Kendra Nayanka

Kendra is a high school student and an aspiring engineer. Alongside her active involvement in FIRST and VEX robotics and teaching STEM to children, she developed a portable and individualized air quality monitor (AQM) for outdoors and wildfires as she aims for accessibility and affordability of AQMs. This invention won 6 awards and a bronze medal in the regional science fair, and she became the regional winner in an innovation youth challenge. A former competitive athlete, Kendra started tennis at 7, competed nationally until 12, became a certified coach at 15, and actively built a tennis community. She works as a tennis coach and founded a free all-girls tennis program advocating for gender equity in sports, which won a monetary award to further its impact. She is one of the youth councils in several organizations that advocate for gender equity in sports and youth safety on roads. In 2023, she became the youngest tournament director for an all-girls tournament. At school, Kendra holds executive positions for math, data, and robotics clubs. She is active in the equity club and a club helping students start their own initiatives while representing her school in provincials for three sports: tennis, badminton, and squash.