Junior Achievement of Arizona is pleased to announce the 2023 18 under 18 winners. They’ve started businesses and nonprofits, broken glass ceilings, volunteered or advocated for a cause.

They all have something in common: They are not waiting until they are adults to make a difference in the world. These Arizonan students distinguish themselves with their creativity, passion, and drive.

“Each year, we’re amazed by the next class of students,” Katherine Cecala, CEO of Junior Achievement of Arizona, said in a written statement. “They advocate for causes, start nonprofits to help others in our community, work with their schools to bring new ideas and programs to their schools, care about the environment or advocate for causes. They all have bright futures and we’re honored to know them.”

In all, 18 students were honored. Here are the winners from Scottsdale:

Sanya Somani
Age: 17
School: Phoenix Country Day School
Year: Junior
City: Scottsdale

Sanya Somani co-founded the nonprofit HealthforHer, which is dedicated to providing health and educational resources for underserved women and their families around the world. The organization has ambassadors in the UK, Canada, Pakistan, South Korea, India, Tanzania, Russia, Armenia, and China.

Zack Okun

Zack Okun founded the nonprofit STEMducate, an organization focused on advocating and sharing the importance of STEM learning for all age groups. In just a few years, STEMducate programming has reached more than 24 states and 11 countries.

Georgia Bukata
Age: 16
School: BASIS Scottsdale
Year: Junior
City: Scottsdale

Georgia Bukata is an award-winning scientist and current research intern with Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) Center for Rare Childhood Diseases, where she’s using her math skills to study protein modeling and coding.