Young, Social Innovation Founders Compete for $145K in Unrestricted Funding January 24th in Silicon Valley

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Westly Foundation has announced its eight finalists for the 2026 Westly Prize for Young California Social Innovators, recognizing emerging leaders whose innovative solutions address urgent social and environmental challenges.

Finalists will advance to compete for $145,000 in unrestricted funding, including three $40,000 awards each, on Saturday January 24, 2026 at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford. Their innovations span tools in the environmental space aiming to reduce nitrogen pollution in water sources or minimize e-waste, to data-driven platforms in the health space helping to support vaping and nicotine addiction or equip families in providing sustainable at-home solutions to support youth during a mental health crisis.

Founded in 2012, the Westly Prize invests in helping young leaders to transform promising ideas into scalable high-impact initiatives. A complete list of this year’ Westly Prize finalists, and the innovations each founded, follow:

Ellie Sangree & Jesse Wexler: Eutrobac’s biofilter removes nitrogen pollution from water at scale by using nitrogen-cycle bacteria to convert harmful nitrates and ammonium into harmless nitrogen gas before returning treated water to the source.

Farid Manshaii: Recalivape’s data-driven vaping cessation system uses continuous data monitoring and adaptive nicotine tapering to support personalized quitting pathways.

Hadassah Betapudi & Elijah Kim: Esslo addresses the college advising crisis by providing middle- and low-income students with affordable, high-quality college essay feedback, delivering personalized guidance comparable to private admissions counselling regardless of a student’s ability to pay.

Jake Daniels, Diego Curiel, & Mackenzie Kettwig: GreenSight Technologies’ AI-powered platform for the IT asset disposition industry to support recyclers and refurbishers, automate workflows, recover more value, and keep electronics in circulation instead of becoming waste.

Mallika Pajjuri & Hanxiao Lu: Psyche Care’s tech-enabled platform trains parents to become therapeutic caregivers, equipping families of high-acuity youth with evidence-based tools to manage mental health crises and build sustainable at-home care systems.

Nam Nguyen, Noy Chatoyan, & Jacqueline Franco: BioFlare’s compact kitchen device converts food waste into biogas for cooking, using methane-producing bacteria to generate clean, off-grid energy while reducing organic waste.

Roman Scott & Itbaan Nafi: Breakthrough Ventures’ startup accelerator supports underrepresented student founders through non-dilutive funding, mentorship, and investor access, expanding pathways into entrepreneurship for those excluded from traditional venture capital networks.

Sepehr Khosravi: AI Scouts’ youth education program teaches teens practical, real-world skills, starting with artificial intelligence (AI), through free bootcamps focused on building, launching, and marketing real applications using existing AI tools.

About the Westly Foundation

Silicon Valley's Westly Foundation, founded in 2000 by Steve Westly and Anita Yu, operates from the premise that investment in our children and youth paves the way for success in the future. The foundation works to improve the lives of at-risk children and youth in California and beyond through traditional grantmaking and annual Westly Prize awards.