The 2021 Youth Essay Competition

Congratulations to This Year’s Winners!

The winners of the 2021 Youth Essay Competition were announced in late October and celebrated at a special online event held Wednesday, November 10, 2021. (To view a recording of the event, click here.)

The competition was launched in February of 2020 as a vehicle to encourage philanthropic thought and action among American youth with ties to or interest in India. Now in its second year, the competition has brought dedicated and talented youth together with leading philanthropic organizations in what we hope will be a lifelong commitment to advancing development and poverty reduction programs in India.

Winners presented their ideas at the November 10th event, organized by IPA and Indiaspora, which was attended by philanthropists, business leaders, nonprofit staff, parents and friends of competition participants, and others. Winners, Runners-up and Finalists were introduced, and the winners were interviewed by Mona Shah, one of the judges for the competition and a representative of The Sarva Mangal Family Trust, the contest sponsor. The runners-up were interviewed by Maher Adoni, the winner of the 2020 high school competition.  

In addition, winners received a financial award of $1,000 to direct to the charity of their choice. Runners-up received a $500 award to direct to the charity of their choice. 

The essays of the winners, runners-up and finalists can be found below.

Winning Essays

Middle School

Winner: Eisha Yadav ($1000 to American Friends of HelpAge India)

Runner-up: Chinmayi Joshi ($500 to UNICEF USA)

Finalists: Arhaan Iyer, Eesha Jain, Riya Pharsiyawar

To read the top essays from the 2020 competition, click here.

To see the press release about the 2021 essay competition, click here.

To learn about the development of IPA and its role in advancing collaboration among leading NGOs in India, click here.