Summer 2024

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

I am a singer, cello player, and a 2024 Coca-Cola scholar. I like to learn languages in my free time. I hope to focus on the intersecting fields of disability medicine and tech in college, go to medical school, and venture into neurotherapeutics for stroke patients and patients with aneurysms and neurological disabilities.

What is the mission of Magical Motors?

Magical Motors is a 501(c)(3) organization through which volunteers build assistive technology for kids with developmental and physical disabilities by adapting ride-on cars to be hand-controlled instead of controlled by a foot pedal so they can be utilized as mobility devices. We also have newsletters that aim to raise awareness about the lack of assistive technology in healthcare and that advocate for policy changes to outdated legislation that often fails at achieving what it promises in the assistive technology sphere.

Can you describe what you do as co-founder of the organization?

As the co-founder of Magical Motors, I invite local families with disabled children and build relationships with them to ensure logistics are covered so the kids get the assistive technology that they both want and need. Personally, I have begun to research the qualitative and quantitative effects that [Magical Motors’] modified cars have on children with Down syndrome, ages 6 to 8. I also advocate under the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Major Group for Children and Youth and the UNEP Major Group for Non-Governmental Organizations, which focus on accessibility to disability tech globally as well as accessibility to STEM service learning education globally. I have co-written four position papers with the U.N. which have been circulated at summits and read by heads of state.

What inspired you to take on the mission of creating assistive technologies for kids with developmental and physical disabilities?

I volunteered at a musical therapy facility in 2019 so that I could see the intersection between music and clinical care and how music can be used as a form of treatment. I walked out realizing that a lot of the kids did not have access to mobility tech that they should have access to so I talked to parents there and they all said that within Arizona there is a huge crisis regarding the inaccessibility to mobility tech, communication devices, walkers, conventional and electronic wheelchairs. That inspired me to create an initiative that could help address the crisis, Magical Motors.

What challenges have you faced as a young activist and innovator?

It's hard to find companies to partner with in order to serve the community. In order to get over this issue I realized that it was more important to contact more companies instead of companies who specifically work with the topic you are working on. The biggest collaborations Magical Motors has had have been with random companies like Union Pacific which is in the railroad industry and Boeing which is a part of the airline industry.

It is also a struggle sometimes to make sure that each kid has the type of assistive tech that they want and need. For example, a 6-year-old girl with a spinal issue that partially immobilized her arms and legs did not like her modified car until we realized that the car put too much strain on her arms, causing them to hurt and so we fixed it. Working closely with the family to get to the root of the issue and collaborating with medical students helped us fix this issue.

What would you say to other people our age who are interested in getting involved in activism?

You will only get as far as you if you truly want to do the thing you want to do. If you want to see success in [a] specific thing, you actually have to want to do it from your heart first and that's where all the drive will come. That's where you are going to find the motivation to expand, work with other people, fundraise, and do things like that. If you want to work on activism or passion projects do something that truly touches your heart.”