Bangalore, India, April 24, 2023:
Project Radha, a team of three 16-year-olds from Inventure Academy, Bangalore, has won the Mastercard Financial Education Challenge at the NFTE World Series of Innovation, a global entrepreneurship competition organized by the New York based Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). The competition featured over 1,249 groups from more than 30 countries around the world, including India, USA, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, South Africa, and the UAE.
Project Radha emerged the winner in their category (there were a total of ten challenges in specific areas, including sustainability, education and economic development—all aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)). Their solution, developed by Inventure Academy 11th Graders – Vikashini Sundar, Shivani VN Dogiparthi, and Tanish Hinduja – aims to promote financial literacy among underprivileged teens in India through workshops and resources (for example, existing government schemes).
Project Radha’s solution, named after the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity, aims to reduce the dropout rate of underprivileged school-going children in India due to financial constraints. The team’s research revealed that parents lacked financial literacy, leading to poor financial decisions and the inability to pay school fees. Project Radha developed a curriculum that aims to teach financial literacy to school-going children, who could then share their knowledge with their parents and communities.
“We believe that financial literacy is a fundamental right, and we are thrilled to be recognized for our efforts to promote it,” said Vikashini Sundar, a grade xx student of Inventure Academy and a member of Project Radha. “We hope to share our curriculum with as many schools as possible and create a better India, where people are financially literate, and no lives are lost because of the threats from loan sharks.”
Project Radha’s solution impressed the judges, who lauded the team’s research, innovation, and impact. The team partnered with PennyWise, an organization experienced in teaching children financial literacy using the play-way method, to create an engaging curriculum that is easy to understand.
“We are proud of the impact that Project Radha has had on underprivileged teens in India,” said Shivani VN Dogiparthi, a member of Project Radha. “We believe that financial literacy can make a significant difference in the lives of these students, and we are excited to continue this journey going forward.”
Project Radha received a cash prize of USD 1,500 and recognition from NFTE for their efforts. They were also among Inventure Academy’s Change Maker Challenge 2022-2023, which they credit for preparing and skilling them for the NFTE competition. “Inventure’s Change Maker Program really helped us to prepare for this competition. We learnt a lot about teamwork, and how we can further shape our ideas. The judges gave us amazing inputs, which further helped us strengthen our curriculum and offerings,” says Vikashini.
NFTE Mastercard Financial Education Challenge at the NFTE World Series of Innovation winners announcement: https://innovation.nfte.com/challenge-winners/mastercard-2022/
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