For Madeline Gupta, Yale Class of 2025, being awarded the 2020 Young Citizen of the Year was a pivotal moment not only in her academic career but just one of the achievements in her work with AAACF.

Madeline Gupta told us she learned about AAACF “in the most fitting way: through other community members.” She decided to become involved with the organization after witnessing the impact AAACF has had in the community. Sensing the opportunity for a powerful partnership, she was driven not to benefit not herself, “but others in the community who had needs she wanted to help fulfill.”

She explained she’d received a several-thousand-dollar grant from AAACF for ByKids4Kids, a grassroots 501c3 nonprofit she co-founded and previously ran. The funding helped “support children’s literacy and connection across Washtenaw County, and into the entire country virtually when COVID-19 started.”

“Because of AAACF’s grant system,” Madeline said, “I was able to elevate voices of children in Ann Arbor and make sure they had the resources they needed, critically when facing a global pandemic.”

This effort had a massive impact on the lives of young people, especially those who were struggling with reading. The partnership with AAACF provided funding for Kindle e-readers, print books, shipping, school supplies and other necessities to run several successful 10-week literacy programs where Madeline oversaw 300 students across the country, many who were local to Washtenaw County.

“100% of the students increased their literacy rates and 95% of students reported being more interested in reading after our programs,” she noted. “These programs would not have been possible with the support of AAACF.”

Madeline then went on to receive the 2020 Young Citizen of the Year Award by AAACF, which included news coverage and a $3,500 scholarship. “I have used this financial support to help with my educational costs at Yale, and the media and news coverage it provided was very beneficial for my career and future life.”

Now studying Indigenous technologies at Yale, Gupta describes herself as “data scientist and programmer, passionate about analyzing important data about my own and other marginalized communities in order to represent all people in conversations about technology and innovation.”

“By computing and drawing conclusions from data about tribal and similar groups, I'm interested in interlacing Indigenous perspectives and ideas with a tech-driven world,” she said.

AAACF is so proud to be a part of Madeline’s journey and to have provided support for her incredible achievements – and those many achievements sure to come. We thank Madeline for sharing her story and helping us celebrate 60 years as the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation!