We at OZY are proud to introduce our 12 new OZY Genius Award winners for 2023.

Since 2015, each cohort of the OZY Genius Award (OGA) has provided 10 college students with up to $10,000 in support of their original initiatives to help them realize their dreams. In the tradition of the MacArthur Fellows Program, artist-in-residency grants and startup incubators, the OGA seeks to discover, mentor and cultivate emerging young talent in a variety of pursuits. OZY has awarded young superstars innovating in a wide range of fields, such as poet Amanda Gorman, public relations executive Brandy Star Merriweather and education entrepreneur Dyllen Nellis, as well as finance entrepreneur Daniel Kang and health tech entrepreneur Cooper Bierscheid.

To receive the OZY Genius Award was just an incredible support. Young people have a ton of potential and the capacity for making change.

The OGA grant program supports winners’ bold and innovative ideas with a summer stipend of up to $10,000. From advancing technologies for education and wellness to empowering youth; making uplifting films to building a more equitable and sustainable world, as of 2022, the OGA has assisted 41 committed young people in realizing their full potential as important change agents in today’s world.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to increase this year’s recipients to 12, instead of 10. The quality of ideas, as well as the drive and passion to make an impact, is inspiring. We are honored to partner with these young Geniuses as they develop and grow their life-changing projects.

Designing VR Software to Expand Access to Arts and Culture – Through her innovative virtual reality software, Aleah hopes to immerse underserved students in “an interactive virtual art museum” to expose them to art, culture and history in a safe and encouraging space.

Creating VR Software to Overcome Performance Stress – Myron aims to lower entry barriers to music performance by designing research-based performance anxiety-management techniques to help young musicians overcome the many stressors of performance to reach their full artistic potential.

Designing a Multilingual Chatbot to Broaden Access to Crucial Information on Reproductive Health – Nicte’s All Voices conversational chatbot integrates voice recognition to give people speaking various African languages, particularly in Amharic, who can't yet read or write in their local language, crucial access to information, so they can make the best decisions for their reproductive health

Encouraging Self-Expression and Well-Being Through Film – Through his short film Numb, David Anthony hopes to encourage access to mental health resources to help people express their true selves in all their vulnerability and emotion and bring people together who have shared conflict.

Helping Disadvantaged Students Finance an Education – Youssef’s Your Success Scholarship program hopes to “change the face of access” by building a student-led higher education advocacy platform designed to assist low-income, first-generation students of color in reaching their educational dreams.

Leveling the Technological Playing Field – Avi’s nonprofit Avi I.T. Inc. provides people of all backgrounds and experiences the opportunity to gain computer science skills in order to help close the diversity gap in the computer science field and alleviate the digital divide.

Closing the Achievement Gap Through College Funding – Through her preventive and play-based platforms Project FRESH and Project FRESH+, Kenya assists kids with college funding to help close the achievement gap experienced by millions of racial minorities and stop the school-prison nexus.

Advancing Technology for Better Access to Learning – Mubarak’s management platform is designed to give Nigerian schools a mobile infrastructure for SMS integration to make learning more accessible and engaging, and avoid disruptions in the learning process due to unreliable internet access.

Paving the Way for Minorities in Health Care Professions – Morgan’s Daniel Williams Exposure to Health Care Program hopes to provide low-income students the opportunity to learn about the importance of diversity in medicine and take their proper place as leaders in American health care.

Taking On the Youth Mental Health Crisis – With the involvement of scientists and health care professionals, Avery hopes to develop new diagnostic questionnaires to improve assessment validity, thus reducing incorrect diagnoses and limiting the consumption of unnecessary drugs.

Optimizing Energy for a Sustainable World – Tyler seeks to alleviate climate change and encourage sustainability with his quantum operating system for energy management, designed to assist global efforts in meeting our growing energy demands and optimizing energy production and consumption.

Empowering Young People as Agents of Change – With her organization New Breed, and her specially designed app, Darlingtina will empower the young people of Sierra Leone to become active change agents through community service and social engagement, and help young entrepreneurs harness new technologies to encourage entrepreneurship.

Join us in congratulating our OGA winners and following their journeys over the next year. Stay tuned over the month of December for more special features in our newsletters highlighting each of our winners and introducing their genius projects. We are excited to have them join our past OGA winners in shaping the world for the better.

*OZY Genius Award winner and an AT&T Dream in Black honoree (from an HBCU)

What projects or themes among this year’s OGA winners most excite you and why?

EPISODE 3 NOW STREAMING!

Featuring Genevieve Channelle & Keia Kodama