Jesus Barrios is a freshman at Harvard College with a strong interest in using technology for nonprofit and social-impact work.
He is the President and Founder of Scholarly Wings, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps students through educational technology. In particular, at Dove's Library, a project of Scholarly Wings, Jesus is helping students take control of their own education by providing free, high-quality AP notes. In the 2024 season, more than 40,000 students used Dove's Library to prepare for their AP exams and earn college credit. He also became an AI in Education Partner at the White House by pledging to support AI education for American youth, as outlined in the executive order on advancing artificial intelligence education.
He has conducted research in education, studying effective learning and test-taking strategies for Advanced Placement Social Science courses. He has also explored how AI can support critical thinking in students, writing a thesis on training an AI model for this purpose. His work was recognized at the Long Island Youth Summit, where he won Best Research Paper.
Jesus' work has earned recognition from New York State, The Gates Scholarship, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Horatio Alger Association, Microsoft, and others. Coming from humble beginnings and growing up without much guidance, Jesus was driven to succeed. His story of overcoming hardship and making it to Harvard was featured in Newsday.
At Harvard, Jesus plans to study Computer Science and Applied Mathematics. He is the Director of Operations for the Harvard AI Group, a Project Lead for HUMIC, a Software Engineer for Harvard T4SG, and a Discovery Analyst for HDAG.
Jesus Barrios went from a childhood filled with hardship and loss to earning a place at Harvard. He shared his journey with Newsday, explaining how computer science changed his life and how he turned hardship into a mission to support others. His story appeared on the front page and reached over 300,000 readers.