NEW YORK, NY- Coming up with an innovative idea that can change the lives of hundreds in your community isn’t easy, but that’s exactly what 16-year-old Hannah Steinberg has accomplished in just a short time. Steinberg, a Scarsdale, N.Y. resident and junior at the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, was recently awarded the Working in Support of Education (w!se) Inspirational Leadership Award at the 17th Annual Quality of Life INNOVATIONS (QLI) Reception and Awards Ceremony at Microsoft in Manhattan.
Hannah becomes the first person under the age of 30 to receive this award, an honor bestowed upon those who mimic the values and qualities shown in the QLI competition. She has provided over $26,500 in toys, groceries, and other items to homeless families in her community through a method of “extreme couponing.” Her story quickly became a national sensation after it appeared in the Wall Street Journal in May of this year.
“Ms. Steinberg is truly a remarkable young woman and an excellent role model for young men and women in her community.” said w!se President and CEO Phyllis Frankfort, who read about Hannah’s story and personally selected her as a recipient of the award.
QLI, a program of w!se, challenges high school students to identify a real-world problem, research the issue, and propose feasible solutions. This year’s eight finalist proposals, out of more than 400, included ideas addressing critical issues such as texting in schools, increasing awareness of Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity, and improving the visibility of addresses on residences to help emergency responders.
The New York Community Trust capped off the Reception and Awards Ceremony by presenting this year’s top three teams with scholarships in front of nearly 200 guests attending the prestigious event at Microsoft. The winning team from Benjamin N. Cardozo in Queens, N.Y. tackled the critical issue of emergency responders being delayed or unable to locate residences due to addresses that are missing, difficult to see or read.
“All proposals in the QLI competition have been outstanding and each one has the potential to make a significant difference in New York City’s quality of life.” exclaimed Frankfort. “I’d like to thank the teams for their hard work and extend special congratulations to our 2012 Inspirational Leadership Award recipients.”
About Quality of Life INNOVATIONS
QLI is a youth development and college readiness program of Working in Support of Education (w!se), that invites high school students to become social entrepreneurs by using applied research to solve a real-world problem. Students identify an important social issue, undertake scholarly research, develop feasible solutions and have the opportunity to submit their proposal for change to the QLI Scholarship Competition.
About w!se
Working In Support of Education (w!se) is an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to developing financial literacy, college and workplace readiness.
For more information about QLI and other w!se programs, please visit www.wise-ny.org
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