Young Innovator Nominee: Sharon Lin, StuyHacks, BitxBit Camp

Why she is nominated: Sharon runs StuyHacks, a student-led high school hackathon in NYC, and BitxBit Camp, a summer camp for middle school girls. She has worked with NCWIT AspireIT to create this camp, and has worked tirelessly to bring computer science education to as many young girls as possible, especially those from Washington Heights, Corona, Harlem, and other areas of the city where such girls are marginalized and given few opportunities to succeed academically, especially in the area of computer science.

She is a She++ #include Fellow, an NCWIT National Fellow, a Grace Hopper Scholar, and Intel ISEF Regional Grand Prize Winner, a Google Science Fair Finalist, an MIT THINK Scholar, and holds countless more titles that do not even begin to highlight the incredible work she has done for our community. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that she has encouraged an exponential growth in interest in computer science and making among the NYC schools in Manhattan, especially her own school. She has already raised over $5,000 for her program, and continues to exemplify leadership in the technology education sector.

She has been invited to speak at the United Nations, St. John's University, the Interfaith Center of NY, and other esteemed venues. Sharon Lin has inspired over 5000 young girls to pursue computer science in the 2.5 years she has run her non-profit. She has spoken at the United Nations, Facebook, the White House, Yale University, and at numerous other venues about the importance of STEM education among underprivileged youth, and has raised nearly $10,000 towards youth education in marginalized communities.

The incredible growth Sharon has fostered within her organization are a hallmark of her success and potential. Sharon is intrinsically motivated from her own experience growing up in a community that discouraged her participation in STEM. Through discovering her gift in the Siemens Competition, Google Science Fair, MIT THINK, and numerous other competitions, she gained an awareness for the importance of encouragement among underprivileged students, and has since sought to ignite that passion for computer science and STEM education among marginalized students. She has won the titles of White House Champion of Change, Thiel Fellowship Finalist, Crains 20 Under 20, CE Week 10Under20, Siemens Competition Finalist, Google Science Fair Finalist, National Liberty Museum Young Hero, World Maker Faire Speaker, United Nations CTED Delegate, Facebook inspirED Advisor, Prudential Spirit of Community Winner, and I-SWEEEP Competition Winner.

The Young Innovator Award celebrates excellence and innovation by young professionals. See the other nominees and their backgrounds and check back to learn who has won this prestigious honor from The Advertising Club of New York and Google, with support from The Drum.