Meet Shloka, winner of the Diana Award

Rithu Dravid | NT

July 1, 2022, was a red-letter day for 16-year-old Shloka Ashok of Greenwood High Inter national School in Bengaluru as she received the The Diana Award, presented to the outstanding young changemaker in the world. The award was instituted by the only charity set up in memory of Princess Diana, who believed that young people have the power to change the world.

“I am glad to have set a standard to create a positive social impact,” said Shloka, who launched three unique platforms that changed hundreds of lives, which were believed to have fetched the award. She is the founder of ‘InternMee’, a platform that provides internship, volunteer and leadership opportunities to high schoolers.

The platform was launched from the thought that student internships should be hassle-free. Since December 2020, the platform has helped over 35,000 students from over 85 countries. It was featured in the top 10 internship search websites by the Telegraph’s Edugraph programme.

During the pandemic, she set up Dildaan, an organisation that funds girls’ education in India. She sold homemade south Indian pickles and raised funds to educate 11 girls in rural India. Her current aim is to educate more than 25 students.

She set up a social service club in her school as her aim is to bring about social intiaitiates in a structured way. “I started the club with 60 members and we do clothing donation drives, welfare programmes, education awareness as many other initiatives,” she said.