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

MG: Participating and winning the Congressional App Challenge was the first time I realized my work had the ability to impact other people. The recognition from the Congressional App Challenge and various media outlets like the Washington Post empowered me to continue coding for my community, study Computer Science and Business at NYU, and made me want to build programs that teach computer science.

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

MG: One winter day, while walking home from school, I suddenly felt unsafe. This led me to create an app called “SafeTravel” allowing users to notify an emergency contact with their location, if they didn’t reach their destination in time.

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

MG: I’m most proud of the work I’ve done with the Congressional App Challenge as Chair of the Alumni Advisory Board. Leading a 12 person team, I’ve built a podcast called Debugged over the last four years with over 30,000 listeners, gaining recognition from Spotify, FeedSpot, and Reinvented Magazine. I also helped develop the first ever National App Challenge Day where I got to teach Congressmen how to code, gaining over 2 million impressions on social media, and App Challenge Alumni got to present in front of the Speaker of the House!

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

MG:I hope to be leading a team that continues democratizing technology and investing in companies that are leaders in the EdTech space.

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

MG: I’m excited about Agentic AI and how that’s already changing the way we search and learn new information. I see a future where ‘Google search’ gets replaced by ‘LLM-powered browsers,’ making our experiences on the internet faster and more personalized than ever before. We’re on the edge of accessing information at lightning speed!