We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Claire Wang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Claire thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I came up with the idea of Future Female Scholars with my friend Vivian Liu in July 2024, the summer before sophomore year. We were both really pleased with our results on the AP exams, particularly in STEM courses such as AP Computer Science A. However, we realized that not everyone experienced success, and many of our friends—girls in particular—lacked resources to learn these subjects and did not have access to a free tutor or mentor to clarify specific concepts. We felt it was unfair that students who were just as capable were falling behind simply because of a lack of support. That realization really pushed us to take action and do something about it.

At first, we would just make Instagram posts on our social media (@future.female.scholars) and highlight different opportunities for high school students and underserved girls. We spent hours researching internships, scholarships, STEM programs, and other educational resources to share. We were satisfied with the growth, but we wanted to make a real-world and tangible impact; that’s why I decided to build a website for us. We knew that social media could only go so far and that we needed a centralized platform where everything could come together in one place.

I was quite new to programming languages such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Java, but coding this platform for our nonprofit forced me to learn and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I spent many nights debugging small errors and watching online tutorials just to get basic features working. It also allowed me to do well in statewide business competitions, as I won both 1st place in 2024 and 3rd place in February this year. I’m invited this summer to the National Leadership Conference for FBLA for website coding and development.

Today, our website includes a feature: a forum of tutors internationally who offer free services to all students. People who feel proficient in STEM subjects (e.g., calculus, chemistry) can simply add a post that includes the topics they teach, their contact information, and their home country. This has helped students from different time zones find tutors who are able to help them at convenient hours, expanding our impact even further.

Overall, it’s been a great experience to help others all around the world with my knowledge of computer science and my co-founder’s extensive marketing expertise. We’ve connected with students from countries we never imagined reaching, and we continue to grow every week. Being able to make a difference, even in a small way, has been one of the most fulfilling parts of this journey.

Claire, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m currently a sophomore at James E. Taylor High School in Katy, Texas, with a passion for STEM, healthcare, music, and community service. I’m also an incoming student at the Texas Academy of Math and Science in the coming fall, and I’m looking forward to meeting like-minded peers, STEM opportunities, and participating in labs and research.

I actually started getting involved with nonprofits through Music of Harmony. I’ve been a team leader since 2023 and have helped fundraise benefit concerts and host performances at senior living centers and Alzheimer’s care facilities. I actually helped raise over $6,800 for Palestine last year. I was able to contribute significantly because of my love for serving others and my experience playing violin and piano. Outside of being part of my school’s varsity orchestra, I’ve been invited to play at Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Berlin Philharmonie for my performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

Later, I decided I also wanted to pursue a project related to STEM in addition to music. This led to the creation of Future Female Scholars, a nonprofit and education website that offers free tutoring in STEM subjects and publishes exclusive opportunities for high schoolers, for the purpose of helping girls succeed in STEM.

I think what sets us apart is the fact that anyone across the world who feels they are proficient in a certain STEM subject can instantly sign up and contribute to our impact by helping underserved girls learn these concepts and materials. Our services are completely free, and we also highlight many unique opportunities in STEM, such as internships, scholarships, and volunteering, that all high schoolers can apply for to boost their résumés and help prepare for college.

Outside of nonprofits, I love volunteering at Memorial Hermann hospital. I’ve been a volunteer in the summer and during the school year, and I especially enjoy getting to interact with patients from all backgrounds and understanding their riveting life stories and circumstances. I also enjoy shadowing Dr. Caitlin Wehrle at Welch Dental Group, as I can see firsthand how dental procedures function and the need for accuracy and precision in such a high-stakes environment.

The phrase I live by is to “just do it.” I strive to embrace every opportunity that I encounter and utilize it to empower others and make meaningful change.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I believe that making short-form content such as reels and posting consistently are the biggest factors that allowed us to grow followers and students. My business partner, Vivian Liu, had lots of experience creating video-style social media content, especially since she is very confident in front of the camera and talking to large groups of people, like doing TEDx talks.

Ever since she started posting promotional short-form videos, we’ve started an unpaid internship social media video intern program where everyone across the world can apply to be a digital creator for us. I think this was a great endeavor because when we only had one video creator, our reach was gradually decreasing as ideas and creativity were also running out. But with a large team of video creators, we get to post a variety of videos that are each unique in their own right.

Moreover, since both Vivian and I are high school students, our posts are very relatable and useful. For instance, earlier this month, we primarily focused on posting about AP exam resources and practice questions since we knew students just like us were stressing over these tests and the opportunity to earn college credit.

So, the amalgamation of short-form video content and a relatable brand voice played a key role in expanding our clientele and presence on social media.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Vivian and I actually met when we were about 3 years old. We were part of a small community of preschoolers where we’d go to each other’s houses and learn Chinese together. Our parents took turns teaching, and we’d spend weekends reading picture books, practicing writing characters, and playing educational games. But it wasn’t until elementary school that we truly began hanging out and bonding over our shared love for math and science.

We both had a natural curiosity for how things worked and were always the first to volunteer during science experiments or problem-solving activities. We actually skipped two grades of math and frequently discussed the latest technological advancements and scientific discoveries in our free time. Whether it was talking about space exploration, newly invented medical devices, or breakthroughs in AI, we always found ourselves fascinated by the possibilities of innovation.

As we grew older, that bond only deepened. We worked on school projects together, entered STEM competitions as a team, and constantly encouraged each other to pursue our passions. Looking back, I think that early connection—rooted in both cultural learning and intellectual curiosity—formed the foundation for our strong partnership today in running Future Female Scholars.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://futurefemalescholars.com
• Instagram: @future.female.scholars @clairelwang
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-wang-9bb54235a