Ahmya Rivera

Ahmya Rivera is a social entrepreneur and multidisciplinary creator dedicated to using technology as a force for educational equity. Her grassroots journey began with a simple philosophy: if a tool doesn’t exist to help her community, she will use her background in design and code to build it. 
 
Ahmya has spent her youth identifying hyperlocal problems and crafting solutions. She previously developed an app to streamline maintenance requests for public schools facing infrastructure decay and created a platform connecting student entrepreneurs with local clients to foster economic agency. Passionate about educational access early on, she also authored “STEAM Quest: Story-based Activity Book,” using narrative to make complex science concepts accessible to young learners. She traveled across the US leading workshops to witness firsthand its impact of empowering young, underserved women to pursue their STEM dreams. 
 
Currently, Ahmya is tackling the “guidance gap” in higher education. She led a year-long research study to understand the barriers underserved applicants face when pursuing higher opportunity, resulting in the creation of Applixy™—an AI-augmented admissions management platform that provides free, high-quality tools to underserved students to craft competitive college and career applications. 
 
Her work has garnered recognition from the Global Student Startup Competition, the AWS Education Equity Initiative, and much more. Ahmya views herself not just as a tech founder, but as a digital community organizer. She is eager to join the Grassroots Voices cohort to amplify her mission, ensuring that every student—regardless of their zip code—has the “time and tools” to build their own future.