Naperville native Trisha Prabhu was awarded national funding from 14 organizations, including Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan’s, Archewell Foundation, to tackle cyberbullying and educate youths on digital literacy.

The Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund announced Aug. 2 an inaugural cohort of 26 youth-led initiatives that will receive $2 million in grants ranging from $25,000 to $200,000, based on the organization’s needs.

Prabhu’s nonprofit, ReThink Citizens, was awarded $50,000, which will go toward bringing technology and educational materials to youths in the Caribbean this fall, she said. Her inventive software, ReThink, is an award-winning technology that detects and stops cyberbullying before it happens.

“We are so blessed and excited because we know there will be so much impact with this funding,” Prabhu said. “To have the backing and validation by leaders like Prince Harry and Meghan is incredibly affirming.”

The software program alerts users when an outgoing message contains language that is potentially abusive and hurtful. The nonprofit branch was launched a few months ago, she said, to bring the technology to underrepresented youth who don’t typically have access to those resources.

The Neuqua Valley High School alum is currently living in England as she studies at the University of Oxford as a U.S. Rhodes Scholar.

“And so my vision was, can we actually stop the cyberbullying at the source with the cyberbully via a behavioral approach that actually teaches young people to pause and rethink.”

In response, Harry said, “This is amazing. This is exactly why we do what we do. This is exactly why the Youth Power Fund was created.”

Prabhu said she was inspired to create ReThink in 2015 after she came home from middle school and read a story about an 11-year-old Florida girl who committed suicide because of cyberbullying.

“I was really shocked that this was our status quo and heartbroken,” she said.

Since then, she has received numerous honors for her efforts.

In 2016, she was invited by President Barack Obama to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit and share her technology at the White House Science Fair.

She was also named one of the 2020 inaugural winners of the Elevate Prize, an organization and accolade that rewards “social entrepreneurs for their impact and leadership,” according to its website. And, she was named an Adrian Cheng Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Social Innovation and Change Initiative. In 2021, she was the youngest honoree named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.

With her recent Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund award, Prabhu said she was honored that it elevates youth-led initiatives.

“We understand some of the internet’s most pressing challenges and have experienced both the positives and the harms of the internet,” she said. “But we also have the knowledge to make changes and we need to put young people in the driver’s seat.”

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