Jonah Bard

Los Angeles, CA | 18

2022 Award Recipient

When Jonah connected with a fifth grader who was struggling with virtual learning, Jonah realized that the need for free, personalized tutoring in Los Angeles far outweighed the supply of those willing to help. Thousands of students in his city were falling behind in their classes due to a lack of affordable, individualized support, especially with distanced learning needed during the pandemic. Jonah founded EdRise to alleviate educational inequities by delivering free, virtual, personalized, one-on-one tutoring sessions to disadvantaged students in grades 3-8, as well as free online resources to help students succeed. EdRise recruits high school and college aged tutors, provides a rigorous training process, and pairs tutors with students for weekly sessions. Jonah believes his chutzpah, a bold willingness to detach from the norm, has pushed him to revolutionize personalized support in education. As someone who believes deeply in his responsibility to repair the world, he hopes that his work will contribute to ending educational inequity.