Karma for Cara Foundation awards microgrants to youths 18 years of age and younger who spearhead exceptional service projects in their communities. Microgrant recipient Jessica (16) from Hacienda Heights, CA & other students from a robotics team at Wilson High School led a project called Level Up. Passionate about encouraging underrepresented communities to explore the field of STEM, the Level Up team worked with Sunset Elementary Orthopedic Handicapped School, a local elementary school committed to serving underserved youth. With 92 percent of the school considered to be socioeconomically disadvantaged, the students do not have many opportunities to be exposed to STEM. For the outreach event, Sunset students interested in STEM had the opportunity to build robots using Lego parts and put together a 3D printed claw assembly. 

Meet 17 year old microgrant recipient Ashna from Austin, TX. Her project, Learn on Your Terms, is inspired by a passion for combating educational disparity. Through her own experience in public education, she was exposed to the gap in educational quality between students from higher and lower income neighborhoods, and through her research, she knows that the disparity can affect job opportunities and future socioeconomic status of the students in low income communities. Learn On Your Terms is a series of divergent elective courses offered to elementary and middle school students through their local library branch that she hopes will empower students to engage in an educational space they are passionate about and comfortable in.