Mark Leschinsky is a 16-year-old award-winning student filmmaker at the Bergen County Academies high school in Hackensack, NJ — a magnet public school in NJ.

Mark is also the founder of The Lighthouse Initiative — the first student-led nonprofit organization dedicated to democratizing filmmaking for teens globally. Through this initiative, Mark is on a mission to inspire and empower other young students to express themselves through filmmaking and experience the joy and power of being heard.