Indian American teen entrepreneur to get White House award

Washington, Sep 15  Swetha Prabhakaran, an Indian American teen entrepreneur and founder CEO of Everybody Code Now!, will receive the prestigious 'Champions of Change' award at the White House on Tuesday.

Prabhakaran, 15, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Virginia, founded non profit Everybody Code Now! to empower the next generation of youth to become engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs.

"Under Swetha's direction, Everybody Code Now! has taught hundreds of students how to code and has raised thousands of dollars for STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) activities in schools," the White House said.

"Her mentorship programmes have transformed shy young girls into confident students, community leaders, and budding technologists," it said.

Prabhakaran is among 11 young women selected by the White House as recipients of 'Champions of Change'.

In addition to her passion for science and computers, Prabhakaran, who was born in Indianapolis, is an avid Bharatanatyam dancer.

Sshe did her Bharathanatya arangetram - the debut on-stage performance of a classical art student, after undertaking years of training - in Tirunelveli on Aug 2.

Her father, Prabakaran Murugaiah, is the founder and CEO of techfetch.com. The family lives in Ashburn, Virginia.