SAWYER ROSS

Sawyer had his thyroid removed when he was 10 and his time in the hospital inspired the idea for “MyBox,” a service to send curated gift boxes to hospitalized kids to brighten their stay. He entered his business into the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) competition, eventually placing in the top 12 of competitors nationally. During the pandemic, he and his sister created a nonprofit version, MyBox Cares, to send packages to hospitalized children for free, most of whom had limited visitors due to COVID. The siblings expanded again with MyBox@Home, which donated educational boxes to Baltimore City Public School children who were sent home due to COVID or had other absences contributing to learning loss. Sawyer learned how to apply for and obtain grants to fund his entrepreneurial endeavors and is now mentoring youth in the grant-writing process. He successfully helped a cohort of kids to launch “The Punny Teacher Project” to send themed gifts to beleaguered Baltimore City School teachers.

Sawyer is a student in the STEM magnet program at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, an Albrecht Fellow in the World Trade Center Institute Youth Diplomat Leadership program, an avid chess player and instructor, and a student of Chinese. When travel permits it, he has won a scholarship to study the language in China or Taiwan.

“[Sawyer] continually works to better his community but is also just a very nice person. Sawyer is bound to be a success with his kind heart, his strong mind, and his passion.” — Virginia Richard, nominator

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