Naperville Teen Wins Soroptimist Award
Trisha Prabhu of Naperville is the winner of this year's Violet Richardson Award. Soroptimist International of Suburban Chicago honors Trisha for her project, Rethink, which is an anti- cyberbullying app that will benefit others globally.
Trisha is a student at Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville. In the fall of 2013, after learning about an 11 year old girl's suicide because of cyberbullying, she set out to find a way to stop this from ever happening again. She wanted to define and design a long-term solution to stop cyberbullying. Her research and hard work led her to the product Rethink, which won a spot as a Google Science Fair 2014 Global Finalist. Rethink gives someone trying to post an offensive message on social media a second chance to reconsider their decision. Her "Rethink" has had a lot of media coverage both locally and globally. She spoke about "Rethink" at TEDxTeen in London (www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkzwHuf6C2U). She currently holds a Provisional Patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for her Rethink idea.
She has always been interested in the inner workings of the brain. Prior to her Rethink project, Trisha won an award for her research on the cognitive distraction that causes distracted driving. As an advocate of STEM in education (importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics for future United States global competitiveness and future economic prosperity), she believes that technology is the future. Aside from her love of science and technology, Trisha is a published author of four books. She was also named Chicago's Financial Literacy Ambassador by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Soroptimists strive to improve the lives of women and girls in the local area and globally through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Soroptimist International of Suburban Chicago offers several Grants/Awards for women and girls. The award celebration for Trisha and other Suburban Chicago winners will be held in May. If you would like to learn more about us, please visit our web site, www.si-suburbanchicago.org , or contact us at siofsuburban.chicago@soroptimist.net .