TC: Tell us about your non profit and the things it’s helped you achieve as-well as what your proudest moments? 

Amanda : I tend to think that people solve problems that they experience, and that tech is an amazing way to do that. However, there’s a lot of systemic barriers keeping marginalized communities from getting into tech, stopping them from making solutions to the problems they see. Technology has the capacity to solve a vast amount of problems. The problem is, we’re not focusing it on the right problems. We’re making advancements in fields like quantum physics and space travel, which is amazing! But, we still have problems like homelessness, awful healthcare, higher infant morality among POC, hunger, and other stuff that we need to fix first. That’s what my non-profit does. We give innovation to people that need it the most, but get it the least. We take the latest technology, and try to apply to it to areas where people need help. Two of the things that we have coming up both use artificial intelligence to enable better detection of various things, and using that to provide higher quality results to people. The first is an app called Oculatum, which uses something called a neural network (which is the computer’s equivalent to a human brain) to detect objects in a photo. The thing that makes Oculatum so different from other apps, is the fact that it uses object detection to help schizophrenics determine whether or not what they are seeing is a visual hallucination. Over time, the more they use the app, the more information they have about what might trigger some delusions, where they occur most commonly, and other information that wouldn’t be available otherwise. The second project we have coming up is called Whizard, which is a suite of study tools that allows a user to scan their handwritten notes with their phone, and get a digital copy of their handwritten notes, a study guide, and a practice test. Essentially, it creates everything that you need to study for you. And the best part about it? We devised a plan so that everyone has access to these tools, regardless of income. The subscription model revolves around three different tiers. Apprentice, Magician, and Master. Apprentice is the free tier. Users can add up to 6 classes, with 10 study sets each, and be apart of 6 study halls, with ads. The next level is Magician, which removes ads and allows unlimited classes, study sets, and study halls. This costs $4.99 a month. The final level is Master. This level removes the ads for the user, as well as unlimited access to every tool that Whizard has to offer. They also get beta access if they choose to opt in. The thing that distinguishes Master from apprentice, is that this tier enables the One for One model. They not only pay for their subscription, but they also buy one for a low income student, a first generation college student, an immigrant, or a single parent. To enable even more people to have access, Whizard education fund was created, where 5% of all subscription incomes, as well as 5% of all donations, goes. Students can apply to be covered by the fund and have access to these free subscriptions, and can renew their status as being eligible for financial aid every year. Those with these financial aid will have unlimited access to the app, but will also be shown ads that go directly back into the fund to provide more financial aid. This allows Whizard to enable better tools to everyone, without losing any money from donating these subscriptions. Besides what’s in the future, our past apps, AnxietyHelper and Verena, are helping hundreds of people, every day. I think that my proudest moment was when I went back to Venice Beach and sat on the lifeguard tower where I first came up with the idea for AnxietyHelper, and letting myself think, “I actually did it. I made it happen. And I’m a better person than when I was here last time”. And that’s always going to be what I want to do, is I want to not only grow in my skills, but grow as a person. I want to be the person that I needed when I was younger, and I always try to put myself in positions where I am open and being honest about who I am. I try to carve the paths that I needed when I was younger,paths that activists, advocates, and others carved for me, so I can do what I want to without fear of repercussion.