Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusivePetal talk on sustainability: How Diana Awardee Sriya Donepudi’s Ankh recycled flowers

Petal talk on sustainability: How Diana Awardee Sriya Donepudi’s Ankh recycled flowers

Written by: Zara Xavier

(February 10, 2022) Flower recycling is fuelling innovation and creativity – Incense sticks, herbs and flower-infused teas, potpourri, and much more. For the sprightly UNICEF ambassador Sriya Donepudi, these ideas struck a chord when she set out to finish her 10th grade project two years ago – to recycle the flower waste in Hyderabad. It then flowered into a movement giving local women sustenance, and the world an ecological philosophy too.

Sriya, now a 12^th grade student at Oakridge School, founded Ankh which recycles used flowers into organic products in 2020. A love for flowers egged her on, and her eco project won the Diana Award 2020. The then 15-year-old also rehabilitated the lives of women from economically weak backgrounds by recycling floral waste into products. “I used as many flowers as we could collect from events,” smiles Sriya.

Sriya Donepudi

The enterprising gene

Born in Detroit, Sriya moved to Hyderabad 12 years ago. Her parents Venu and Swetha Donepudi, both automobile engineers, worked at General Motors and Ford in Detroit. “Their excellent work ethic inspired me to work hard as well,” says the teen who inculcated a desire to go beyond mere thought. It was what made her ideate on Ankh.

The Donepudi’s move to India was due to “her parents wanting to develop cars in India.” It saw the younger Sriya struggle as she learned to adapt. Seeing her parents, and her heritage helped her transition smoothly. Ankh began recycling floral waste from weddings, parties, and temples in and around Hyderabad – candles, distilled oils, incense sticks, potpourri were made by local women.

Looking back, her teachers, parents, and the CAS coordinator guided Sriya to success, thus catching the eye of the Diana Award panel. The Diana Awardee is thankful that her CAS mentor nominated her. In a short period, it became a huge success. Not only because of its ecological philosophy, but also because of its socially relevant structure – Ankh employed around 50 underprivileged women full-time, giving them the opportunity to make a living too.

Local women making products from flower waste

“There was this one girl who was only 19-years-old,” recalls Sriya in an interview with Global Indian, adding, “She stopped going to school after eighth grade, was married, and had a child. It amazed me how much she had to do at such a young age, yet she was still so hopeful and optimistic about the future.”

As an avid reader, Sriya’s love for ancient Egyptian mythology gave her the name Ankh – a symbol that represents eternal life, and its elements – Her Ankh in turn empowered women and helped the planet.

The pandemic was not easy

During Covid 19, sadly, Ankh has taken a backseat but Sriya hopes to restart soon. “Covid majorly affected Ankh. It was hard for women to work, and events had taken a hit, thus collecting floral waste was harder,” explains the Diana Awardee.

With growing climate concerns, the 17-year-old now wants to move forward with more sustainable products, and even help the Covid-stricken. “A dream of mine is to get into skincare, but I think that’s a bit too complex right now,” laughs the enterprising Diana awardee.

A meeting of minds

The award has given Sriya the opportunity to connect with like-minded and brilliant young people across the world, and also learn from them. “There was a girl from Trinidad and Tobago who works with autistic people, she was such an inspiration,” she recalls. Being in the midst of inspiring ideas and individuals, Sriya wants to be proactive on world problems. Now, the 12th grader (finishing her second year IBDP), contributes to the UN’s socially uplifting activities in school and does her bit as a UNICEF ambassador. Her aspiration is to study in the US, majoring in economics and global health.

Like other teens, the Diana Awardee loves a good read, or music, so much so that she even founded her school’s first-ever literature club. A movie aficionado, her passion is also watching and analysing films.

For Sriya, family is everything. “I’m close to my family. I learned everything from them – my parents and grandparents are truly my role models,” she says. Visits to her grandparents in Kotegiri is what she loves. “I can see what my mother’s life was like, growing up in Kotegiri, I love its simplicity and sustainability,” Sriya smiles.

While Ankh has been a life-changing journey, she stresses, “Purpose is what makes you human, that’s what I learned.” Advice to budding young social entrepreneurs? “Reflect, plan and reach for the stars. If you’re passionate, there’s nothing stopping you from getting what you want,” she signs off.

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Published on 10, Feb 2022

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Anmol Tukrel: AI healthcare for a better world

(April 22, 2023) Each time he came to India with his family, Anmol Tukrel would visit his aunt, who worked at a hospital for the visually-impaired. He saw the widespread poverty, the lack of awareness and access to quality healthcare, and decided to something about it. Anmol went on to create iDentifi, an AI healthcare app that allows visually impaired people to get information about their surroundings. This was in 2015, in the early days of AI and his efforts saw him featured in a video alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Geoffrey Hinton, the 'father of deep learning', along with a host of other young Canadian innovators. Building iDentifi "In India, the hospital staff would go to small towns and villages and offer free eye care to those who couldn't afford it," Anmol said. The next breakthrough also came in India, this time during an internship at a startup named IceCream Labs. "They were using computer vision, the same technology as iDentifi, for advertising. I thought, why not apply it to more humanitarian purposes," he said. The app could identify 96 languages - Anmol's method at the time was to look at a world map at his parents'

technology as iDentifi, for advertising. I thought, why not apply it to more humanitarian purposes," he said. The app could identify 96 languages - Anmol's method at the time was to look at a world map at his parents' home in Markham, Canada, and use pins to identify the countries in which the app was being used. The app is also on display at one of Canada's leading science museums.

The app was meant to provide as much detail as possible. In one demonstration video on YouTube, the user, Jason Fayre, the National Lead for Accessibility and Assistive Tech for CNIB, asked the app to identify a can of coke - "Pop cans are tricky," he explained. The app was able to tell the difference between a can of Coke and Coke Zero. "There are similar apps but iDentifi is more accurate and can provide an abundance of information, which sets it apart," said Fayre, who is also visually-impaired.

Finding success

As users could simply download the app from the app store, it gained popularity fairly quickly. The app proved useful "for day-to-day tasks, reading and browsing the web," the Global Indian said. "For example, if they went grocery shopping and wanted to find out if the can of soda they were holding was Coke or Pepsi, normally they'd have to find someone and ask, however with iDentifi, they can just take a picture of the can and get an audible description with a few seconds."

[caption id="attachment_29460" align="aligncenter" width="292"] Markham, Ontario teen Anmol Turkel wins Ontario Science Centre's 2017 Weston Youth Innovation Award for his AI healthcare app, iDentifi, that assists the visually impaired in identifying objects using a smartphone. (CNW Group/Ontario Science Centre)[/caption]

A search engine to take on Google

Born and raised in Markham, Anmol was interested in technology from a young age. By the time he turned 16, he was building a personalised search engine, intended to take on Google itself- that was his submission to the Google Science Fair. For this, Anmol used a computer with around 1GB of storage space, a spreadsheet programme, a Python-language development settings and some articles from the New York Times to get himself going. A couple of months of design work and about 60 hours of coding later, his prototype was ready.

To test the accuracy of his creation, he limited his search queries to articles from the New York Times, creating fictitious users with different interests and corresponding web histories. This information was fed to the search engine and to Google as well. Anmol submitted his paper to the International High School Journal of Science. He hoped his efforts would take him to Stanford University, which they did. There, he studied computer science and AI. These days, Anmol actually works for Google - he's an Associate Product Manager for Gmail's AI team and before that, was an APM intern on the Google Podcasts team.

Diabetes PD

Still captivated by the AI for healthcare space, Anmol went on to design Diabetes PD, this time targeting teenagers with Type-1 diabetes. "It's meant to make it easier to keep track and access quality information to manage diabetes," he explained. It allows the user to access resources that are updated in real time, and include travel, employment, meal planning and how to take care of oneself when one is sick. Users can also keep track of information related to diabetes care, monitor sugar levels, and A1Cs, to name a few.

Anmol Tukrel's story is a powerful reminder of the potential of technology to solve real-world problems. His creation, iDentifi, has already made a significant impact on the lives of visually impaired people around the world. Anmol's passion for technology, his dedication to his work, and his belief in the power of young people to make a difference have made him a role model for many.

Music for Nature: Anuv Jain teams up with UN for its ‘Sound Right’ campaign

(May 5, 2024) Ludhiana boy Anuv Jain recently shared one of his latest pictures from New York, standing proudly in front of a billboard showcasing him. “NATURE (music album) is out now on all streaming platforms. I'm thrilled to contribute to the global campaign, ‘Sounds Right’, by United Nations Live! Thank you for inviting me to be a part of this movement. A significant portion of the royalties from this track will support environmental conservation charities,” shared the singer, songwriter and composer. His track Baarishein, featuring the sounds of Indian rains is part of the UN Live album. [caption id="attachment_37591" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Anuv Jain[/caption] The Museum for the United Nations — UN Live, based in Copenhagen, launched its global music initiative, ‘Sounds Right,’ on April 18 this year, just ahead of Earth Day (April 22). The initiative aims to highlight the importance of nature, raise funds for conservation efforts, and inspire millions of music lovers to take action. The ‘Sound Right’ album Nature features a diverse cast of global artists including Anuv Jain, David Bowie x Brian Eno, Ellie Goulding, AURORA, UMI with V of BTS, MØ, London Grammar, Bomba Estéreo, Cosmo Sheldrake, Louis VI, Tom Walker, Aterciopelados, Blinky Bill,

ril 22). The initiative aims to highlight the importance of nature, raise funds for conservation efforts, and inspire millions of music lovers to take action. The ‘Sound Right’ album Nature features a diverse cast of global artists including Anuv Jain, David Bowie x Brian Eno, Ellie Goulding, AURORA, UMI with V of BTS, MØ, London Grammar, Bomba Estéreo, Cosmo Sheldrake, Louis VI, Tom Walker, Aterciopelados, Blinky Bill, Navicula x Endah N Rhesa, and Los Amigos Invisibles.

Available on major streaming platforms, the album has timeless compositions with ocean waves, wind, rainstorms, and birdsongs as prominent features of the background music.

Sounds Right

The website of the Museum for the United Nations-UN Live describes itself as an organization without borders that ignites global empathy, action, and transformation through the influence of popular culture and dialogue.

“By simply listening to music that features sounds of the natural world, fans will help to fund nature conservation and restoration projects in our most precious and precarious ecosystems,” stated a UN press release about the museum’s initiative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXW_Wa-aAAs

The United Nations further highlighted that the ‘Sounds Right’ initiative “comes at a critical time when wildlife populations have declined by an average 69% in the past 50 years and at least 1.2 million plant and animal species are estimated to be at threat of extinction.” The initiative “looks to flip our extractive relationship with the natural world on its head while recognizing nature’s contribution to the creative industries.”

For the nature-loving musician Anuv, being selected for such a prestigious project was one of the most exciting opportunities of his career. All the artists chosen for the album were selected on the basis of how they have intertwined nature with their music throughout their musical journeys.

Inspired by nature

“A lot of my music is inspired by what’s around me; the sky, the rain, the trees,” Anuv remarked in an interview. Some of his “best work highlights nature as a metaphor to describe beauty.” The independent artist is popular for his acoustic melodies and compositions like Baarishein, Gul, and Alag Aasmaan among others. He expressed excitement about being part of an initiative that would help him to contribute to something that has given him so much – not just music but life itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLKwRW2y-sg

Life around music

Anuv's earliest memories of making music dates back to his 10th-grade year when he began playing the guitar and also started songwriting.

“I used to write these really emotional English songs. Eventually, my guitar teacher suggested that I should try writing in Hindi and that’s when I made that switch. I’m so glad I got that suggestion because I realized I was pretty good at it,” he shared adding “The lyrics come from all my personal experiences and the stories that I’ve seen unfold in front of me. I take inspiration from my experiences and turn them into a song.”

[caption id="attachment_37594" align="aligncenter" width="1440"] Anuv Jain in one of his packed live performances[/caption]

With time the artist polished his skills and ‘started becoming a better songwriter taking up more complicated themes and stories’. “I’ve been able to fit it into this economy of words, which is a song. I also feel like I’ve become better as a performing artist — I used to get really nervous initially, but now I am much more confident whenever I’m on stage and I enjoy it a lot more than I ever have before,” shared the singer-songwriter who has several single albums to his credit. He loves to perform at live shows to connect with people and has a large fan following on social media.

Follow Anuv Jain on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube

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How Tanya Gupta went from NASA to Harper’s Bazaar

(March 4, 2023) How does a mechanical engineer go from being a rocket scientist at NASA to striking it big in the creative design world? If Tanya Gupta's story is anything to go by, through a lot of hard work, persistence and the courage to put yourself out there, even at the risk of looking silly. Tanya's ability to show initiative landed her in Harper's Bazaar but we'll get to that in a minute. The 25-year-old holds a software patent at NASA and in 2021, became the first Indian American to be selected for the Adobe Creative Residency. Today, she's the founder of Guptanya.JPG Studios and lives and works in New York City. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tanya Gupta (@guptanya.jpg) Reaching for the stars Tanya was eight years old when she fell in love with space, during a family trip to the Johnson Space Center. She decided then that she was going to be a rocket scientist. "I started doing a lot more Math and Science in school and when I was 11, I went to my first engineering class,” she said. “"I was able to realise that dream and made it to

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Reaching for the stars

Tanya was eight years old when she fell in love with space, during a family trip to the Johnson Space Center. She decided then that she was going to be a rocket scientist. "I started doing a lot more Math and Science in school and when I was 11, I went to my first engineering class,” she said. “"I was able to realise that dream and made it to NASA as a rocket scientist."

The Global Indian earned herself a place at NYU, where she went to study mechanical and aeronautical engineering. There, Tanya co-founded Curtain Call, a music business startup where they would sell tickets to shows around the city for belkow the asking price. They company partnered with various venues and that would give them leftover tickets to sell. "The venues were happy, the customer was happy and we were happy," she smiles.

Her creative journey had already begun in high school, however. Her immigrant parents were "adamant" that Tanya be "academically rigorous." Unlike her peers, she was discouraged from getting a job in high school. To make extra money, she chose freelance photography, taking on gigs for her friends, doing senior portraits and events.

Life as an engineer was also going well. Tanya chose a study abroad programme at NYU Berlin, where she mae her first foray into augmented reality. She was also a teaching assistant at Stanford University's high school summer camp, where she taught teenagers who wanted to take college classes for extra credit. That led her, she says, to NASA.

[caption id="attachment_28130" align="aligncenter" width="506"] Tanya at NASA. Photo: NYU[/caption]

Life at NASA

Tanya did two stints at NASA, both as a student and even turned down a job offer. The first stint was as Ops Lead on the PRANDTL-M (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars) aircraft at the Armstrong Flight Resarch Center. "The mission is to implement Ludwing Prandtl's 1933 bird wing design on an aircraft that is intended to perform the first-ever Martian flight," she explained. "It was going to be first ever aircraft on Mars." The teams were asked to sign the original design and that model was sent to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it remains. "If you're at the Smithsonian, you can see my autograph," she laughs.

She was also mentored by Al Bowers, the chief scientist at Armstrong and an expert on Prandtl's alternative wing theory. "He's the coolest person I've ever met - which I decided one day when he casually told me about the time he hung out with Buzz Aldrin," she remarked. She even "got to do a couple of barrel rolls on an F-15."

The second internship was at the Kennedy Space Centre, after her study abroad programme at NYU Berlin. There, she helped patent a 3D modelling conversion tool. Essentially, polygon-based models, the most common type of modeling for video games and animation studios. NASA had plenty of these, which they wanted to showcase to clients. However, they needed mesh-based models, which represent surface but have nothing inside to see. There was no shortcut to creating them. Tanya earned herself a software patent for creating a "one-stop shop where you can input a polygon-based model and turn out a mesh-based model," she said.

A lockdown hobby

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A post shared by Tanya Gupta (@guptanya.jpg)

Tanya eventually turned down a job offer from NASA, choosing instead to join IBM as a reality engineer in 2019. Still, she was hungry for the chance to create and "needed something to motivate me to continue that practice and skill." She spent her time learning from YouTube tutorials and to build her design cred and hopefully, be an art director someday. "My wall used to be covered in editorials and I'd tried, multiple times to get the free trial of (Adobe) Photoshop," she said. "Every single time, it was so overwhelming, and I didn't have the tools, time or resources to devote to it."

So, in 2020, when the world went into lockdown and Tanya's job went completely remote, she asked friends to send her their smartphone selfies. Submissions came pouring in almost at once. Every day, Tanya would pick one and spend three to five hours practicing a new Photoshop skill she wanted to try out. At the end of the lockdown, Tanya had a portfolio, with dozens of works of art that her audience, it turned out, really enjoyed. She posted them with the hastag #QuarantineArt".

One of her early large projects was a recreation of her favourite Botticelli work - The Birth of Venus. "I had this idea to create my own version and call it the Birth of Parvati, who is the Hindu goddess of love," she said. "I thought it would be a really cool juxtaposition."

[caption id="attachment_28129" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Birth of Parvati - Tanya's recreation of the Botticelli masterpiece. Photo: Guptana Studios[/caption]

Adobe Creative Residency Program

In 2021, acting almost on a whim, Tanya applied to the Adobe Creative Residency. It wasn't a whim, really, because thousands of hours of work had gone into building a portfolio and learning her way around Adobe Photoshop. She went there hoping to learn about augmented reality projects but ended up focussing on photoshop and compositing. "Recreating art is like a thing for me," she says - she even recreates scenes from her favourite game, SIMS 4.

"I loved Kim Kadarshian's look at Saturday Night Life, so I recreated that," she says. She copied the outfit, analysed the photograph to figure out the lighting and recreated the image in a dark room, putting herself in the picture. She also has her own take on Barbie and Ken.

Finding herself as an artist

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Validation was pouring in from brands and audiences on social media. While major brands commended her work, everything was still unpaid. Tanya saw herself designing magazine covers but without experience, she couldn't find a gig. She ended up creating a mock-up of a Harper's Bazaar cover - "I styled, modelled, photographed, edited and designed everything myself. I called it manifestation in action and it actually led to me being featured in Harper's Bazaar. If you put youself out there, the right person might just see it and it could just lead you to the right place," she remarks.

Harper's Bazaar asked her, in a recent interview, about her future plans - "I'm setting myself up for an invite to the Met Gala in 2023."

Follow Tanya on Instagram and through her website.

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Sagar and Suraj Nagaraj: Transcending borders with the ‘Australian Indian Orchestra’

(Aug 26, 2023) Sagar and Suraj Nagaraj, second-generation Australian immigrants, are the founders of the Australian Indian Orchestra (AIO), a pioneering initiative that marked its debut with the concert ‘Sydney to Mumbai: A Symphonic Journey to Incredible India’ - featuring a splendid 60-member symphony orchestra in Australia. Their endeavour is rooted in their vision to cultivate a musical connection between the people of Australia and India and to present Indian music in western format. AIO harmoniously amalgamates Indian melodies with Australian orchestral arrangements, forging a unifying platform that brings together artists and audiences from both nations. [caption id="attachment_32738" align="aligncenter" width="921"] Concert of Australian Indian Orchestra at Sydney Conservatorium of Music[/caption] 26-year-old Sagar and 20-year-old Suraj are musically inclined since their childhood. They have been giving performances at different platforms while growing up and enjoy a good fan following for their musical skills. Fuelled by love for Bollywood Despite being born and raised in Australia, Sagar and Suraj Nagaraj simply love Bollywood music, strongly influenced by their music loving parents. Sagar, shared, "Our childhood is filled with memories of returning home from school to the whistles of our father's favourite Hindi songs." He added, "We found Bollywood films constantly being watched

ances at different platforms while growing up and enjoy a good fan following for their musical skills.

Fuelled by love for Bollywood

Despite being born and raised in Australia, Sagar and Suraj Nagaraj simply love Bollywood music, strongly influenced by their music loving parents. Sagar, shared, "Our childhood is filled with memories of returning home from school to the whistles of our father's favourite Hindi songs." He added, "We found Bollywood films constantly being watched on TV at our home." The environment at home, ignited their passion for music since as far as they can recall.

As they grew up, they realised that Bollywood music wasn't too popular beyond their home. The brothers, whose parents immigrated to Australia in 1993, started nurturing a shared dream - to introduce Bollywood music to Australia. With the launch of the Australian Indian Orchestra, they are now coming closer to make that dream come true.

Starting young

Sagar discovered his affinity for strings in school and subsequently took up the violin. Regularly participating in his school's musical programmes, he captivated his music-loving parents by playing ‘O Saathi Re,’ a Bollywood tune he had heard his father whistle countless times. His father was pleasantly surprised by how beautifully Sagar played the melody.

Since then, listening to Indian melodies on Sagar’s violin became a regular pastime in the Nagaraj household. The younger brother Suraj, recalled, "I fell in love with the violin at the age of four when I heard Sagar play and begged my parents to get me one as well."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYyA9wNqkI0&t=9s

Idea of orchestra

The idea of Australian Indian Orchestra’s formation germinated in their mind during a performance when the Nagaraj brothers intertwined select Hindi melodies with customary string orchestra classics to bring some variety. All the songs that they played received lots of appreciation from the audience that comprised of both Indian and Australian attendees.

Their enthusiastic response propelled the brothers to establish a new musical endeavour - the Australian Indian Orchestra, to showcase the fusion of musical styles.

Forging ahead with vision

Guiding the ensemble, Sagar assumes the role of concertmaster, meticulously crafting the concert's line up by infusing his deep understanding of Indian music into every element. He describes the process as a combination of attentive listening, profound reading, meticulous note transcription, and dedicated practice. His visits to India and exposure to Carnatic music during trips to his native place Mysore has greatly impacted his approach. “It helped me a lot while writing the musical notes for the songs of AIO,” he shared. The youngster has also performed in Kochi as part of the Sydney Youth Orchestra in 2017.

While Suraj who has experience performing with the Australian World Orchestra holds the role of conductor. “String music has always featured in a big way in Bollywood music,” he said. “In most Hindi songs, you can hear a violin or a cello,” he added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K-XS-3lyKU

Diversity and magnificence

Their inaugural concert's repertoire spanned a diverse range of songs by vocalists such as Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, and Arijit Singh. In addition to this vocal diversity, the performance showcased a varied instrumental ensemble, including tabla, sitar, santoor, guitar, piano, and keyboard, all contributing to the tapestry of orchestral magnificence.

For the Nagaraj brothers, Bollywood music resonates as their ‘home away from home.’ After their debut concert at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, they are busy preparing for their next concert to be held on the occasion of Diwali at Concourse in Chatswood, Sydney. They are aspiring to take their orchestra from Sydney to Mumbai in the coming days.

Follow Australian Indian Orchestra on Instagram and Facebook

Reading Time: 5 mins

Speech matters: Scholar Nathan Mallipeddi is revolutionising the support system for stutterers

(June 6, 2023) It was 2015, and a young Nathan V. Mallipeddi was standing in a bowl-shaped auditorium, in front of an assembly of esteemed professors, teachers, and peers, awaiting his momentous science project presentation. As he stood there, the weight of expectation pressing upon his shoulders, he took a deep breath, ready to present the culmination of his intellectual prowess. But, when the scholar opened his mouth, he couldn't even speak his name. "I just froze," Nathan said in an interview. As the minutes ticked by, an intense silence hung in the air. However, the scholar shared, "Eventually, I got it out and then the rest of the presentation was a little bit tough." And this became a turning point in Nathan's life, who took matters into his own hand, to not just help himself but all those who struggle with a stutter. In 2017, the Global Indian is the Founder and CEO of Myspeech, a global nonprofit organisation that uses technology to group people who stutter into treatment groups. Recognising his work and that of his organisation's, President Joe Biden quite recently wrote a letter to the Harvard Medical School, stating, "Growing up, I stuttered. I remember the

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Recognising his work and that of his organisation's, President Joe Biden quite recently wrote a letter to the Harvard Medical School, stating, "Growing up, I stuttered. I remember the pain, dread, and fear of speaking in front of a group or even to another person, but I also learned that when you persevere in the face of struggle, you will be stronger for it. And the efforts of Myspeech will help so many people persevere. You will help change people’s lives for the better."

Rising above the challenges

Nathan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents who had immigrated from India, in search of better job prospects. However, the family had to make a tough decision to send the scholar to live with his grandparents in Andhra Pradesh for three years. Upon reuniting with his parents in the San Jose Bay Area, Nathan developed a profound admiration for their unwavering courage and the strength of thriving immigrant communities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku0um7gVGPQ

While the scholar managed to stay at the top of his class in every written examination, his stuttering issues got in the way of his academic success. However, what troubled him more was his father's own journey with stuttering. "He never accepted it," Nathan said, adding, "He was always focused on trying to hide it and trying to overcome it. He spent his whole life ignoring and treating his stutter as an enemy. So, when I was stuttering growing up, he would constantly tell me, ‘Stop stuttering, stop stuttering."

Speaking about the challenges he faced, the scholar shared, "It’s an invisible disability. What’s unique about these kinds of conditions is that when people slip up, they’re automatically attributed to being nervous or stupid or something. And that mistake is not attributed to their disability." Nathan got help with his stuttering in school from speech therapists, who he thought lacked proper training in dealing with the issue. "They mainly focused on teaching techniques to speak fluently and measuring how often the stuttering was visible. However, they didn't address the emotions and feelings that often make stuttering challenging to cope with, which is an important aspect of the stuttering experience," he said.

Finding his voice

Braving the odds, the scholar went on to join the University of California, where he earned the undergraduate degree in 2020 Summa Cum Laude. However, during his time at UCLA, Nathan couldn't resist the urge to build a platform to help more students, who also struggle with stuttering. And after months of research, the scholar developed the Stuttering Scholarship Alliance (SSA), which eventually led to him establishing, MySpeech. "I grew anxious, depressed, and silent," shared Nathan, adding, "Over the years, I learned to embrace my stutter and devoted long hours to finding my voice. I would not be where I am today without the support from speech therapists and peers; however, many who stutter lack stable support networks. I founded Myspeech to build that support system—empowering millions to reach their full potential."

[caption id="attachment_30795" align="aligncenter" width="633"] Nathan receiving the Social Impact Track at Harvard[/caption]

Myspeech uses technology to group people who stutter into treatment groups. The platform provides personalised speech therapy, important community resources, and connections with others. So far, Myspeech has helped over 30,000 people who stutter in more than 25 countries. The services they offer have shown a 90 percent improvement in the quality of life and a 15 times decrease in costs. Since its inception, SSA has assisted approximately 20,000 individuals in over 25 countries and partnered with companies like Google and Microsoft.

"Society places premium value on communication, and there are millions of people who stutter and feel that there is no place for them in the world. The Myspeech platform provides people who stutter with the tools to improve their quality of life. We match a network of patients with stuttering-focused resources, including visits with expert therapists, educational content, mobile applications to practice speaking techniques; and community resources," the scholar shared.

From struggle to strength

Currently an MD/MBA student at Harvard Medical School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, Nathan's focus lies in finding solutions that positively affect the lives of individuals with communication disorders. The scholar has also earlier contributed to various projects related to biology and public policy, including the discovery of a new role for histone proteins as copper reductase enzymes, constructing a framework to comprehend the definition and implementation of disabilities, and creating public policy initiatives aimed at fostering employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities in Los Angeles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49zNPEEaTYg

The scholar, who recently received the prestigious Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, is passionate about investing but also actively conducts research. He played a key role as a founding investor at VANA Capital, where he identified and secured several investments in the biotechnology field. He has also made significant contributions as an author, having published 10 research papers in esteemed academic journals such as Science, Science Advances, Nature Biotechnology, Journal of Fluency Disorders, and Autism in Adulthood. "I aspire to make a career as a healthcare operator and investor focused on transforming the delivery of healthcare services for people with communication disorders," the scholar shared.

Follow Nathan V. Mallipeddi on LinkedIn and Twitter
Follow MySpeech on LinkedIn and Twitter

Reading Time: 6 mins