In December, the Orange County Register published its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in Orange County. 

Members of the Sage Hill community might recognize two names on that list: current student Nadia Ansari ‘22 and alumnus Jackie Ni ‘20.

“I’m so proud to see both a current student and Sage Hill graduate on this list of influencers for 2020,” said Head of School Patricia Merz. “Nadia and Jackie have found incredible ways to make a difference outside of the classroom and their School community. These are just two outstanding examples of the kind of creativity, character and compassion that we strive to instill in all of our students.” 

Read more about why Nadia and Jackie made this influential list:

Nadia Ansari
Nadia Ansari, a junior at Sage Hill High School, earned a $5,000 grant from the Dragon Kim Foundation to produce a documentary about chronic pain for children. Nadia herself suffers from chronic pain, and has endured intense physical and emotional stress since being diagnosed in middle school. She has also already won an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Indie Short Fest, a Los Angeles international film festival.

Jackie Ni
With help from three fellow Class of 2020 graduates -- Ryan He, Tyler Chen and Steven Zhou -- Jackie Ni built SupplyCrate.org, an online nexus for procuring and distributing PPE. SupplyCrate.org resulted in getting more than 375,000 pieces of PPE — mostly gloves and KN95-grade masks — that went to hospitals, hospices, senior living centers, government entities, and Native American tribes.
 
Read more: Most Influential: Meet Orange County’s 100 top influencers for 2020