Meet the Team
This project was built by three middle schoolers from the Lead Think Innovation 4-H Club, under the guidance of our supervising adult, Venkata Subbaiah Meruva Thirupaiahgari.
- Hasini Meruva
- Shanmukhi Malireddy
- Kshetra Koti
How It All Started
When we first started brainstorming ideas for the Presidential AI Challenge, we genuinely had no idea what to build. We went back and forth for weeks, tossing out ideas, second-guessing them, starting over. Nothing felt right. Nothing felt meaningful enough to actually care about.
And then it hit us.
All of our parents are immigrants. We've watched them sit at kitchen tables surrounded by government forms, visas, and documents, not because they didn't care, but because the language was simply impossible to understand. Legal jargon, confusing instructions, and no clear place to turn. And it wasn't just our families. This is a problem affecting millions of immigrants, refugees, and even native-born Americans who struggle to navigate civic processes.
Once we realized that, everything clicked. The topic had been right in front of us the whole time.
What We Built
We built Civic Compass, an AI-powered app designed to make government information clear, accessible, and privacy-protected for everyone. Whether you're renewing a passport, navigating an immigration form, or just trying to understand what a government document is actually asking, Civic Compass is there to help.
Privacy was something we cared deeply about from day one. No account needed, no data stored, and everything clears the moment you close the app. We wanted people, especially vulnerable communities, to be able to use it without any hesitation or fear.
You can check it out at civiccompass.hasinimeruva.com.
Winning State
Hearing that we won at the state level was genuinely surreal. We had put so much into Civic Compass, not just the building of it, but the why behind it. The problem is real. The people it affects are real. And I think that came through to the judges.
Winning state wasn't just a win for our team. It felt like a win for every family who has ever stared at a government form and felt completely lost.
We're incredibly grateful to our supervising adult and the Lead Think Innovation 4-H Club for supporting us throughout this process. None of this would have happened without that foundation.
Next up: regionals.
We are proud to be the North Carolina Middle School Track II Winners of the Presidential AI Challenge.