2019 PINK Award Winner to Create Advocacy App

May 1st 2019

Tarina Ahuja ’20 was awarded the 2019 PINK Award during this year’s Reunion Weekend All School Meeting. She plans to use her award to create an app to assist with advocacy.

“My project is the creation of an app called Advoc8!,” explained Tarina. “I realized that there aren’t any mobile resources for people to do direct advocacy, so I became passionate about turning this vision into a reality.”

According to Tarina, the app will have 3 parts:

Legislative Advocacy - Advoc8! will have a direct mechanism for messaging government representatives through email or phone call. Users will pick issues that are important to them and get an issue-specific notification to send a letter to their representative.
Direct Action - The app includes a database of protests and demonstrations happening in any area, which allows activists, or anyone really, to find a physical way to mobilize if they feel like going out and making their voices heard. It will also allow notifications if a protest related to a user's interest is happening.
Current Events – This part of the app deals with issues happening in real time. For example, if a natural disaster occurs, users can sign petitions, donate money, or send messages of solidarity. After a tragedy, people often want to help or donate, but can't find a good place to so. Advoc8! will centralize all that information.

“I need seed money to get this app started and developed, and I am so blessed and honored to have received the PINK Award, which will allow me to create Advoc8!.”

About The Pink Award: The award, which stands for “Passion, Initiative, and Knowledge,” was established by Katherine Kies ’07 to help hardworking Madeira girls pursue a goal. Upon graduating from Madeira, Kies decided to pursue a career in the hospitality industry. She went to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. When she won the Drown Prize Award, the top honor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, she decided to give part of that award back to Madeira in appreciation for the Co-Curriculum experience that led her to her major and subsequently this award.