UnConventional

Sanna Legan is an activist artist, using social justice and her creative practice to make a difference. Currently, she is a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University, majoring in Art and Global Systems and Management. In addition to her studies, Sanna is the Creative Director of AmplifyHerNYC, a non profit that works to elect women into office in New York City. Sanna is also a Fellow with NextGen America, registering voters and working towards progressive change.

Kesava Kirupa Dinakaran is the CEO and Co-Founder of Digital Brain, an enterprise SaaS company based out of Palo Alto. He was part of the youngest group to ever cycle from Europe to Asia and ran a social impact organization that reached over 7 million people; he was awarded by Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate for Economics, for revamping an Indian malnutrition policy. He's survived off hackathon prize money in Silicon Valley and also holds two world records solving Rubik's cubes. While growing up in southern India, Kesava noticed that many of his community members held negative stereotypes about citizens from surrounding countries. At age 16, when Kesava attended United World College, he met students from many other countries and immediately realized that the negative perceptions he grew up hearing, were not only unfair but also untrue. A couple of years later, Kesava was asked by a friend to join a cycling trip from the United World College campus in Bosnia to China. Kesava saw this trip as an opportunity to promote intercultural understanding, and the idea for Silk Road Biking was born. Silk Road Biking is an organization that encourages and supports travel enthusiasts to connect with the communities they visit and to share their stories as a way to help break stereotypes. The Silk Road Biking project, which started as a one-time trip, now reaches over 7 million people across various media platforms. Kesava and his friends were the youngest people in the world to cycle across the Silk Road to China, passing over 4,000 kilometers, traversing 9 countries and sharing their stories to build a more peaceful future. Kesava is currently working to unite all travel enthusiasts on one digital platform to share their stories and resources on traveling with purpose, connecting with others and contributing towards an understanding world.

Roshan Nausad is 21-year-old Social Media influencer from Melbourne Australia. He has a background in Beauty, Photography, Styling and creative directing. Roshan is very passionate and enthusiastic about changing the issues the south Asian community faces every day such as; Colourism, Racism, Sexism and bringing more awareness about the LGBTQIA community. Roshan has a made an impact in his own way by just being himself and inspiring and uplifting Women, Boys and most importantly appreciating his culture and respecting his community. He's now working on a fiction teen/young adult novel to further express his creativity. “Growing up as a gay desi boy, I always felt different and had a hard time fitting in. But it never stopped me from loving where I come from and accepting my roots. However, that didn’t come easy. It took years of strength to not be afraid to go against societal norms. I’ve been wearing bindis since I was 12 years old - and why not? Bindis are my way of expressing myself and showing off the more feminine side of who I am.” 

While visiting Bali, Leander was devastated to learn of a man named Pak Gunung, who was living without one of his hands. There was little access to prosthetics and healthcare where Pak Gunung lived, in stark contrast to the community in Switzerland where Leander had been living. Leander recognized that living without a hand or other similar injuries was a greater challenge in communities where many lived without financial security. Along with the risk of poverty, families with members with who have physical disabilities could face social exclusion and other challenging obstacles. Leander created a brain controlled, 3D printed bionic hand for Pak Gunung. From this one hand, came Leander’s idea for Bionic Hands of Hope, a company providing innovative hands to amputees in underdeveloped countries, and “Maker Labs” that employ and train workers to produce the hands in local communities. Bionic Hands of Hope also works to diminish the stigma surrounding people with disabilities, and connect amputees to a stable source of income. In the next year, Leander hopes to produce and distribute 500 bionic hands; and over the next few years, Bionic Hands of Hope aims to build additional labs throughout the world and become the source of many more affordable healthcare solutions for disadvantaged people.

In 2017, Harsh participated in a national science fair in India, where he was inspired by young innovators committed to solving global problems. When he returned home, he became passionate about a problem he wanted to solve – pancreatic cancer. The disease takes hundreds of thousands of victims each year worldwide, with a survival rate lower than 7%, mainly due to its difficulty to detect early. After one year of research and consultation with various medical professionals, Harsh, and his partner Anmol, developed CANCEReX. Their innovation is an inexpensive, non-invasive strip that uses saliva to detect pancreatic cancer in early stages. Compared to traditional detection methods, CANCEReX is 95 times cheaper than an MRI scan, does not require the use of heavy equipment or assistance from a medical professional, and is the only non-invasive technique that exists for pancreatic cancer. In 2019, Harsh and Anmol won the Genius Olympiad Gold Medal at the State University of New York, and received the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Award, which is the nation’s highest research honor for youth. Harsh is currently developing a novel algorithm to predict associative risk for developing pancreatic cancer from a patient’s basic information. In 2020, Harsh and Anmol will work with hospitals in India to further improve the accuracy of their strip. They want hospitals everywhere to adopt the CANCEReX detection method, saving many lives around the world.

Because current Philippine curriculum is lacking in computer science education, Audrey taught herself to program using available online resources. As she pursued her interest in a technology career, she found very little support and no female role models within the industry. While attending tech conferences and hackathons Audrey met other girls with similar interests for the first time. At 15 she assembled a team of students and founded Women in Technology (WiTech). WiTech is a community organization that educates, inspires and empowers youth to break gender barriers and use technology to make positive differences in society. They hosted the Philippines’ first student-led conference for female students in tech and traveled to Marawi, a neglected area in the Southern Philippines that was bombed in 2017, to teach basic programming skills to teens living in evacuation centers. WiTech also provided them with used laptops and curated tech education modules for their school. At both the 2017 ASEAN Youth Entrepreneurship Carnival in Manila and the 2018 UN Youth Collab in Bangkok, Audrey further promoted the movement of women in technology while networking and developing future projects. She plans to continue promoting tech equality and working to launch future outreach projects across the Philippines. Audrey’s goal is to make tech education accessible to youth across the world so that they can create and innovate regardless of their gender or socioeconomic background.

At age 13, Shaan suffered a concussion while playing hockey. After learning about the growing problem of concussions for athletes worldwide, Shaan designed a helmet, which was more effective than any existing method, to prevent concussions. The positive impact of the helmet motivated him to continue applying science to real world problems. Later that year, Shaan created SB Innovations, a research and development company creating affordable, sustainable solutions to global issues. Under SB Innovations, he has developed an alternative treatment for prostate cancer, as well as a treatment and diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease. Shaan knew there were other young scientists who could improve lives and disrupt industries with the proper guidance. As part of SB Innovations, he founded Young Scientists & Innovators (YSI) to help teens discover their untapped potential in STEM and provide them with the tools to turn their ideas into reality. YSI’s incubator has helped teens produce innovations ranging from treatments for fatal diseases to sustainable energy systems, many of which have advanced research in their respective fields. Shaan’s own innovations have received top awards at prestigious honors fairs such as the Canada-Wide Science Fair, Sanofi Biogenius Competition, Expo-Science International, Taiwan International Science Fair, Google Science Fair and most recently, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He has become an international advocate for young innovators, speaking on global stages like TEDxGleneagle in Vancouver and Cooperation 2019 alongside Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield. Shaan hopes to continue creating a global, diverse community of youth who use STEM to address the world’s most pressing issues.

In 2015, Anh’s family vacationed in Sapa, Vietnam, an area known for its beautiful mountainous scenery. Anh was shocked to discover that beyond its picturesque backdrop, the region’s ethnic tribes were suffering extreme poverty. Most of the children in Sapa were forced to drop out of school to sell crafts, beg for money or even worse, be sold into marriage. When Anh returned to her home in Hanoi she was determined to find an alternative path for Sapa’s children. In September 2019, she founded Food Story – an initiative to provide education, vocational training and sustainable employment to children in the impoverished, mountainous regions of Vietnam. Anh knew tourism was vital to Sapa’s economy, so she decided to prepare youth for careers in the culinary and hospitality industries. Food Story partners with private companies and local organizations to teach cooking skills to tribal youth. Since September, Food Story has rapidly transformed into a well-known organization in Vietnam and has solidified partnerships with national organizations. They have successfully trained 70 village children, and that number will quickly grow in 2020 as the initiative expands into surrounding communities. Looking forward, Anh plans to launch additional courses focusing on a variety of professions. She hopes to provide children with a range of opportunities to build sustainable careers and lift them out of poverty.

In Reuben’s community in Liberia, the majority of youth face poverty and multiple barriers to education – including having to walk miles to attend school. Without an education, young Liberians are often forced to turn to crime, drugs or prostitution. Reuben founded Rehab Africa, a nonprofit organization designed to provide young Liberians an equal opportunity to thrive. Rehab Africa leads events, discussions and workshops to give teens an innovative education and mental health support. The curriculum teaches students skills in technology and entrepreneurship, while encouraging them to improve local issues in their communities. Reuben values a holistic approach, working collaboratively with teachers, families and parents to rehabilitate teens. Rehab Africa has directly worked with 500 teens in Liberia, and will open chapters in Egypt and Uganda in 2020. Reuben is also launching a Global Innovation and Youth Summit in 2020 to promote entrepreneurship, education, tolerance, and to inspire innovative and sustainable ideas towards economic stability and poverty eradication. The Summit will gather hundreds of attendees from Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria, Chile and the United States in Monrovia, Liberia. By empowering young people to achieve individual success and create larger change, Reuben hopes to repair the broken cycle that exists in impoverished nations.

At the age of fourteen, Ishaan (16 years old currently) saw a documentary which changed his life. He learnt how children around the world were being exploited and forced into slavery. After talking about the programme, the at school, he discovered that none of the people in his year group (156 boys) were aware of this issue. It was from that moment that he was committed to raising awareness of slavery and human trafficking in a way young people could engage with. In 2017 at the age of fourteen, he founded Stolen Dreams, a website and communications organisation to get young people to engage with and actively drive positive action around human trafficking. Since then, he has spread his message widely across social media, podcasts and through public speaking, speaking and teaching lessons at schools across the country. He engages young people in the issue of slavery and human trafficking, getting them talking about slavery – communicating what is a tremendously difficult and harrowing topic, with warmth and compassion.

During high school in Johannesburg, Andile (Andy) was a passionate coach to younger students on public speaking, speech writing and poetry. After graduation, Andy realized she could use her coaching skills to foster young change-makers on a large scale. In December 2018, Andy founded ROAR South Africa (S.A.) to build a generation of leaders who speak proficiently, inspire change with their words and share their stories with the world. Roar S.A. leads public speaking workshops for students in Johannesburg communities where there are no existing developmental programs. It has also expanded it’s programming into children’s homes and Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as created partnerships with libraries and bookstores to promote literacy in underserved areas. Andy recently launched a career program to educate students on how to achieve success in a variety of professions. To date, ROAR S.A.’s programs and workshops have equipped 2,100+ students with the skills to be effective speakers and leaders. In 2020, Andy will teach technology literacy workshops, develop a public speaking app, and host a Speaker's Festival. She hopes to offer programming in eleven South African languages, establish educational centers in rural areas throughout the country and establish ROAR S.A. chapters in marginalized communities throughout the African continent.

At 16 years-old, Raphaele studied the French Revolution in history class. She noticed that while there was detailed information about the male figures, there was no mention of the strong females who played a role in history. Raphaele realized her entire educational curriculum shared an unbalanced gender representation, which impacted society’s perspective. Later that year, Raphaele created Rescuing and Valuing Women – a movement to address the lack of appreciation for and recognition of women in Brazilian society. Raphaele believes that since school is where boys and girls develop their personal values, educational content should reflect a value of women and gender equality. Beyond her community in Mairinque, Raphaele has traveled to five additional cities in Brazil, spoken to 500+ students and impacted curriculum nationwide. In 2016, Raphaele was elected by Brazil’s young people to represent them in the Youth Parliament of Mercosur. Since then, Raphaele has become a respected advocate for gender equality, appearing on several TV and media outlets and reaching an international audience with her message. Rescuing and Valuing Women has also established a partnership with Vital Voices, a global organization that invests in women leaders improving the world. Vital Voices has selected Raphaele as an ambassador for their work and is providing ongoing support to Rescuing and Valuing Women. Raphaele hopes one day, it will be every nation’s societal norm to value women and their role in history and the future.

WiTech is a community organization that educates, inspires and empowers youth to break gender barriers and use technology to make positive differences in society. They hosted the Philippines’ first student-led conference for female students in tech and traveled to Marawi, a neglected area in the Southern Philippines that was bombed in 2017, to teach basic programming skills to teens living in evacuation centers. WiTech also provided them with used laptops and curated tech education modules for their school.

The moment she walked into her first computer science camp, Archika found herself looking around a room of 30 boys and just one other girl. From that day, almost every STEM-related experience she faced sent the resounding message, “STEM isn’t a place for a girl like you.” Frustrated time and time again, Archika researched the gender disparity in STEM and realized that individuals from a lower socioeconomic status and racial minorities were disproportionately excluded from the STEM narrative too. Determined to change the inequality in STEM, she co-founded The EduSTEM Initiative. EduSTEM aims to utilize STEMX curriculum, such as STEMXPoliticalScience and STEMXEntrepreneurship, to educate, encourage and empower minorities in STEM. An initiative that started with five students in Archika’s community, EduSTEM now includes STEM-learning environments across nine chapters and three countries. They have held over 60 workshops, camps and events, directly impacting more than 500 minority youths across the globe. EduSTEM has extended its impact through partnerships with Vital Voices, Disney, AI4ALL, Microsoft and other organizations that seek to increase both accessibility and inclusivity in education. In the future, Archika aspires to further globalize the impact of EduSTEM by supporting new chapters and holding STEM leadership events. Her vision is not only to educate youth, but to empower them to use STEM as a medium for social change.

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