Ishaan Patel: Indian-American’s nonprofit aids unprivileged kids in India & US
Compiled by: Team GI Youth
(November 26, 2023) Only two percent of humanitarian aid goes towards education – this was something that Connecticut-based Ishaan Patel found out at the age of 11 after having learnt about her aunt’s volunteering to teach impoverished children in Jaipur, India. Getting to know about schools where children were eager to learn but lacked the essential tools, they needed to do their work left Ishaan shocked. “She showed me pictures and told me stories about underfunded schools. The students attended class with no desks, no pencils, and no books. I was amazed and thought about all of the things available in my school. At the private school I attend (Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Connecticut), lessons are taught on smart boards, and assignments are completed on laptops. When I saw the pictures from India, I wanted to help,” the Indian American wrote in Childhood Explorer. This passion for helping children led to the birth of Planting Pencils, a charity that raises money and collects school supplies for underserved and underfunded schools in the US, India, and Africa.
Ishaan Patel launched Planting Pencils
Growing up in Connecticut, his doctor parents who emigrated from India in their childhood told Ishaan of the hardships they faced in India as children, and always encouraged him to help others. And he found the first window of opportunity, he couldn’t help but take a leap of faith. Coming from a privileged background, he understood its meaning and knew that he needed to make an impact. “We are the next generation and I see it as the job of privileged students to help those who are not privileged,” he added.
After hearing the stories of children in impoverished schools in India from his aunt, the Global Indian was keen to help. But how was still a big question for him, as he thought he was too young to make a difference? However, a summer in 2015 spent at a leadership conference at Stanford University and a financial camp on Wall Street turned the tide for him and made him understand that he had the power to make a difference despite being young. That’s when he began researching and was surprised to find out that more than 700 million adults in the world are illiterate and do not have the skills or awareness to improve the living conditions for themselves or their families.
Ishaan Patel with his mom who helped him with the launch of Planting Pencils
The startling facts nudged the Indian American enough to start Planting Pencils in 2015. He began by designing a website, and creating a permanent collection site at a Staples store in West Hartford to ensure steady donations of pencils, pens, crayons, rulers, used calculators, and computers. His mom helped him to raise funds by setting up donation boxes in different locations and through fundraising events. “ReBoot Computers in my home town agreed to collect and refurbish donated old computers so we can give them to students who cannot afford to buy their new ones. In honor of Read Across America Day on March 2nd, we delivered the charity’s first donations to two non-profit schools in Hartford, Connecticut,” said the Indian American.
In just a year, Ishaan’s work was recognised by the Milan Cultural Organisation in Hartford, and later, the Syracuse University Graduate Student organisation chose Planting Pencils as the beneficiary for its annual weekend fundraising MBA Olympic games. In a few years, Planting Pencils have helped underprivileged children across the US, India, and Africa by providing them with supplies.
Ishaan Patel
Ishaan, who is currently an undergraduate student researcher at Baylor University, plans to build a school in India sometime where he will provide food and water. “I believe that if students are healthy and comfortable, they will benefit even more from the internet access and computers I plan to provide for them. If we provide food and water in the schools, students wouldn’t have to worry about those needs during school or back home. If people are educated, they’ll be able to be self-sufficient,” he added. The Indian American believes that the Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” illustrates that education is a priceless commodity, and gives one the power to change one’s destiny. “I believe that we can make a difference – one pencil, one book, one child at a time.”
(August 3, 2024) The girl from Jhajjar district in Haryana was always bent towards sports - martial arts, boxing, or skating - but it was her tryst with shooting that changed her life. Two months into exploring the sport at her school, she requested her father for a pistol. A chief engineer in the Merchant Navy, he wondered if spending ₹1.5 lakh investment would be worthwhile. On Sunday, she proved that choosing shooting was indeed the right decision as Manu Bhaker became the first Indian to win multiple shooting medals at the Paris Olympics 2024. She got India off the mark at the Paris Olympics by securing a historic bronze medal in the women's 10m air pistol event, followed by another historic win in the 10m pistol mixed event with Sarabjot Singh. After years of hard work, blood, and sweat, the 22-year-old got to bite an Olympic medal, becoming the first Indian woman to earn a shooting medal at the Summer Games. Expressing her elation, the Global Indian wrote on X, "Extremely humbled by the support and wishes that have been pouring in. This is something that I've always dreamt of. Proud to perform at the biggest stage for my
n pouring in. This is something that I've always dreamt of. Proud to perform at the biggest stage for my country."
Extremely humbled by the support and wishes that have been pouring in. This is something that I've always dreamt of. Proud to perform at the biggest stage for my country 🇮🇳 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8U6sHOLulR
Ever since she burst on the scene with the gold in the 10m air pistol at the 2018 Youth Olympics, all eyes have been on the young athlete. But despite the countless medals, the ultimate prize remained out of reach, especially after the heartbreaking defeat in her first Olympics in Tokyo. But she returned to the Paris Olympics with a will to fight and win, and she did.
Love for sports
A native of Goriya village in Jhajjar district, Manu always excelled in sports like Huyen langlon, a Manipuri martial art, as well as boxing, tennis, and skating and won many medals. It was in 2016 that she was introduced to shooting at Universal Senior Secondary School - the only place to have a shooting range in her district. 25 km from her home, she would practice for five hours every day. Within a few months, she asked her dad to buy her a pistol as wanted to take up competitive shooting. A year later, she achieved her first international success by winning the silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. The same year, she won nine gold medals at the National Games.
[caption id="attachment_38676" align="aligncenter" width="624"] Manu Bhaker[/caption]
Going global
2018 brought with it more opportunities and more medals on the international stage. She won two gold medals at the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup held in Mexico, followed by a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018. Talking about her success, she said, "It just happens. I don’t think about them. At times I don’t even know what the records are," adding, "I am grateful to all my coaches or their advice and the hours they have put in to hone my technique."
The wins and great performances earned her a spot at the Tokyo Olympics. Still, she returned home empty-handed and teary-eyed from her maiden Olympics, falling short of expectations. The Tokyo heartbreak led to a public fallout with her coach Jaspal Rana. She soon retrieved her shell and lost the spark that she had for shooting. Instead, she started finding the sport boring which for her had become more "like a 9 to 5 job." "That was the time I felt 'okay, I am still in the team, I am doing okay, but it's not giving me any kind of joy and any kind of happiness'. I felt like that was the time I should give it a break and probably focus on my studies, go to a college, and study abroad for a while. I was really thinking about it," she said in an interview.
Reuniting with coach Jaspal Rana
However, Manu did not give up. She picked up the phone and called her former coach Jaspal Rana to bury the hatchet. Keeping their egos aside, the two reunited and Manu started practising under her coach once again. Whether she was training in Luxembourg or Dehradun, Rana set specific targets for Manu even during routine sessions. If Manu failed to achieve the score set by Rana, she would incur fines, which were then donated to help those in need around the world. "His working method is very different from the rest of the people. Usually, he sets a goal and if you score that much, then it's okay," she said, adding, "And if you don't score that much, then the points that were less in that score, let us say we decided to score 582 and I scored 578. So those four points will amount to 40 Euros and sometimes 400 Euros depending on the situation and country. You have to donate that much."
[caption id="attachment_38678" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Manu Bhaker[/caption]
Along with intense training methods, she began reading the Bhagavad Gita for mental fortitude. "I have become religious after Tokyo but not in an extreme way (laughs). I believe that there is an energy that guides us and protects us. And there is an aura around us that feeds on that energy. I think there should be some faith in God who has created us," she said.
In 2024, she returned to the international stage with vigour and determination, and it paid off as she clinched two the bronze medals and become an unmissable part of India's Olympic history.
(January 4, 2022) In early 2020, Indian girl mountaineer Kaamya Karthikeyan travelled halfway around the world to reach Mendonza in Argentina -- the base town for Mount Aconcagua. Accompanied by her father, an Indian Navy officer, the mountaineer was to obtain a special permit from the Aconcagua National Park to scale the highest mountain peak of the Andes mountains. Yet, within hours of her arrival, she was confronted by a mountain of challenges, not just the permit. As a minor, the authorities wanted a resolution from the court. "Will a 12-year-old be able to climb this mountain peak?” the court enquired, ordering a series of medical tests. Stranded for 14 days, experiencing red-tapism on foreign soil, finally luck favoured Kaamya. The judge went on leave, was replaced, and he fortuitously was a mountaineer himself! He swiftly went through Kaamya's credentials and granted her a permit. Challenges overcome, Kaamya made India proud by becoming the youngest in the world to summit Mt Aconcagua. [caption id="attachment_9220" align="aligncenter" width="470"] Kaamya Karthikeyan at the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro[/caption] The 14-year-old Indian mountaineer “Whenever I felt tired, I did not look at how much more was left. I looked back at how much I had climbed and put one step in
470" height="627" /> Kaamya Karthikeyan at the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro[/caption]
The 14-year-old Indian mountaineer
“Whenever I felt tired, I did not look at how much more was left. I looked back at how much I had climbed and put one step in front of the other. I was right in front of the pack, happily chatting with the guides ,” smiles Kaamya Karthikeyan in an exclusive chat with Global Indian.
Born in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) in August 2007, Kaamya was barely three when she started accompanying her parents on trails in Lonavala, where her father Navy commander S Karthikeyan was posted. By seven, she was trekking the Himalayas. Her first expedition above 6,000 meters to Mount Stok Kangri in August 2017 made her the youngest girl in the world to have scaled a peak at those dizzy heights. “Scaling this peak three days short of my 10th birthday was special. I had been to the base in 2012 when my dad was climbing it, and had wondered when I would climb it too. There I was, after five years,” says Kaamya, now 14, and a class nine student at Navy Children’s School in Mumbai.
[caption id="attachment_9222" align="aligncenter" width="596"] Kaamya Karthekiyan with her parents at Mt Stok Kangri[/caption]
Her father had completed his mountaineering courses and was training in and around Lonavala. Both Kaamya and her mother would accompany him on easy trails, and that is where her love for the wild was cemented. Once her Navy father started leading expeditions, his daughter wondered why mountains attracted her father so much to leave the family for days on end. She asked her mother, and “she told me to find out first-hand. So I did my first Himalayan trek in Uttarakhand,” says Kaamya, whose mother Lavanya Karthikeyan heads a Kindergarten school.
She explored beautiful treks across Chandrashila, Kedarkantha, Roopkund, Brighu Lake, Har-ki-dun and Sar Pass. In May 2017, she trekked to the Everest base camp. After climbing Stok Kangri, the Indian girl mountaineer asked her father what next. He questioned whether she even realises that she had climbed a peak higher than the highest peaks in five of the seven continents!
Mission SAHAS
“That is when we got the idea of Mission SAHAS,” informs the teen. Under the umbrella of Mission SAHAS, Kaamya climbed the highest peaks of Africa (Mt Kilimanjaro), Europe (Mt Elbrus - where she set the world record for being the world’s youngest to ski descent from the peak), Australia (Mt Kosciuszko) and South America (Mt Aconcagua). “I also climbed Mt Mentok Kangri in Leh in 2019, summitting my second 6,000 metres plus peak as a practice climb prior to climbing Aconcagua,” informs Kaamya, who is an avid runner, cyclist, skier and scuba diver.
Conquering Aconcagua has brought laurels her way - The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for her remarkable feat, and she was the first to virtually interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2020. “I was elated. The PM advised me to treat this award as a stepping stone for future accomplishments and not as an achievement by itself,” says the girl whose newfound interest is debating, and has tried to get into the national debating squad, and is also the first runner-up at Mindwars -- a debating TV championship.
Training hard, and long
Training for such expeditions is tough. Kaamya would run over 10 km or cycle for 20-25 km four days a week. On other days, she would do indoor exercises or climb stairs at her 21-storeyed apartment complex in Mumbai (helped train her muscles). And on weekends, a trek on the Sahyadri mountains helped with balance training.
Gulmarg has been her winter training ground for the past six years. “In early 2021, I had the opportunity to train with the Army’s High Altitude Warfare School where I practiced techniques like walking with trekking shoes, skis and sledge pulling,” informs the hardworking girl who has also participated in the junior national skiing and snowboarding championship in Gulmarg.
In the tough terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, she also did a basic mountaineering course from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports.
The future is bright, and peaking
Kaamya’s schedule is packed in 2022-2023. “I hope to climb Mt Denali (the highest peak in North America), Mt Vinson Massif (highest in Antarctica) and ski to the South Pole. That would leave Mount Everest and a ski traverse to the North Pole for me to complete my mission and become the youngest in the world to have completed the Explorer’s Grandslam at just 15,” she pipes.
Before her expedition to Mt Elbrus, she had the opportunity to meet legendary naval mountaineer Captain MS Kohli, the leader of the first successful Indian expedition to Everest in 1965. “He told me whenever I felt tired on a mountain, I should always look back instead of looking ahead -- advice that has greatly helped me,” says Kaamya who is also learning Bharatnatyan, and is a grade 2 and grade 5 pass piano player (Trinity College of Music).
The will to succeed
“I enjoy the journey, not just the destination. I love being in nature’s lap and pushing myself. I like the competition within - it keeps me going,” says the girl whose mother was her trekking-partner early on, and now with climbs getting tougher, treks with her father. She thanks her school for being supportive too.
Mountain climbing has its own perils, and Kaamya recalls an avalanche hit her group during her recent expedition on Mt Trishul in October 2021. “Sadly, we lost a few close friends but thankfully we returned safe. It has made me more respectful of the mountains, and more determined. Mission SAHAS is my way of paying tribute to the lost souls,” she says.
[caption id="attachment_9226" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] Kaamya Karthikeyan training in Gulmarg[/caption]
Not sure how she finds time for normal girly activities amidst peak hunting, she loves reading adventure/crime thrillers, the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton, and Agathe Christie. Her idea of a birthday celebration is to take her friends for a hike! “The path to the summit is not easy. But if I can do it, so can you,” smiles the mountaineer who always carries a small idol of Lord Krishna, and always bring down something special from each expedition as a souvenir.
(September 18, 2024) A few years ago, when Mannat Kaur witnessed her home tap run dry, she began exploring solutions for the widespread use of greywater (domestic wastewater) to address the water crisis. Little did she imagine that her curiosity and efforts to develop a water-conservation project would eventually lead her to being felicitated by the Princess of Sweden, and attend the Royal Banquet hosted by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf. The 16-year-old, class 12 student spent an unforgettable week in Stockholm this August when she travelled to represent India at the 2024 International Stockholm Junior Water Prize, held as part of World Water Week. Winning the national championship at IIT Madras, which led to these remarkable experiences, had already been a golden opportunity in itself. [caption id="attachment_39296" align="aligncenter" width="482"] Mannat Kaur at the royal banquet[/caption] Accompanied by her father and the national organizer, Prof. Indumathi M. Nambi from the Department of Environmental Engineering and School of Sustainability at IIT Madras, Mannat joined participants from 30 countries for the prestigious event. Although the United Kingdom took home the international prize, the experience has filled Mannat, the Head Girl of DPS RK Puram, with immense confidence and unforgettable memories. 'Every moment
ng and School of Sustainability at IIT Madras, Mannat joined participants from 30 countries for the prestigious event.
Although the United Kingdom took home the international prize, the experience has filled Mannat, the Head Girl of DPS RK Puram, with immense confidence and unforgettable memories. 'Every moment was unforgettable,' she tells Global Indian.
The joy of being a national champion
IIT Madras served as the national organizer for World Water Prize. Mannat competed against 350 applicants from 23 states at the national level and emerged as the winner, earning the opportunity to represent her country. “The top 12 shortlisted teams were invited to present their projects in person at the IIT Madras campus, where my project was selected,” Mannat shares.
[caption id="attachment_39298" align="aligncenter" width="395"] Mannat Kaur with IIT-M Prof. Indumathi M. Nambi in Stockholm[/caption]
Calling her victory at the national championship a significant personal achievement, Mannat who had dedicated the past four years to this project said, “Receiving recognition at the national level in a competition focused on the water domain is truly rewarding. This recognition has also strengthened my determination to continue contributing to solutions that can have a positive impact on both my country and the world.”
Earlier this year, the youngster had participated in the Genius Olympiad, organised by the US based Rochester Institute of Technology and held at the RIT campus in India where the same project earned her an honourable mention.
The award-winning water project
Mannat’s project is an applied research project which focuses on the development of an indigenous, sustainable, cost effective, decentralized greywater treatment unit which collects, treats, and reuses greywater generated in a household at the source.
“This product driven intervention has two units: Scupper Valve and Bilge Vessel which help households save and fight the water crisis without any major modifications in the current home plumbing system and takes up very little space in the bathroom,” explains Mannat adding, “The preliminary prototype testing demonstrates its effectiveness in collecting and treating greywater to an improved level. The solution also has an image processing component which is able to distinguish effectively between the pre-rinse and post-rinse water from the heavily soapy flows, enabling selective collection of greywaters.
[caption id="attachment_39300" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Mannat Kaur with IIT-M Prof. Indumathi M. Nambi in Stockholm[/caption]
Mannat estimates that a single-family can save around 5,000-6,000 litres of precious potable water per month and can reduce 50% of their water demand if her solution gets implemented. This decentralized approach reduces carbon emissions by 80-85 percent compared to the traditional centralized sewage treatment setups (water pumping and operational energy), offsetting 18,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
“Additionally, due to lower sewage output, it contributes towards embodied carbon savings linked to the plumbing network infrastructure and construction of sewage treatment plants. This solution, therefore, addresses two main challenges - water scarcity and operational carbon emissions associated with freshwater supply, wastewater treatment and conveyance of treated water,” says the youngster, who has applied for a patent at the Indian Patent Office.
It all started when…
In 2016, during an agitation, Mannat witnessed her home tap run dry as the Munak Canal, which supplies water to Delhi, was breached. Her entire neighbourhood struggled to secure even a single bucket of water. “This incident was a wake-up call, prompting me to explore ways to conserve water,” she says.
[caption id="attachment_39301" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Mannat while showcasing her project during Water Prize national championship at IIT-Madras[/caption]
She began monitoring her family’s water usage and identifying areas of waste, conducting water audits at home. Mannat noticed a significant amount of water going to waste and observed her family collecting greywater in a tub for reuse in flushing. When she inquired why this practice wasn't more widespread, she learned that collecting, treating, and reusing greywater requires major retrofit of the toilet and plumbing piping.
“This is how I started looking and developing practical solutions which can be easily implemented and bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application,” she says.
Experiences at Stockholm
Apart from soaking in the mesmerizing beauty of the European city of Sweden, Mannat got the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with experts. She was selected to participate in a talk show titled 'Bridging Borders and Generations with the Stockholm Junior Water Prize,' sponsored by Xylem, the U.S.-headquartered global water technology provider. Later engaging with experts from the Xylem team at their office and touring their facilities was great experience for the teenager.
Visiting the Indian Embassy and meeting Chargé d'Affaires, Mr Rakesh Tiwari, was a cherished moment too. Additionally, interacting with Taikan Oki, professor at the University of Tokyo and former Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations who won the 2024 Stockholm Water Prize in the senior category, made her overall experience even more enriching.
[caption id="attachment_39315" align="aligncenter" width="546"] Mannat Kaur at Stockholm[/caption]
A visit to the Royal Palace, not as a tourist but as an invitee to the Stockholm Water Prize royal dinner and banquet with the King and Queen of Sweden was a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
Future plan and good influences
Mannat has a deep passion for computer science, machine learning, and emerging technologies. “The myriad challenges that the world has to confront today, such as climate change and water scarcity have ignited in me the desire to work for environmental conservation,” she says adding, “I would like to make use of my technological knowledge to address the impending challenges our generation will inevitably face.”
As a Steve Jobs fan, the youngster believes in proactive resolution rather than passive observation. “I want to impact the world as Steve Jobs had, using technology to change the way we live life. Just as he made personal computing accessible through Macintosh, the first widely sold personal computer (PC), my dream is to make environmental sustainability the easier choice,” she remarks.
[caption id="attachment_39303" align="aligncenter" width="725"] Princess Victoria of Sweden with participants of the Junior Water Prize including Mannat Kaur at Stockholm[/caption]
Mannat lives in a close-knit family of five which consists of her grandfather, her parents and a younger brother who is in grade 10. Considering herself fortunate enough to have spent some time with her late great-grandmother during the formative years of her life, the youngster mentions “I have inherited my creativity from my architect father and analytical thinking from my mathematician mother, a blend of both has shaped my approach to both life and problem-solving.”
(November 17, 2023) He was just 14 when Portland-based Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli embarked on a journey to cultivate his interest in social justice and human rights, especially focussed on advocating for the visually impaired. It began when he flew down to India for his Christmas break, and visited a blind school in a quaint little town of Kakinada where his parents volunteered. "It was then I realised I should also do my best to give something back to society, and do something for the underprivileged," he said in an interview. Upon his return to the US, the Indian-American, whose parents migrated from Vishakapatnam, was keen to make a change and soon organised a cultural night. From this, he raised $4200 which he used to start a non-profit The I Mission in 2016. Explaining the mission of the NGO, he said, "What we do is we gather many patients together and we do screening examines and we have eye camps to test whether they are ready to go through the cataract and retinal surgeries that our partners and the people that we work with offer." [caption id="attachment_34153" align="aligncenter" width="723"] Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption] The next year, he returned
//wp-content/uploads/2023/11/vali2.jpg" alt="Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli | Global Indian" width="723" height="502" /> Sai Hitesh Vavilapalli is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption]
The next year, he returned to India with a vision to help the poor. It was with the help of Sankar Foundation Eye Hospital that he organised a couple of free eye camps in Vishakhapatnam, and also helped perform about 500 free cataract surgeries. Moreover, The I Mission also donated two Perkins mechanical braillers to a rural south Indian school in order to provide support for visually impaired female students in their pursuit of reading.
.Seeing the impact that his work was creating, he continued returning to India every year to help visually impaired people. On his next trip, The I Mission coordinated and funded a total of 48 cataract surgeries for underprivileged individuals, in addition to one retinal surgery. They also took on the responsibility of supporting three blind schools in the region. Initially, individuals in need of cataract or retinal surgery were identified through comprehensive screening tests conducted during eye-checking camps.
[caption id="attachment_34152" align="aligncenter" width="488"] Sai Hitesh Vavilapali is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption]
Beyond providing essential eye health check-ups and surgical interventions for visually impaired individuals in rural India, The I Mission also conducts educational workshops. These workshops are designed to empower students, enhance their mathematical skills for competitive platforms like MathCounts, improve their public speaking abilities, and develop their reading comprehension. The workshops are structured to be both enjoyable and educational, offering engaging activities tailored to the varying levels of receptivity among the students.
In the last few years, The I Mission has supported over 5,000 free eye screenings, 1,719 cataract surgeries, and 13 retinal detachment surgeries, besides adopting three blind schools in India. "To fund the camps, we not only conduct cultural events but have also tied up with brands like Nike and Intel. We intend to approach some more corporate firms in the coming years," he added.
Hitesh, who plans to become a doctor, is working with a professor as a research intern at Oregon Health Science University, with a focus on discovering potential remedies for cataract and other eye-related issues prevalent among the tribal communities residing in the Eastern Ghats of India. He plans to take the nonprofit to the next level in the coming years by spreading its wings across the world.
(July 15, 2023) Akshaya Dinesh fell in love with coding through hackathons. The 24-year-old began her entrepreneurship journey during her time at Stanford University, and is the founder of two startups - Ladder and Spellbound. She went on leave of absence from university and gave up a paid internship at Facebook to concentrate on her entrepreneurial journey, where she felt she would make the biggest impact. Her work mainly involves empowering girls in tech, encouraging them to break stereotypes and helping them gain access to opportunities, training and resources. Growing up in New Jersey, Akshaya began dabbling in coding in early high school, more out of boredom than passion. "The summer between middle and high school, I just was super bored and had nothing to do. My parents encouraged me to try to learn a new field." Her parents had seen the opportunities out there for programmers and told Akshaya to learn Java. "I unwillingly learned Java and hated it," the Global Indian said in an interview. "The first language I learned after Java was JavaScript because I realised Java wasn't enough for me to actually build anything of use." How hackathons changed her life Her big turning point came
rel="noopener">interview. "The first language I learned after Java was JavaScript because I realised Java wasn't enough for me to actually build anything of use."
How hackathons changed her life
Her big turning point came when she discovered hackathons, which happened almost by chance. "I was a math competition for my high school math team and I saw a Major League Hackathon sticker on someone's computer," she recalled, in a podcast. She went home and looked it up, only to find "this whole world I knew nothing about." There happened to be a hackathon coming up in New Jersey and she signed up. Her mother drove her to the event and Akshaya walked in to "a sea of white and Asian boys, pretty much." Clearly, there were very few girls in tech and not much was being done to increase diversity in the space. The spectacle was so daunting she wanted to turn around and go home. To her relief, she found a table of girls and gravitated towards them. "We spent that weekend working on a website together. We were total newbies and didn't win anything, but I was translating the code to Javascript. I loved the entire idea of being able to build a product from scratch in 24 hours," she said.
[caption id="attachment_31926" align="aligncenter" width="410"] Akshaya Dinesh, the entrepreneur working to empower girls in tech[/caption]
Just like that, Akshaya was hooked. She would travel to hackathons every weekend, has attended more than 45 and won a couple of the big ones too. Enthused by her successes, Akshaya attempted to join the Robotics team at her high school. "The male programming lead was so unsupportive, he screamed at me to leave the room. I went home and cried to my mom, wondering what I had done wrong," Akshaya said. She learned later that many people had complained against the young man in question, and it spurred Akshaya to do something about it.
Akshaya decided to launch a diversity initiative within the school. She recruited a few of her peers and over the next few years, the team had organised two hackathons and coding and entrepreneurship training to girls of all ages across the country. "Over 600 girls have been taught by our curriculum," she said. Her big lesson from the experience was that anyone can be an entrepreneur, given the right resources and opportunities. "One group of sixth graders who attended our camp, came from a relatively low income area of New Jersey. They had no coding experience. By the end of our eight-week bootcamp, they had created an Android app from scratch, which they pitched in English to the entire audience." The app was meant to teach ESL students how to speak English. "It's amazing to see how quickly people can grow if they are in a supportive environment," Akshaya says.
Akshaya's own accolades earned her a spot in Stanford University's prestigious CS programme. Her involvement with She++, a social enterprise that works to empower underrepresented groups in technology, helped her land two big internships before college, one at Microsoft and the other at Bloomberg, before she began university. "It was my first time getting to experience Silicon Valley and being in huge tech companies that I had never dreamed of visiting," she explains.
At Stanford University, Akshaya taught two classes - Introduction to Programming and Data structures. She also continued her involvement with She ++, through which she had wonderful experiences. "I wanted to give back and make that experience possible for other women," she said. So, she ran the college version of the Ambassadors programme, although the summit itself was cancelled due to the pandemic. Stanford University provided her with a rich ecosystem to learn and grow, and the CS programme was the right place to be. "It caters perfectly to tech and tech entrepreneurship learning," she said.
Up the social entrepreneurship 'Ladder'
At Stanford, she began brainstorming with a friend who was doing a CS Master's. The pandemic was at its peak then and thousands of people were struggling to find replacements for cancelled internships. The duo put a simple plan in place - matching students with mentors in their field of interest and having coffee chats with them. "That became huge quickly," she said. Lots of people signed up and it was clear they had filled a growing need. This was how Ladder came to be, a community for people in tech to meet, network and help each other grow through collaboration.
"We had a huge list of internships that had come to us at Stanford University," says Akshaya. They put those in the public domain and thousands of students began picking them. She realised that people simply don't have access to the wealth of information and opportunities that she had at an Ivy League university. The Ladder newsletter was gaining traction fast - with 30,000 subscribers in the first month. "We could see there was a problem and wanted to work on it full-time to democratise access to opportunities," she said.
The young entrepreneur was at another crossroads. She had an internship at Facebook lined up, and a CS course awaiting her at Stanford. However, she had also managed to raise funding for Ladder, which gave her the financial freedom to quit her summer job. She also went on leave of absence from her course at university. She recruited a couple of students to help her and the platform was ready in the next two weeks. As her startup grew, she knew more than ever that she didn't want to work in a big-tech company any longer. Working with girls in tech allowed her to see the impact she was making. "I am an impact-oriented person and I wanted a certain kind of gratification that just isn't there at a big-tech company," she says. "With my startup, though, I can build a feature and see people using it in a week. I want a shorter feedback loop."
Challenges
"I realised that the most successful founders have an insane amount of confidence in themselves, their story and the product that they're building," Akshaya explains. As for herself, she often struggled with 'Imposter Syndrome', and to speak confidently to people. It was also intimidating to be in a male-dominated world, where female founders even struggle for funding. She tells her fellow female founder friend’s one thing: "When you enter a pitch meeting, assume that you’re a white male and you have all the same privileges," she remarks. It's part of empowering girls in tech as they struggle in a male-dominated, sometimes unwelcoming environment.
Akshaya is also the founder of Spellbound, which incorporates interactive user experiences embedded inside the body of emails. "My goal is to build an extremely successful large business and sort of prove to the world that you don't need to be a white man to accomplish the same types of success," she says.
Manu Bhaker[/caption]
Manu Bhaker[/caption]
Kaamya Karthekiyan with her parents at Mt Stok Kangri[/caption]
Kaamya Karthikeyan training in Gulmarg[/caption]
Mannat Kaur with IIT-M Prof. Indumathi M. Nambi in Stockholm[/caption]
Mannat Kaur with IIT-M 
Mannat while showcasing her project during Water Prize national championship at IIT-Madras[/caption]
Mannat Kaur at Stockholm[/caption]
Princess Victoria of Sweden with participants of the Junior Water Prize including Mannat Kaur at Stockholm[/caption]
Sai Hitesh Vavilapali is an Indian-American changemaker[/caption]
Akshaya Dinesh, the entrepreneur working to empower girls in tech[/caption]
