Emily Qu is a high school senior passionate about leveraging a humanistic lens of data science for insights to effect positive policy reform. She graduated as valedictorian from her high school, was named her school’s Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award, and was nominated for the prestigious Congressional Medal of Merit Award. Furthermore, she served as the 2023 Florida Girls State Lieutenant Governor, where she connected with young women across the state to explore the variety of passions in the public policy realm, passing 12 bills to the Florida legislative session.

From researching mental health curriculum and mental health literacy in her school district to analyzing topical corticosteroid addiction and withdrawal in eczema patients, Emily works towards finding innovative solutions to complex societal challenges, specifically passionate about public health issues. Working as operations director and deputy director of Minds Without B0rders, a youth-led mental health 501(C)3 with chapters in 12 countries, 24 states, and 3500+ volunteers, her work focuses on providing students with accessible mental health resources. As such, she organized and executed a free public mental health panel open to students in her school district with 10 nonprofit vendors in attendance to provide support. She also independently authored a mental wellness e-book.

Moreover, in school, she is part of the speech and debate club, where she pitched and spearheaded the creation of the school’s informative speaking category, president of Mathcounts and Who We Play For, and senior manager of the Academic Team, among others. In her community, Emily is the founder of StepForward Dreams for Dance, a nonprofit initiative dedicated to uplifting children in hospitals through donated dance costumes. In collaboration with three local dance studios, they received over 100 dance costumes that were then donated to children in long-term hospital care. She volunteered over 400 hours at her local hospital and is a volunteer English and math tutor for elementary school students.

Emily will continue her academic journey at Wharton College at the University of Pennsylvania, where she plans to concentrate in business analytics, business economics & public policy, and data science. She hopes to continue her community service and advocacy through educational policy reform while in college.