Sanjana Makkuni is a student at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago with a strong commitment to expanding educational access. She began tutoring in fifth grade through Queen’s United Chess, where she first discovered her passion for teaching.
As she became involved in debate, she noticed that students from underserved schools weren’t held back by a lack of ability, but by a lack of access to resources and support. Motivated by this realization, she returned to National Teachers Academy—the CPS elementary school she once attended—to lead debate workshops for younger students.
In middle school, Sanjana became a key contributor to XL in MATH (xlinmath.com), a free platform designed to make math more visual and accessible for K–12 learners. Today, she continues to run debate workshops at NTA, leads math sessions through Inspired Youth Tutoring, and grows XL in MATH—all driven by her belief that every student deserves someone who shows up for them.