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

TP: At 13, I invented ReThink, a technology that aims to help youth pause and think twice before they post online. The Congressional App Challenge validated my innovation and encouraged me to continue to pursue it! I also had the opportunity to meet with my Representative at the time, Representative Bill Foster, to talk about why tackling cyberbullying was so important.

Today, I’m continuing to take on online hate–and in fact, through ReThink’s non-profit spin-out, ReThink Citizens, educating and empowering a new generation of young people to create the digital world they deserve.

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

TP:The ReThink technology aimed to help young people proactively “ReThink” hate and be more intentional and kind in how they communicated online. I created the app after learning about the silent pandemic of cyberbullying–so many young people across the country and around the world were suffering from online harassment, but it felt like we were simply accepting that status quo. I wondered: what if instead of trying to put a Band-Aid on the issue of cyberbullying after it happened, we instead developed solutions to stop harassment before any damage was done? It was that line of thinking that led to ReThink.

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

TP: I’m most proud of our ReThink Citizens Youth Coalition, which is an incubator for aspiring digital changemakers. This past summer, we invited 9 young people into a 6-week virtual program featuring speakers like Monica Lewinsky, Frances Haugen, and Arturo Béjar to help them envision–and begin to build–a better internet. Watching our Coalition members pitch their ideas to a captivated audience in Chicago in early August was a very special moment.

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

TP:In 2035, I hope to be (1) pursuing policy change for the internet and (2) building alternative digital business models.

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

TP: That’s today young people–with our vision, values, skills, and creativity–will be leading that future.