Everyone's a Changemaker - Ashoka Young Changemakers

Aaryani from Grade 11 has been through a lengthly application process and been selected to take part in the Ashoka Young Changemaker program – a hub and network that encourages and empower everyone more people to become leaders and make a positive change. We reached out to Aaryani to find out more about her way to the program and what she hopes to achieve.

The everyone a changemaker movement wants to reduce this inequality by giving people the necessary skills to thrive in this new world – Aaryan, Grade 11

Aaryani had been following the Ashoka Young Changemakers network for a while before she decided to apply. “When I felt like my social initiative ‘Let’s Talk’ was big enough to present in a global selection process, I applied”, says Aaryani who had read about the Ashoka Young Changemakers in the media and saw it as an exceptional and inspiring community.

Aaryani’s process to become part of the movement took about a year. The first applicatoin round was followed by a national review, where she was interviewved by Ashoka’s South Asia team. After that Aaryani and the other participants prepared for the International review in which they were interviewed by Ashoka Fellows and Changemakers around the world including countries like Spain, Indonesia and Brazil. Next step was a changemakers bootcamp, where she met Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka who has been named the ‘father of social entrepreneurship’. The final stage was the Selection Panel Round in which Aaryani had to present her project to leading journalists, policy makers and pioneers in the field of education.

The Ashoka Changemakers movement is specifically for young people and to help them realise their power as changemakers. Youth are the future of this world and it is essential that they have the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. “It feels exhilarating to be acknowledged on such a large scale”, says Aaryani who is grateful to be part of the Ashoka Family – a lifelong community that will always be there for me and look out for my best interests which is really comforting. “Ashoka believes in genuine impact and leading social change to help and empower people”, she continues and stress the importance of getting to interact with like-minded young changemakers and Ashoka Fellows who are leading and transforming their respective fields. Moreover, Aaryani will have opportunities to represent Ashoka and lead the organisations initiatives globally. 

Ashoka believes that the world is now divided by a ‘new inequality’. Aaryani explains: “Unlike other inequalities, this one gets worse every year as change accelerates and those in the game help one another become ever more skilled and confident — while those on the losing side fall further behind faster and faster.” To overcome this, Aaryani will, together with Chandani from Grade 11, bring the ‘Everyone a Changemaker’ movement to TISB. This will be done by making stories of change and leadership a regular feature in TISB’s communication channels. ”These stories will focus on the journey and learnings of TISB students”, says Aaryani and express how the process so far with Ashoka has changed her entirely. Now she wants to share this with the rest of the youth, starting with the TISB community.