The award honors high school women who have exceptional computing-related achievements and interests, IT aptitude, taking into consideration her leadership ability, academic history, and plans for post-secondary education.

Of the more than 1,800 young women from across the nation who applied, 275 were named NCWIT National Runners-Up. Amazingly, four of the six girl National Runners-Up from Western Pennsylvania, including Naoka, compete together on the Girls of Steel FIRST robotics team. This synergy shows that when girls compute and engage in science activities together, they positively influence one another such that more girls achieve and succeed. Girls of Steel is the only all-girls team in the upper school league and is mentored by an Ellis faculty member. Ellis has more girls on the team than any other school.
 
In addition to competing with the Girls of Steel, Naoka volunteers every weekend as a mentor for STEAM Powered Girls, the Ellis Middle School First Lego League robotics team, which just placed second overall in the research category at the Sara Heinz House regional competition. Naoka also serves on the Ellis tech support student “geek squad” assisting fellow students and Ellis faculty and staff with day-to-day IT concerns. In 2009, predating Khan Academy,  Naoka created her own YouTube channel called Math4Girls, stating on the site that, "I think it is very important to get more girls interested in math and science, so why not start them early? These videos will help them get a head start in learning the basic, most important math lessons.”