natural Language Processing.

CAC: What are you most proud of in your academic or professional career thus far?

GR: What I am most proud of so far is the global impact of my innovation workshops. Over the last five years, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 120,000 students across 50 countries. These workshops are not just about teaching STEM or coding skills, they are about empowering young people to believe in their own ability to create change.

Seeing students take the five-step innovation process I share and then apply it to issues in their own communities has been the most rewarding part of my journey. It reminds me that innovation is contagious, and when you equip others with the right tools, the ripple effect can reach far beyond what you could achieve alone. That collective impact is what makes me the proudest.

CAC: Let’s look into the future – where do you hope to be in 2035?

GR: I plan to keep expanding my workshops and collaborating with more rural schools and refugee camps, while helping build maker spaces in underserved regions.

CAC: What excites you most about the future of technology and innovation?

GR: We are entering an era where young people everywhere will have access to the tools and platforms to turn their ideas into reality, and that democratization of innovation will allow us to tackle global challenges together. Innovation is no longer limited to will no longer be limited to University labs, research institutions or corporations.

I’m especially inspired by the way AI is evolving, where it is not to replace creativity or critical thinking, but to take care of mundane and repetitive tasks so that humans can focus on imagination, empathy, and solving complex problems. Technology is becoming more human-centered, and the future excites me because it’s not just about what we invent, but how those inventions empower communities, create opportunities, and make the world more sustainable and inclusive.