Ethan Hua
Founded and scaled the H.O.P.E. school-uniform recycling program to operate across 10 schools in 3 San Mateo County districts, diverting 13,500+ garments from landfills and redistributing 11,700+ uniforms to 1,400+ families (founded ~age 11–12) — per H.O.P.E. site and Barron Prize 2025 winner profile.
What they built
Founded H.O.P.E. (Help Our Planet Earth) school uniform recycling program in 2020 at approximately age 11–12, together with his younger brother. The initiative collects gently used school uniforms from families whose children have outgrown them and redistributes them for free to families in need, while diverting textiles from landfills. H.O.P.E. now operates across 10 schools in 3 San Mateo County districts, has diverted over 13,500 garments from landfills, redistributed 11,700+ uniforms to 1,400+ families, and saved those families an estimated $141,000 in clothing costs. Ethan built the entire operation from scratch — designing flyers, managing email campaigns, and converting his family's garage into a warehouse — and recently secured a Costco partnership delivering 2,000 brand-new uniform donations.
View ProjectThe F18 Thesis
Verified track record
- Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes 2025 winner profile (age 17, September 2025) (source)
- NBC Bay Area — "San Mateo teen recognized for work in reducing landfill waste" (Oct 2025) (source)
- ABC7/KGO TV San Francisco (Nov 2025) (source)
- KPIX TV/CBS San Francisco — "HOPE school uniforms San Mateo County Project Earth" (Mar 2026) (source)
- CBS Visioneers with Zay Harding (Dec 2025) (source)
- Scout Life National Magazine (March 2026) (source)