Sarayu Padala doesn’t just hope things happen, she makes them happen. A self-professed “JA Kid” from Kindergarten through eighth grade, Sarayu learned at an early age how entrepreneurship, leadership and service intersect. She continues to build on that foundation by working to improve systems, not just ideas.

During the COVID pandemic in 2020, Sarayu had an eye-opening realization– the cost of eyecare, and healthcare in general, were pricing people out of the ability to access care. She was just 12 years old when she first got the idea to start a nonprofit organization geared toward making glasses more accessible, and while the journey was filled with road blocks and closed doors, she and her brother officially launched Lens for a Lens in 2022. Their efforts did not stop there. Sarayu partnered with Lions Club International and connected Sync Visual Media’s creative revenue to strengthen systems that already worked rather than duplicating or developing new ones. For Sarayu, leadership is not about dominating a room, but about making the room work better. 

Since 2022, the organization has helped direct more than $200,000 for eye care services, distributed more than 2,700 eyeglass frames, coordinated more than 8,000 volunteer hours and impacted eight countries. 

In addition to Lens for a Lens, a central part of Sarayu’s community work is through the Chief Science Officer (CSO) program, where she helped expand access to STEM education, leadership development, and real-world exposure for students across the nation. She has traveled to conferences and spoken with Fortune 500 executives, educators, and senior decision makers, advocating for stronger STEM pathways for students from Title 1 schools.  She has also taken that message to high-tech conferences across the country, including in Chicago, where she has spoken on equity in STEM education.

Whether in a high-pressure, public-facing setting or a quieter, more personal conversation, Sarayu is intentional about building trust, understanding group dynamics, and communicating in a way that moves people forward. It is that ability to identify and understand what lies beneath the surface that fuels her desire to pursue a career in quantitative finance.