Meet the Scholars
Since 2005, Scholars from across the United States and Africa have raised awareness and mobilized action in their communities and beyond. As Bezos Scholars, students and educators have inspired change on issues such as mental health awareness and advocacy, civic engagement, STEM education, environmental justice, refugee and immigrant rights and much more.
The Cohorts
See Bezos Scholar cohorts from past years.
2023
Dyuthi Aryasomayajula & Daniel Giddings
Washtenaw International High School, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Amanda Liu & William Truong
Valencia High School, Placentia, California
Priyanka Gupta & Mary Bishop
Tuscarora High School, Frederick, Maryland
Victoria Myers & Rhonda Craven
School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, Texas
Rithika Sivapokaran & Emily Rohme
Patchogue-Medford High School, Patchogue, New York
Yordanos Lemma & Carmina Taylor
North Penn High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
David Arturo Muñoz Matta & Aimee Nunez
McAllen Memorial High School — Lamar Academy , Mercedes, Texas
Jessie Jingqi Lin & James R. Wilson
Los Osos High School, Rancho Cucamonga, California
Kim Cortes-Martinez & Cyrus Harshfield
Gresham High School, Gresham, Oregon
Aayushi Garg & Sean Lewis
Granada Hills Charter High School, Winnetka, California
Brendan Salisbury & Victoria E. Muñoz
Barry Goldwater High School, Glendale, Arizona
Ahmed Kazadi Kabuya, Chiagoziem Regina Ikeyi , Kenesa Tamiru Huluka, Nassiratou Ali Djibo & Oluwabusola Oni
African Leadership Academy
Breanna Wollman & Kerry Konda
Aberdeen Central High School, Aberdeen, South Dakota
2022
Jean Lin & Erik Wittanen
Union High School, Camas, Washington
Jacqueline Ballesteros Martinez & Sarah Lester Guzmán
Seaside High School, Seaside, California
Nhaomi Lartey & Ava L. Alexander
Penn Wood High School, Lansdowne, Pennsylvania
Abigail Wahl & Tina H. Carter
North Stanly High School, New London, North Carolina
Eric Ye & Jessica Lujan
Los Altos High School, Hacienda Heights, California
Franklin Wu & Sally Woolweaver
Lamar High School, Houston, Texas
Ana Garces & Natilisa Rodriguez
Idea Weslaco Pike, Progreso, Texas
Anish Aradhey & Danae Delozier
Harrisonburg High School, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Diya Jha & Paige Spangler
Governor Thomas Johnson High School, Frederick, Maryland
Eduardo Javier Acevedo & Taylor Alcantar-Campbell
Global Leadership Academy, Denver, Colorado
Amelia Coates & Diane Burke
Framingham High School, Framingham, Massachusetts
Chandler Vernon & Michael Clear Jr.
Cedar Hill High School, Dallas, Texas
Michael John Olivier, Mohamed Taha Khorchani, Rehema Kabunda Nicole Bogita, Wazaino Mwambene, Mohamed Elfaisal Khalid Ahmed & Natalia Maria Sikombe
African Leadership Academy
2021
Bella Garcia & Mayra Valle
Westchester Academy for International Studies, Houston, Texas
Flavia Nunez & Michele Mar
School for Advanced Studies-North Campus, Miami, Florida
Runzhi Hu & Susan Potts
Rancho High School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Avery McCoy Ell & Natalie Davis
Old Town High School, Old Town, Maine
Sawyer Husain & Tom Gayda
North Central High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
Isoiza Emah & Tony Mensah
Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland
Gabriel Gerig & Francisco Javier Lopez Ortiz
Inlet Grove Community High School, West Palm Beach, Florida
Isabel Ohakamma & John Glenn Santos Ramon, PhD
Hightower High School, Stafford, Texas
Owen Lee & Nick Wellington
Edmonds-Woodway High School, Edmonds, Washington
Ammi Lucy Hernandez & Carla Felix
Cutler Bay Senior High School, Cutler Bay, Florida
Josephine Fields & Kristi Billings
Brown County High School, Nashville, Indiana
Bubuney Havi & Maureen Loflin
Bayside High School, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Jaelene Sharveshni Iyman, Panashe Noel Jonga, Saifeddine Lahmar, Selima Terras, Suyash Nowbut & Ssanyu Sematimba
African Leadership Academy
Due to the unprecedented impact of the global pandemic, we were unable to safely select US Scholars and host the program during the 2020-21 academic year. Before the pandemic shut down schools across the globe, our partners at the African Leadership Academy (ALA) already selected their 2020 ALA Bezos Scholars team. With support from ALA leadership and our program, their team decided to move forward with leading the ninth annual South African Ideas Festival (SAIF)—and first ever virtual festival.
2020
Akinfolami Akin-Alamu, Chizoma Duru, Macdonald Chirara, Maged Hassan, Patra Wanjiru Mwaniki & Ssanyu Sematimba
African Leadership Academy
2019
Peyton Klein & Jennifer McGonagle
Taylor Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh, PA
Trey Chapman & Lowana Wade
Piedmont Classical High School, Greensboro, NC
Madison Momenee & Jessica Cutliffe
Noble High School, North Berwick, ME
Zidikiyah Morrison & Cobren Greer
Livingston Collegiate Academy, New Orleans, LA
Jalan Drummond & Precious White-Jordan
Lafayette High School, Lafayette, AL
Brayden York & Leslie Lewis
Kokomo High School, Kokomo, IN
Nicolette Peji & Dana Dale
Ideate High Academy, San Diego, CA
Sarah Tran & Cynthia Quintana
Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada, CA
Victor Ye & Matthew Rojas
Glen A. Wilson High School, Hacienda Heights, CA
Ernest Cisneros & Jorge Alvarez
Colton High School, Colton, CA
Robert Lawrence & April W. Carberry
C. E. Byrd High School, Shreveport, LA
Rangasri Narayanamoorthy & Kady Clincy
Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans, LA
Abigael Abuga, Mike Remezo, Mpiwa Gwindi, Nicolus Mositi, Thaksheel Nirvaan Alleck & Nkembo Kiala
African Leadership Academy
2018
Brandon Plowman & Aaron Atkinson
West Valley High School, Cottonwood, CA
Mishka Banuri & Crystal King
West High School, Salt Lake City, UT
Alex Bremer & Lori Flynn
Pomeroy High School, Pomeroy, WA
Makayla Dawkins & Rachele Thomas
James Hillhouse High School, New Haven, CT
Christian Alexander & Victoria Kratz
Hawthorne Math & Science Academy, Hawthorne, CA
Hoang Le & Kevin Varano
Harrisburg High School SciTech Campus, Harrisburg, PA
Matthew Garcia & Jose Becerra
Harlingen School of Health Professions, Harlingen, TX
Cindy Aguilar Castaneda & Candice McFarland Camacho
Gonzales High School, Gonzales, CA
Mayowa Jolayemi & Christina Moreau
Gahr High School, Cerritos, CA
Cole Fairchild & Matt Shields
Charlottesville High School, Charlottesville, VA
Amy Exposito & Alden Reed
Amundsen High School, Chicago, IL
Jelissa Kamguem, Jonathan Banza, Rutendo Njawaya, Salome Maina, Samkelo Ntetha & Tsion Tesfaye
African Leadership Academy
Style Ranger & Jake Winfield
ASU Preparatory Academy: South Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ
2017
Dylan Hess & Rebecca Ugander
Wheat Ridge High School, Wheat Ridge, CO
Eric Tran & Chellyn Castro Boquiren
The Preuss School UCSD, San Diego, CA
Taiwo Odunowo & Hooman Behzadpour
Orange High School, Orange, NJ
Ibraheem Khan & Gregory DiFrancesco
Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL
Felix De Simone & Richard Eberly
New Buffalo High School, Sawyer, MI
Amal Altareb & Mary Olson McIntosh
Memphis Central High School, Memphis, TN
Samantha Casas & Ann Marano
Irma L. Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, Dallas, TX
Kate Atschinow & Donnie Martino
Highland Park High School, Highland Park, NJ
Mulki Hagi & Danielle Wong
Deering High School, Portland, ME
Kaetlyn Rodriguez & Susan Brakel
California Academy of Math and Science, Bellflower, CA
Isaac Spokes & Regina O'Neal
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Baltimore, MD
Andrew Altman & Jennifer Gaither
Baltimore City College High School, Baltimore, MD
Chernor Diallo, Diana Spencer, Felix Morara, Winnie Msamba & Kim Hoffman
African Leadership Academy
2016
Casey Chaffin & John Divelbiss
West Salem High School, Salem, OR
Cole Robbins & Dr. Erica Bauer
Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL
Shubham Pai & Jill McNulty
The Connecticut IB Academy, East Hartford, CT
Debora Gonzalez & Jeff Dearing
School for Advanced Studies, Miami, FL
Tonaysia Price & Okemia June
Northwest School for the Arts, Charlotte, NC
Ana Acevedo & Camille Edwards-Thomas
New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, NY
Peter Yang & Dan Maloney
James Madison High School, Madison, WI
Michael Mireles & Marcos Silva
IDEA Quest College Preparatory High School, Edinburg, TX
Jacob Urbina & Cody Mitchell
Elkhart High School, Elkhart, TX
Anna Schumacher & Karin Fritz-Staley
Detroit Lakes High School, Detroit Lakes, MN
Yabundu Conteh & Teng Yang
Democracy Prep Charter High School, New York, NY
Faris Qubain & Molly Diallo
Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School, Miami, FL
Andreia Marcelo, Joel Baraka, Josphat Lowoi, Marubini Muswede, Smangaliso Mbili & Melissa Mbazo
African Leadership Academy
2015
Shivpriya Sridhar & Kevin Shuford
William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh, NC
Akeem Adesiji & Andrea Patton
Whetstone High School, Columbus, OH
Julie Fukunaga & Sandra Starr
Tokay High School, Lodi, CA
Gillian Breuer & Kelby Benedict
Poudre High School, Fort Collins, CO
Gabrielle Paras & Kevin Yourman
Port of Los Angeles High School, San Pedro, CA
Ciara Mulcahy & Diane Casola
Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke, VA
Gile Alimasi & Judith McWilliams
New Caney High School, New Caney, TX
Elizabeth Yost & Christopher Maly
Lincoln High School, Lincoln, NE
Griffin Hamstead & Caleb Clark
Knoxville West High School, Knoxville, TN
Niquan Dawson & David Rose
J. Sterling Morton High School, Berwyn, IL
Isaac Vaught & Melody Coryell
Gambold Preparatory Magnet High School, Indianapolis, IN
Perry Arrasmith & Trisha Liu
Aiea High School, Aiea, HI
Estela David, Francis Chitawo, Liston Cosmas, Francis Okong'o Kinyanjui, Portia Kuivi & Ernest Asante
African Leadership Academy
2014
Yash Kamath & Michael J. Boykins
Wichita East High School, Wichita, KS
Edward Antonio & Eric Ferencz
Stuyvesant High School, Brooklyn, NY
Paulina Torres & Sonia Gonzales
Rowe Clark Math and Science Academy, Chicago, IL
Khushi Suri & Rachel Sands
Proviso Mathematics and Science Academy, Westchester, IL
Audrey Huynh & James Scott
Myers Park High School, Charlotte, NC
Valeria Schmidt & Lori Roberts
Montrose High School, Montrose, CO
Christopher Kim & Clint Gima
Maui High School, Kahului, HI
Kennedy Jefferson & Carl Woodward
Lake Area New Tech Early College High School, New Orleans, LA
Raymond Pryor IV & Karen McChesney
East High School, Denver, CO
Pablo Haake & Michael Anthony Trujillo
Davenport Central High School, Davenport, IA
Leila Abdelrahman & Marcia Ferguson
Coral Reef Senior High School, Miami, FL
Deepshikha Parmessur, Franklyn Odhiambo, Imane Bounana, Samuel Opoku-Agyemang, Simone Ige & Michael Gyampo
African Leadership Academy
Victor Ariyo & Susan Reutter
Academy Park High School, Folcroft, PA
2013
Carlos Flores & Nico Loeff
Whittier High School, Whittier, CA
Eleanor Fadely & Pattie Sloan
West Salem High School, Salem, OR
Anna Katz & Lauren Keener
Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights, OH
Courtney Hauck & Jill O'Neill
International School of Beaverton, Aloha, OR
Oscar Lee & Adam Gold
Highland Park High School, Highland Park, NJ
Marshal Landrum & Kathryn Kahn
Como Park Senior High School, St. Paul, MN
Elizabeth Chung & Janice Morton
Cleveland High School, Seattle, WA
Damani Eubanks & Lisza Morton
Charles Herbert Flowers High School, Springdale, MD
Montita Sowapark & Stefanie Gross
Boca Raton Community High School, Boca Raton, FL
Jessica Garda & Lisa Hartman
Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans, LA
Natali Espitia & Elyse Catoe
Atascocita High School, Humble, TX
Joseph Dobson & Corey Alderdice
Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, Hot Springs, AR
Gift Kiti, Ntemena Kapula, Omolemo Matloga, Oumar Ba, Solomon Martey & Josh Adler
African Leadership Academy
2012
Ethan Bresler & Aaron Weiss
Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL
Jeremiah Grant & Jabari N'Kosi
Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School, Jamaica, NY
Candace Joyner & Marietta Bonaventure
Pleasant Hill High School, Pleasant Hill, OR
Kiona Elliott & Randa Flinn
Northeast High School, Oakland Park, FL
Spencer O'Bryan & Philip Durkin
Milford Central High School, Milford, NY
Tafari John-King & Cheryl Matthews-Valery
Medgar Evers College Preparatory School, Brooklyn, NY
Kassra Homaifar & Roberta Rohan
Grimsley High School, Greensboro, NC
Kayna Lantz & Justine Lines
Glendale High School, Springfield, MO
Christopher Sabbagh & Naomi Brown
Fort Bend Education Complex, Surgar Land, TX
Samantha Laney & Rachael Mott
David Prouty High School, Spencer, MA
Dory MacMillan & Ian Altman
Clarke Central High School, Athens, GA
Noah Smith & Philip Stephenson
Baltimore City College High School, Baltimore, MD
Bradley Opere, Eyerusalem (Jerry) Dibaba Assefa, Gabriel Wamunyu, Nokwanda Ramatheko, Varisth Baluckram & Ryan Findley
African Leadership Academy
2011
Nicholas Okafor & Erika Ellis
School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, TX
Kent Smith & Mary Warren
Presque Isle High School, Presque Isle, ME
Locher Grove & Nicole Doherty
Patrick Henry High School, Roanoke, VA
Sundoes Elbery & Kim Frankel
North Star Academy College Preparatory High School, Newark, NJ
Evelyn Torres & Caroline Gifford
KIPP San Jose Collegiate, San Jose, CA
Nikki Santiago & Steve Magadance
International School of the Americas, San Antonio, TX
Andrew Mitchel & Linda Safty Unsworth
Helena High School, Helena, MT
Miguel Goncalves & Linda Shaddix
Cypress Creek High School, Orlando, FL
Sarah Sinclair & Davan Dodrill
Columbus Alternative High School, Columbus, OH
Valerie Quirk & Alisa Boyd
Central High School, Springfield, MO
Jennifer Tu & Jane Maher
Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans, LA
Katie Cooke & Chris Michel
Bellingham High School, Bellingham, WA
Abdramane Diabate, Julius Kakwenzire, Kenza Bouhaj, Tafadzwa Matika & Segun Olagunju
African Leadership Academy
2010
Miriam Million & Anne Artz
The Preuss School UCSD, San Diego, CA
Andy Zhang & Jason Niedermeyer
South Salem High School, Salem, OR
Paul Elish & Jennifer Bourassa
Presque Isle High School, Presque Isle, ME
Andrew (Honghe) Li & Tim Devine
Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL
Katherine Key & Mark Wilson
Morgan County High School, Madison, GA
Micaela Pacheco Ceballos & J.P. Caruso
Lincoln High School, Lincoln, NE
Rosemary Pritchett-Montavon & Heather Stockdell
Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis, IN
Jonathan Karp & Zachary Matson
Lafayette Senior High School, Lexington, KY
Elisa Berson & Vivian Fiallo
Freedom High School, Tampa, FL
Jonathon O'Leary & Gail Heninger
Davenport Central High School, Davenport, IA
Molly Freed & Noah Zeichner
Chief Sealth International High School, Seattle, WA
Marc Simon & Kyle Wallace
Central High School, Springfield, MO
2009
Samanvitha Sridhar & Crystal Pilcher
Wichita East High School, Wichita, KS
Paul Tran & Scott Barton
The Preuss School UCSD, San Diego, CA
Robert Esnard & Valerie Reidy
The Bronx High School of Science, Bronx, NY
Yannick Trapman-O'Brien & Brian Braddock
Saint Augustine High School, St. Augustine, FL
Caroline Mills & John Belcaster
Northside College Preparatory High School, Chicago, IL
Sean Ashburn & Jen England
Noble High School, North Berwick, ME
Jane O'Bryan & Beatrice Webb
Milford Central High School, Milford, NY
Simon Boehme & Christopher Bullmer
Kalamazoo Central High School, Kalamazoo, MI
Valerie Shen & Troy Arneson
James Madison High School, Madison, WI
Lanna Giauque & Edie Reynolds
Greeley West High School, Greeley, CO
Blake O'Connor & Rosemary Owens
Freedom High School, Tampa, FL
Jimmitti Teysir & Frank DiLeo
City Honors School at Fosdick-Masten Park, Buffalo, NY
2008
Sahdia Khan & Jennifer Fry
Wichita High School, East Wichita, KS
Patrick Clay & Mark Marshall
Thomas Jefferson High School, Auburn, WA
Luke Niforatos & Jana Frieler
Overland High School, Aurora, CO
Lucy Li & Patricia Valois
Miami Palmetto Sr. High School, Miami, FL
James Robert & Tiffany Cherrie
Lusher Charter High School, New Orleans, LA
Rigoberto Soto & Steven E. Amstutz
Lee High School, Houston, TX
David Langdon & Melody Coryell
Lawrence North High School, Indianapolis, IN
Hannah Postel & Kara Glaaser
James Madison Memorial High School, Madison, WI
Anna Miller & Gretchen Wilkinson
Garfield High School, Seattle, WA
Noelle Dubay & Tim Doak
Community High School, Fort Kent, ME
Tania Murillo & Beth Battey
Classical High School, Providence, RI
Jazmin Graves & Ralph Vigliotti
Yonkers Middle and High School, Yonkers, NY
2007
Cailin (Prunty) Herczyk & Sandt Weese
Tyler Consolidated High School, Middlebourne, VT
Jordan Crook & Joshua Garcia
Todd Beamer High School, Federal Way, WA
Mylo Cheng & Kevin Oates
Suncoast High School, Riviera Beach, FL
Donivon Fletcher & Alfonso Correa
School for the Talented and Gifted (TAG), Dallas, TX
Weina Zhao & Jennifer Moffitt
Lowell High School, San Francisco, CA
Sonia Gonzalez & Venessa Ramirez
KIPP Houston High School, Houston, TX
Kiandra Rajala & Renee Conner
Hellgate High School, Missoula, MT
Zach Barnes & Jim Sexton
Eastern High School, Louisville, KY
Rebecca Bass & Dr. William Kresse
City Honors School at Fosdick-Masten Park, Buffalo, NY
Meghan Hussey & Caryn Stedman
CREC Metropolitan Learning Center, Bloomfield, CT
B.L. Alterman & Catherine Chiu
Boston Latin Academy, Boston, MA
Angela Colwell & Debi Boyles
Booker T. Washington High School, Tulsa, OK
2006
Kathryn Huddleston & Shayne Klein
Raleigh Charter High School, Raleigh, NC
Ethan Amaker & David Meketon
Masterman High School, Philadelphia, PA
Diana Suen & Othello Jefferson
Lowell High School, San Francisco, CA
Hannah Rolston & Patricia Hixson
Hellgate High School, Missoula, MT
Cooper Henderson & Hal Adams
Grand County High School, Moab, UT
Kiera Calcote & Andrea Gamboa
Foster High School, Tukwila, WA
Allison Burgess & Dawn Guentert
Elgin High School, Elgin, OR
Jonathan Migliori & Ellen Conroy
Classical High School, Providence, RI
Tyler Firth & Todd Boucher
Biloxi High School, Biloxi, MS
Jesse Hassinger & Leslie Kriewald
Baltimore City College High School, Baltimore, MD
Sa'-Kiera Hudson & Margot Plumadore
Albany High School, Albany, NY
Huong Phan & Scott Troeger
Abraham Lincoln High School, Denver, CO
The inagural class of Bezos Scholars did not have an educator counterpart.
2005
Christopher Johnson
Whitney Young Magnet High School, Chicago, IL
Ann Rebollar
Thomas Jefferson High School, San Antonio, TX
Emily Congdon
Suncoast High School, Riviera Beach, FL
Steve Teng
Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY
Laura Eisenbeis
Park Hill High School, Kansas City, MO
Simon Schreier
Hunter College High School, New York, NY
Christopher Heygood
Foster High School, Tukwila, WA
Scott Gallagher
Cherry Creek High School, Denver, CO
Marisa Zúñiga
CREC Metropolitan Learning Center, Bloomfield, CT
Kasheena Sermons
Booker T. Washington High School, Memphis, TN
Michael Farage
Bellevue High School, Bellevue, WA
Manuel Nunez
Abraham Lincoln High School, Denver, CO