Meet Karissa Tang, the California student who turned a board game into a 50-state donation drive reaching over 10,000 children

Karissa Tang, a 2026 Coca-Cola Scholar from Milpitas, California, co-created the educational strategy board game Booted! with her brother, Skyden, after the pair quarantined with COVID. Through the Booted! Educational Initiative, which follows a “one game bought, one game donated” model, she has donated more than $15,000 worth of games to children in 120 schools and 70 nonprofits. According to Points of Light, which named her a Daily Point of Light honoree on 31 March 2026, the trademarked game has reached all 50 states and given more than 10,000 children access to educational play. California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber has recognised her achievement.How did Tang turn a board game into a 50-state donation driveTang later launched the Booted! Educational Initiative, which uses money from the game's Amazon sales to donate copies to schools and nonprofits. Under its "one game bought, one game donated" model, she has given away more than $15,000 worth of games to children in 120 schools and 70 nonprofits. Tang said she is also motivated by what she learned about the lack of critical-thinking education in primary schools.Tang described her early work on the project as game-testing, design, making a promotional video, running a Kickstarter campaign and launching the game on Amazon. Her current tasks include refining Google search and Amazon keyword strategy, working with board game reviewers, finding retail distributors and hosting tournaments. For the initiative, she has contacted more than 1,000 institutions over two years, mainly primary schools and nonprofits serving low-income communities, and ships boxes individually or in bulk. Points of Light reports that the trademarked game has reached all 50 states and given more than 10,000 children access to educational play. The organisation also notes that California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber recognised her.How does Karissa represent 400,000 young peopleBeyond Booted!, Points of Light says Tang serves as a Youth Task Force commissioner for Santa Clara County. She is one of 16 people representing 400,000 young people to the board of supervisors. Her research paper on the impact of AI on teenage employment predicted a 27 per cent decline in teen jobs over the next five years. The organisation says it drew attention from outlets including CNN, NPR and Forbes.For years, Tang has spent five to 10 hours a week as a church youth group leader and worship leader, writing more than 150 newsletters and leading music sets. She is also president of the National Honour Society, a basketball coach and an executive board member of the Youth Entrepreneurship Association. As a magician and Guinness World Record holder, she has performed for more than 1,000 people, including Afghan refugees and senior citizens. Points of Light adds that she has built eight mobile apps with 15,000 users and won 25 international awards as a music composer.How does Karissa Tang plan to expand Booted! across the countryTang told Points of Light her long-term goal is to keep bringing Booted! into schools and nonprofit programmes across the country. She wants to expand the initiative into a broader ecosystem with workshops, tournaments and a ranking system. She also hopes to use the platform to share her entrepreneurial background with younger students, with the aim of encouraging them to think critically and pursue entrepreneurial goals.She said the most rewarding part of the work is receiving emails from teachers, school principals and community leaders, often on an ordinary weekday afternoon, with feedback and photographs of pupils playing the game. Tang said she found starting daunting and never expected Booted! to grow as it has. She advised newcomers not to be intimidated, saying that "small and consistent effort when volunteering compounds real change." She also urged people to identify their "why", which she links to her faith and its call to love others.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.