Madelyn Qayyum Selected as Aspire2STEAM’s 2025 LEADER Award Recipient

Recognizing Madelyn Qayyum, Houston Student Leader Driving Creativity and Empowerment for Innovative Impact

DAVENPORT, IA, UNITED STATES, December 8, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Aspire2STEAM.org, a student-run U.S. nonprofit announced that Madelyn Qayyum has been selected to receive its 2025 LEADER Award. Established in 2017 and recognized as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in 2018, Aspire2STEAM operates two programs:

1) Scholarship Spotlight: a unique scholarship program for young women who aspire to advance in STEAM fields, showcasing their innovations while connecting them with career opportunities.

2) Students4Students: a groundbreaking initiative where students learn self-sufficiency and lead the nonprofit, empowering their peers while gaining entrepreneurial skills.

“While each student we’ve been privileged to work with this year demonstrated incredible academic and civic leadership talents, one student stood out. It is for this reason that Aspire2STEAM selected Madelyn Qayyum to be its 2025 LEADER Award recipient,” said Cheryl O’Donoghue, Founder of Aspire2STEAM.

Candidates for this year’s award included all Aspire2STEAM’s 2025 scholarship recipients and members of its Students4Students team. The LEADER Award includes both recognition and a scholarship component and is awarded to the student who best demonstrates Aspire2STEAM’s values of building connections, taking purposeful initiative, and demonstrating academic integrity.

Madelyn, a high school senior, was introduced to Aspire2STEAM nearly two years ago while interning with the female-focused nonprofit Cloud Girls. She began coordinating marketing activities for Aspire2STEAM and presently serves as the team’s Lead. In addition to design and branding activities, she leads her student fellows and participates in both strategic and operational planning initiatives.

Since joining Aspire2STEAM, Madelyn has made an incredible impact on the organization. She possesses an astute and curious mind, a hunger for learning new business concepts and ideas, and the uncanny ability to quickly activate her newfound knowledge in fascinating and impactful ways.

Last spring, Madelyn was tasked with redesigning Aspire2STEAM’s brand identity from scratch. The process involved several drafts and meetings to decide on the perfect typeface, color, and other visual nuances to evoke and propel Aspire2STEAM’s female-forward objectives.

“The decision to rebrand stemmed from the need to realign the nonprofit with its vision for the future,” said O’Donoghue. “Our original bright pink was the ‘de facto’ feminine color, but we’re breaking gender stereotypes, not reinforcing them. We’re Aspire2STEAM, not Victoria’s Secret! Through research and analysis, Madelyn found the solution: curating a palette of taupe-colored rose that subtly embraces femininity and a cyan that reflects intellect and the sciences.”

Another recent Aspire2STEAM initiative that has taken off — its Students4Students program — originates from Madelyn’s insights and inventiveness. The Students4Students program offers students and recent graduates paid opportunities to gain valuable, hands-on business training and leadership experience as they operate a nonprofit business (Aspire2STEAM). Madelyn spearheaded this program, which has experienced meaningful growth since its inception, helping to attract new business sponsorships as well as seven additional student team members.

“Madelyn naturally inspires those around her,” said Logan Williams, a colleague of Madelyn’s who serves as Aspire2STEAM’s Communications Team Lead. “She introduces new ideas on the fly without fear and always does so with respect, sincerity, and excitement. Moreover, whenever there’s a meeting, she ensures that her colleagues and their ideas are likewise respected; everyone is seen and heard.”

Outside Aspire2STEAM, Madelyn is passionate about business and social justice. She advocates for positive psychology, gender empowerment, and digital wellbeing, and aspires to use her creative communication skills to inspire impact. She has led and served in several national organizations, including Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education Making Caring Common Project, the United Nations’ Girl Up USA, and the National Youth Leadership Council.

In her hometown of Katy, Texas, Madelyn continues to make an impact as the Senior Class President of Obra D. Tompkins High School. An active leader in her local community, she has served as a delegate to Katy ISD’s District Forums and is an officer in several of Tompkins’s student-led organizations. Through service, ambition, and leadership, Madelyn drives herself and those she collaborates with toward learning, growth, and success.

“I’ve never known anyone as organized as Madelyn,” half-joked Williams. “She’s got all these planners and systems so she can manage the many projects she’s working on. I’m not sure when she’s last had a moment to herself!”

“We are all better people for having known Madelyn and are excited for her next chapter as she graduates high school and enters college,” said O’Donoghue. “She is a true gem of a human – kind, driven, and forward-thinking – and we have no doubt she will continue to use her talents to bring those same attributes out into the world around her.”

About Aspire2STEAM

Aspire2STEAM is an all-American, student-run nonprofit that provides the “STEAM” (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) necessary to keep our nation prosperous. We accomplish this through two programs: 1) Scholarship Spotlight, a unique scholarship program for young girls who desire to advance STEAM fields, one which exhibits their innovations while connecting them with career opportunities, and 2) Students4Students, a groundbreaking program where students learn self-sufficiency and lead the nonprofit so students can ensure the wellbeing of other students while becoming entrepreneurially empowered.

Help fund our mission so today’s youth can become tomorrow’s trailblazers.

Cheryl O'Donoghue
Aspire2STEAM
info@Aspire2STEAM.org

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.