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In the Media

Nikita Tejwani is the 17-year-old San Antonio founder of Calyqen AI and Caly Cares. She builds practical AI tools and leads free career workshops with community organizations.

  • 75+workshop participants
  • ~50job applications submitted
  • 40at the largest session

Program-reported, across every workshop so far. See the results

Featured on

Recommended in writing by SA Youth and BiblioTech Public LibraryRead the 3 letters →

Interviews and coverage

Letters of recommendation

Must read

In their own words, from the two organizations Nikita has run Caly Cares workshops with. The originals are scans, with the writers’ phone numbers and email addresses covered.

  • SA Youth

    “What makes Nikita’s work meaningful is that she has taken her own skills and initiative and used them to address a practical need in our community. She developed a resource, brought it directly to young people, adjusted her approach based on their needs, and shared her knowledge so that our staff could build on her efforts.”

    Jeremy Manginell

    SOAR Manager, SA Youth · October 23, 2026

    See the original letter (PDF) from SA Youth, opens in a new tab
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    Dear Members of the Selection Committee,

    I am pleased to recommend Nikita Tejwani for scholarship and award consideration. As the Manager of SOAR! at SA Youth, I work with young people who are navigating significant barriers while trying to complete their education and build a future for themselves. I value people who recognize a need, take the initiative to address it, and follow through in ways that make a real difference.

    Nikita took the initiative to develop Calyqen, a career platform, and establish Caly Cares to help people use it effectively. At SA Youth, she has personally organized and led free workshops in which she guides our participants through identifying job opportunities, improving their résumés, and submitting applications. She does more than introduce students to a digital resource; she walks them through the process and helps them put it to practical use.

    What has impressed me most is Nikita’s ability to learn from experience and improve her approach. Across her first two workshops at SA Youth, participants reported submitting 31 job applications. After the first session, Nikita identified where students had struggled and adjusted her instruction to make the process simpler and more hands-on. In the second workshop, every participant submitted an application. On October 19, 2026, she led her largest workshop yet, personally guiding a group of 40 participants.

    I also appreciate how Nikita approaches our students. Many of the young people we serve have faced obstacles that can make planning for the future feel overwhelming. She provides patient, practical guidance while emphasizing honest résumé writing and responsible use of technology. Her approach helps students develop not only job-search skills but also the confidence and judgment to use those skills responsibly.

    Nikita has extended her contribution beyond the workshops she leads herself. During a train-the-trainer session, she taught SA Youth staff how to use her process to support participants in future sessions. She explained the steps, answered questions, and equipped our team to continue the work between her visits. As a program manager, I recognize the value of someone who considers not only what she can accomplish personally but also how she can help others sustain that work.

    What makes Nikita’s work meaningful is that she has taken her own skills and initiative and used them to address a practical need in our community. She developed a resource, brought it directly to young people, adjusted her approach based on their needs, and shared her knowledge so that our staff could build on her efforts.

    I recommend Nikita enthusiastically and without reservation. She has demonstrated initiative, adaptability, and a genuine commitment to helping others move forward. I am confident she will bring those same qualities to her college community and continue finding ways to put her education to meaningful use.

    Jeremy ManginellSOAR Manager, SA Youth

  • SA Youth

    “Many students can identify a problem. Far fewer will build a solution, bring it directly to the people who need it, listen carefully when the first attempt can be improved, and return with a stronger approach. Nikita Tejwani has demonstrated the ability and determination to do all four.”

    Adriana Martinez

    SA Youth · October 1, 2026

    See the original letter (PDF) from SA Youth, opens in a new tab
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    To the Scholarship Selection Committee:

    Many students can identify a problem. Far fewer will build a solution, bring it directly to the people who need it, listen carefully when the first attempt can be improved, and return with a stronger approach. Nikita Tejwani has demonstrated the ability and determination to do all four.

    It is my privilege to recommend Nikita for scholarship consideration through the Bexar County Scholarship Clearing House. Through my work with SA Youth, I have had the opportunity to observe Nikita lead two Caly Cares career-readiness workshops, work directly with our young people, respond thoughtfully to feedback, and develop a train-the-trainer approach intended to extend the program’s impact. She has impressed me as a compassionate, resourceful, and unusually purposeful young leader.

    Nikita developed Calyqen to make the job-search process more manageable, but she did not stop at creating a technology platform. She established Caly Cares so that young people could receive this support at no cost. Her workshops were built around a simple and practical goal: “One Job. One Resume. One Application.” Participants did not merely listen to a presentation. Nikita worked alongside them as they identified appropriate opportunities, strengthened their résumés, and completed real job applications.

    Across the two SA Youth workshops, Nikita worked with SA Youth’s SOAR program participants, and ensured that in her second workshop that 100% of the participants were able to submit for a job application. Most impressive was the way she responded after the first session. Rather than simply celebrating what had gone well, she considered where participants had encountered difficulty and adjusted her approach. She simplified the steps, provided more individualized support, and made the second workshop more focused and hands-on. That improvement reflects an important quality in Nikita: she does not treat feedback as criticism. She treats it as information that can help her serve people better. As per the report, 31 job applications have been submitted.

    Nikita’s leadership is also evident in the way she interacts with participants. She is patient, encouraging, and respectful of the fact that each young person arrives with a different level of confidence and experience. She does not speak down to anyone or attempt to do the work for them. Instead, she helps participants recognize their own abilities and take ownership of the next step. She also emphasizes honest and accurate résumés and responsible use of technology. Her goal is not to create shortcuts, but to help young people represent themselves truthfully and confidently.

    Following Nikita’s train-the-trainer session with SA Youth staff, I saw another dimension of her leadership. Rather than keeping the program dependent upon her, she worked to equip our team with a clear and repeatable process that could be used with future participants. She explained the approach patiently, responded thoughtfully to questions, and welcomed feedback. Her focus was not merely on delivering successful workshops herself, but on helping others continue the work and reach more young people. This willingness to share what she has built demonstrates maturity, humility, and a genuine commitment to sustainable community service.

    What distinguishes Nikita is that her leadership is grounded in action rather than titles. When she recognizes a barrier, she looks for a responsible way to address it. When an approach can be improved, she makes the necessary changes. When something works, she considers how it can be shared so that more people benefit. She combines initiative with empathy and ambition with a sincere desire to serve others.

    Nikita has already demonstrated the qualities scholarship committees hope to encourage: intellectual curiosity, integrity, resilience, communication skills, community involvement, and the ability to turn an idea into measurable impact. I am confident that she will bring this same character and determination to her college community and to her future career.

    I recommend Nikita Tejwani enthusiastically and without reservation. She is an exceptional young person with the vision to imagine meaningful change, the discipline to carry it forward, and the compassion to ensure that others benefit from her success. I believe an investment in Nikita’s education will multiply through the many people and communities she will continue to serve.

    Adriana MartinezSA Youth

  • BiblioTech Public Library

    “Nikita is not building technology simply for the sake of building it. She is using her skills to address real needs in her community and is willing to put in the time required to make that work meaningful.”

    Romeo Rosales Jr., MLS

    Assistant Director, BiblioTech Public Library · September 23, 2026

    See the original letter (PDF) from BiblioTech Public Library, opens in a new tab
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    Dear Members of the Scholarship Selection Committee:

    It is my pleasure to recommend Nikita Tejwani for scholarship consideration. I serve as Assistant Director of BiblioTech Public Library, and I have worked with Nikita as she brought Calyqen, the career platform she created, and its free community initiative, Caly Cares, to BiblioTech patrons.

    What has impressed me most about Nikita is not simply that she created a technology platform while still in high school. It is the way she takes responsibility for making that technology genuinely useful to the people she hopes to serve.

    From the beginning, Nikita approached our collaboration with unusual preparation and maturity. She demonstrated Calyqen to our team, listened carefully to our questions, and developed a plan for helping patrons through multiple stages of the job-search process. She also proposed training BiblioTech staff so that support could continue beyond her own workshops. Her focus was not on holding a single event, but on creating something that could have lasting value.

    Before the workshop, Nikita visited BiblioTech herself to test the shared-computer environment and identify barriers patrons might encounter. She thought through issues such as account access, document storage, shared computers, and how people with different levels of technology experience could participate successfully. That preparation reflected both attention to detail and genuine empathy for the user.

    I was especially impressed by how she responded when our team raised questions about privacy and data handling. Rather than becoming defensive, Nikita treated our concerns as an opportunity to improve. She reviewed the platform and its policies, clarified Calyqen’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, strengthened safeguards for shared computers, and created a visual privacy guide that made complicated information easier for patrons to understand.

    That experience showed me a great deal about her character. Nikita listens carefully, accepts feedback, follows through, and is willing to change her work when she sees a better way to serve others. She combines initiative and technical ability with humility, accountability, and a strong sense of responsibility.

    At her first BiblioTech workshop, three patrons attended, and each left having made concrete progress toward employment. Two built résumés from scratch, while the third reformatted an existing résumé; all three then submitted applications for jobs they had identified. Our staff observed Nikita guide the group for the full hour, provide individual assistance, and keep each participant moving forward. What stood out was her response to the small group: she did not measure success by turnout, but by whether each person left with meaningful progress, and she immediately expressed a desire to continue the workshops and reach more patrons.

    Nikita is not building technology simply for the sake of building it. She is using her skills to address real needs in her community and is willing to put in the time required to make that work meaningful.

    Based on my experience working with Nikita, I recommend her without hesitation. She has demonstrated leadership, integrity, initiative, responsiveness, and a sincere commitment to serving others. I believe she will continue using her education and abilities to solve meaningful problems and create opportunities for the people around her.

    Romeo Rosales Jr., MLSAssistant Director, BiblioTech Public Library

Workshops, training & presentations

Every Caly Cares workshop, training and presentation, newest first: who it was with, when and where, and what came of it. A workshop or meeting is under Coming up until the day after it is held, and then it moves here.

In all: 75+ participants and ~50 job applications submitted, program-reported. See the results

Workshops & training · 5

  • SA Youth

    WorkshopOctober 19, 202611:00 AM–12:00 PM

    • 40 participants, the largest session so far.

  • SA Youth

    Train the TeachersSeptember 30, 202610:30 AM–12:00 PM

    Calyqen and Meriqen with SOAR staff.

    • SA Youth staff trained to continue the workshops with their own team.

  • BiblioTech Public Library

    First workshopSeptember 23, 20265:00–6:00 PM

    BiblioTech Public Library, 626 N Flores St, San Antonio

    • All three patrons applied; two built resumes from scratch.

  • SA Youth

    SOAR workshop, secondSeptember 2, 202611:00 AM–12:00 PM

    • All 20 participants submitted a job application.

  • SA Youth

    SOAR workshop, firstAugust 6, 202611:00 AM–12:00 PM

    • With the second workshop: 49 participants and 31 submitted applications.

Presentations · 14

  • Each One Teach One (EOTO)

    Calyqen and Caly Cares introductionOctober 27, 20264:00–4:30 PM

  • Geekdom

    MeetingOctober 20, 20264:15–4:45 PM

    Virtual

  • UTSA Small Business Team

    AdvisingOctober 19, 20264:00–5:00 PM

    Virtual

  • Edgewood ISD

    MeetingSeptember 20, 20262:00 PM

    Virtual

  • Volunteers of America Texas

    PresentationSeptember 16, 20264:00–5:00 PM

    Virtual

  • Workforce Solutions Alamo

    DemoSeptember 9, 202610:00–10:30 AM

    Virtual

  • BiblioTech Public Library

    PresentationSeptember 4, 20264:00–4:30 PM

    Virtual

  • Mayor’s Office Constituent Services Team

    MeetingSeptember 4, 20269:00–9:30 AM

    Virtual

  • Volunteers of America Texas

    PresentationAugust 24, 20264:00 PM

    Virtual

  • UP Partnership

    PresentationAugust 21, 20263:45–4:15 PM

    Hybrid

  • Bexar County Sheriff’s Office

    PresentationAugust 17, 20264:00 PM

    In person

  • Girls Inc.

    PresentationAugust 7, 202610:00–11:00 AM

    In person

  • Greater SATX

    Free Caly Cares Workshop for SA Worx StudentsAugust 6, 20262:00–3:00 PM

    Virtual

  • SA Youth

    PresentationAugust 4, 20261:30–2:00 PM

    Virtual

Coming up

  • Scheduled recording: October 30, 2026

    I Am Refocused Radio

    11:30 AM

    Interview about Calyqen and its community mission.

  • Inspire Academies

    Meeting: October 28, 2026. A Calyqen and Caly Cares introduction with Inspire Academies, 4:00 to 4:30 PM.

  • George Gervin Academy

    Meeting: November 2, 2026. A Calyqen and Caly Cares introduction with George Gervin Academy, 4:00 to 4:30 PM.

  • BiblioTech West

    Flyer and details

    Workshop: November 3, 2026. A free career workshop at BiblioTech West, 2003 S Zarzamora St, San Antonio, 5:00–6:00 PM. Bring one resume (Word version preferred) and one real job posting.

  • San Antonio College

    Meeting: November 4, 2026. A meeting at San Antonio College, 2:00 to 2:30 PM.

  • Healy-Murphy Center

    Meeting: November 9, 2026. A virtual Calyqen demonstration and discussion with Healy-Murphy Center, 4:00 to 4:30 PM.

  • BiblioTech West

    Flyer and details

    Workshop: November 10, 2026. A free career workshop at BiblioTech West, 2003 S Zarzamora St, San Antonio, 5:00–6:00 PM. Bring one resume (Word version preferred) and one real job posting.

  • UP Leaders of Tomorrow

    Meeting: November 14, 2026. The UP Leaders of Tomorrow in-person meeting, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, at Project Cowork Castle Hills.

  • SA Youth

    Workshop: November 18, 2026. Back at SA Youth for the Calyqen “1 Job, 1 Resume, 1 Application” workshop, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

  • SA Youth

    Workshop: February 16, 2027. A Caly Cares and Calyqen workforce-readiness workshop at SA Youth, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Photos and videos

Media kit

The Calyqen media kit

Everything a journalist or producer needs, on one page that stays current: a short bio, community results, coverage, interview topics, press photos and what is coming up.

Open the media kitDownload press assetsZIP · 0.5 MB

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