Why Should Delaware Care? 
After recognizing that not every student has the opportunity to access resources and participate in academic competitions, one Delaware student decided to create an informal, international group to help address students’ needs. Today, the sophomore has a nonprofit organization that is providing free math and biology resources to students who want to participate in those competitions. 

When Satya Kokonda was in middle school, he says he was stuck in a YouTube addiction. 

He recalls wasting time after school by aimlessly scrolling through YouTube shorts, saying it felt like he had nothing to work toward. 

That is until he discovered a passion for math. Instead of scrolling videos online, he started studying hard, and he started participating in math competitions. 

“That really pulled me out of what I would call a YouTube addiction, and pulled me towards, you know, studying math, becoming good for competitions,” he said. 

Though he began to thrive, Kokonda soon realized that not every student in every part of the world had access to the math tools that were helping him succeed. So he wanted to use his experiences to help others academically, and “perhaps pull them out of whatever they’re going through at that time,” he said. 

CompetifyHub founder and Wilmington high schooler Satya Kokonda | PHOTO COURTESY OF COMPETIFYHUB

In 2024, just before the start of his freshman year of high school at Charter School of Wilmington, Kokonda founded a Discord group that would share practice math competition problems between members. Soon, a bunch of others joined – all of whom were “really interested in reducing this educational disparity,” he said. 

Discord is an online platform that allows communities of like-minded people to chat and play games together.

Today, Kokonda’s once informal group has 1,600 participants throughout the globe. He has named it CompetifyHub, and registered it as a nonprofit organization with the IRS and with the State of Delaware. 

Now, when you go to CompetifyHub’s website, there are downloadable packets to help study at various math levels. There also are biology lecture notes. 

While Kokonda was initially doubtful that his Delaware-based venture could grow so fast, he said his experience has shown that “there’s so much you can do beyond what you originally think of.”

Providing free resources internationally

One of the first challenges Kokonda experienced after launching his Discord group was learning how to address the needs of his members from more than 60 countries. 

“I had people across the world sort of interested in joining the organization, trying to help and of course, with different time zones, that became one of the first challenges,” Kokonda said.

To meet it, CompetifyHub has international volunteers who contribute to a “general pool of resources,” Kokonda said. 

A screenshot of CompetifyHub’s website shows the various resources the organization provides.

Volunteers add new math problems to the organization’s bank, which are then used by students to prepare for future competitions. The volunteers are also given a weekly schedule with certain expectations for the number of new problems to submit per week, Kokonda said. 

Kokonda then goes through and checks over the questions, and ultimately creates CompetifyHub’s competitions. 

While the organization started with math competitions, it has since expanded to include biology lecture notes and tutoring. 

Kokonda said his organization is also aiming to include chemistry and physics in the future. 

Creating a presence in Delaware

After running his informal group on Discord for over a year, Kokonda decided he would apply for a Delaware Foundation for Science and Math Education grant in order to grow the organization. 

But, to do that, he said he had to work backwards, and start by applying to become a nonprofit organization recognized by the state and federal government. 

In July, Kokonda won a $280 grant that allowed his Delaware-based participants to access a research library where they can borrow science equipment the same way individuals can borrow a library book. 

CompetifyHub has also partnered with other organizations, and Kokonda said his peers at the Charter School of Wilmington are using its resources to prepare for their math competitions. 

Although Kokonda will be graduating high school in 2028, he believes the organization he founded will continue to help students and hopes to “bring it to the scale of other very well known international nonprofits.” 

“At the end of the day, I’m really trying to bring it out, play the long game and have this be something that’s able to help as many students as possible,” he said.

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