Diana Hrisovescu and Shay McDonnell Will Use the $100,000 O’Shaughnessy Fellowship Grant to Develop Script, Which Enables Individuals to Access Government Support Digitally, on a User-Friendly Platform and in Their Native Language
GREENWICH, Conn., May 12, 2023 — O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (“OSV”), an investment firm that empowers creators, has announced that it has awarded an O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to Diana Hrisovescu and Shay McDonnell.
Hrisovescu and McDonnell will use their $100,000 fellowship grant to develop Script. Script aims to enable a greater number of individuals to access social welfare resources and entitlements. It will help immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and minority groups access government support digitally, on a user-friendly platform, and in their native language.
OSV’s founder and CEO, Jim O’Shaughnessy, commented as follows:
“Diana and Shay are both impressive individuals who have achieved a huge amount at a young age. We’re excited to support them in their mission to address language disparities and enhance digital accessibility to social welfare resources. The potential social benefits have already been demonstrated by Script’s fantastic work helping Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland.”
Hrisovescu said, “We are excited to use the $100,000 fellowship grant to advance language equality and enhance digital accessibility for social welfare resources as fast as possible!”
Script was founded as a SciFest project in January 2020. Hrisovescu was 16 years old at the time. It was subsequently accepted into several accelerator programs. During one such program, Script supported Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland. It was later selected as a “30 under 30” Irish business in the Irish Independent’s December 2022 issue.
More information about Script is available on its website.
About Hrisovescu and McDonnell
Hrisovescu moved to Ireland from Romania aged 14. She learned English in only three months to help her brother access medical support.
Hrisovescu taught herself web development by building websites from the ground up and has taught children aged 7-18 how to code via the CoderDojo community. She is also a member of Teen-Turn, an organization aiming to provide teen girls with hands-on STEM experience.
Hrisovescu now attends Trinity College Dublin (“TCD”), where she studies Computer Science with Business.
McDonnell also attends TCD, studying Computer Science with Linguistics. He began programming aged 13 and, by leveraging online resources, gained experience developing various Android mobile apps, games, and websites. He joined Script as co-founder and lead technical engineer in April 2022.
About the Fellowship Program
OSV launched the Fellowship Program in 2023. It is a one-year program for ambitious people who want to build something great. Fellows receive a $100,000 grant and access to OSV’s network of founders, investors, and experts to support them in bringing their projects to life.
OSV has awarded seven Fellowships previously and will award twelve in total. Applications for the Fellowships remain open through May 2023. Creators interested in applying can do so via OSV’s website.
About O’Shaughnessy Ventures
OSV is a creative investment firm that empowers and inspires creators to bring their ideas to life. Founded by Jim O’Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of four books on investing, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing creative ideas.
OSV combines Jim’s deeply rooted interest in all things art, science, investing, and tech with his long-held desire to establish scenarios designed to help promising creators and their inspiring ideas succeed, regardless of age, location, job history, or level of education. For more information, visit https://www.osv.llc/.
Media Contact:
Ena Gong
O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC
(917) 355-7420
[email protected]
SOURCE O’Shaughnessy Ventures, LLC
