(Photo courtesy of Archika Dogra)

Back in middle school, Archika Dogra considered herself a “humanities kid” who didn’t have a lot of interest in science, technology, engineering and math.

Wrapping up her first virtual semester at Princeton University, the Bellevue, Wash., 18-year-old now says she’s planning on studying computer science. Somewhere along the way, Dogra determined that she could do more with technology to impact the social causes that were important to her.

Dogra is GeekWire’s Junior Geek of the Month for November. The monthly honor, presented by Northern Trust, recognizes talented young innovators, creators and entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest.

“Through my pursuits, I’ve always looked to make a positive impact on the world,” she said. “Technology is a field that has very few limits — who you can impact, what you can work on, at what age you can start, and how large of a difference you can make.”

Archika Dogra at the 2019 World Innovation Summit for Education in Doha, Qatar, where she spoke on youth change-making and integrating technology with educational equity as a 2019 WISE Learner’s Voice Fellow. (Photo courtesy of Archika Dogra)

Dogra’s focus on all of those things sharpened after she attended Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Outreach Summer Program in 2017, the summer after her freshman year at Interlake High School. She wasn’t confident that she would even get into the program, or that she even had any interest in computer science.

“I gave it a shot,” Dogra said. “I was like, ‘I’m in high school and still exploring, we’ll see where this goes.’ That summer was super transformational because the way that the program was executed was really deeply intertwining tech and artificial intelligence and machine learning with social impact.”

She worked on a project involving a computer vision model that helped map poverty in Uganda with poverty resource redistribution efforts. As one of 32 girls under the tutelage of Fei Fei Li, Dogra now counts the renowned professor as a pivotal mentor, who inspired her with the infinite possibilities of technology in catalyzing social good.

Dogra has been off and running ever since:

  • In 2018, she was was one of 45 interns nationwide selected for the NASA SEES internship in Austin, Texas, where she developed a web application aiding and informing Texas flood response efforts.
  • Later that summer, she worked under the University of Washington to support research at the intersection of neuroscience and machine learning.
  • In 2019, she spent the school year interning at Sensoria Health, a Redmond startup building wearable technologies.
  • She is a 2018 Congressional App Challenge Winner, 2019 Mars Generation Global 24 under 24 STEM Leader, and 2020 Google Computer Science Summer Institute Scholar.
  • She led TEDxYouth@Redmond as the 2019 president, founded her school’s Technology Student Association and served as captain of the debate team.
Archika Dogra, left, at Innoverge’s 2019 Computer Science x Entrepreneurship Camp, a free week-long summer camp culminating in a Shark-Tank-style pitch for middle schoolers at the Lake Washington Institute for Technology. (Photo courtesy of Archika Dogra)

Dogra is also the founder and executive director of Innoverge, a global youth-led organization to advance STEMx education in underserved communities. The nonprofit has held more than 200 programs, camps, and events for more than 3,200 youths across 12 countries.

She started Innoverge after realizing how much of a need there was not only in the diversity of who had access to a STEM education, but diversity in the way that STEM was being taught. Her work evolved out of a perception she picked up at an early age, when she went to her first computer science camp and was one of only two girls, along with 30 boys.

“I was like, ‘OK, well, if there’s no other girls here, then that must mean that this isn’t a space where I belong,'” Dogra said.

Stanford’s Li eventually hammered home just the opposite, teaching Dogra that tech isn’t complete until everyone is at the table and everyone has a voice.

Nominate a Junior Geek

GeekWire will feature a new Junior Geek of the Month in profiles meant to capture how they are looking to make a positive impact on the world through their geeky pursuits. In addition, they’ll receive special recognition from our project partner, Northern Trust.

Do you know an exceptional Junior Geek between the ages of 12 to 20 who is going to change the world? Submit a nomination.

Nominees must be residents of the Pacific Northwest, and parental information must be included for those nominees under the age of 18. Jr. Geeks may nominate themselves but please be sure to include your parent or guardian’s contact information.

Read about our previous Junior Geek of the Month winners.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.