Gitanjali Rao: Teen Wonder on a Mission to Solve the World's Problems With the Help of Her Global Army of Young Innovators

March 31, 20223 Minutes Read
Success Stories

Link Copied!

What can a 16-year-old do, you ask? While most teens at 16 can barely cope with their raging hormones, struggling to figure out their biology, Gitanjali Rao is changing the world. One innovation at a time. If you still haven't heard about this young girl genius, pay close attention to this article as you are in for a treat.

Who is Gitanjali Rao?

She is an American of Indian origin.Gitanjali got particularly famous as the 12-year-old-kid who invented a device to detect lead in water. Some may have thought she was a one-time wonder. However, Gitanjali is a bag full of never-ending ideas that will change the world and make it a better place.

Classical dance Kathak, swimming, baking, writing, fencing, playing piano and fitness are some of her interests. She is studying to get her pilot's licence. Rao has also spoken about pursuing further studies in Epidemiology and Genetics. Gitanjali Rao is also a scientist, coder, mentor, inventor, engineer, author, and most importantly, a ray of hope that Earth deserves. She

Awards and Recognitions

Although there is an even longer list of all the awards recognition Rao has won, here are some popular ones.

  • In 2017, Gitanjali won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her innovation of Tethys. Based on MIT's App Inventor platform, Tethys is Bluetooth enabled device with carbon nanotubes and a 9V battery. It detects the presence of lead in water. She won a total of 50,000 dollars for this invention at two different forums to develop a prototype.
  • Later in 2017, she made headlines when her name was included on the Forbes 30 under 30 List.
  • In 2018, Gitanjali was even given the prestigious President's Environmental Youth Award by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's.
  • Fast forward to the year 2020. Gitanjali started "innovation workshops" where she would collaborate, mentor and share ideas with students from across the globe to solve World problems. She has already mentored 30,000 young minds who have ideas to make this world a better place. This got her named TIMETop Young Innovator - 2020.
  • In December 2020, she was chosen from a pool of 5000 brightest young minds and earned her place on the cover of TIME. Rao was dubbed the TIMEKid of the Year 2020. She was the first one to ever win this title.
  • More recently, in November 2021, this bright young mind was awarded as a Laureate of the Young Activists Summit held at United Nations, Geneva.
  • After her UN feat, she was awarded Spotlight Of The Year at Women of The Year 2021 by Vogue.

Rao's Ideas to Solve World Problems

Rao has been a TEDx speaker 3 times and has talked about various topics, including her invention and problem solving for innovators. To fight prescribed opioid addiction, Gitanjali developed a tool called Epione. Being aware of the global problem of cyberbullying, she has even created 'Kindly'. This app which is also a Google extension helps teenagers. The App's AI has been hardcoded with words by Gitanjali that amount to bullying. Unaware teens can avoid saying harsh things, and avoid unknowingly becoming bullies using this app.

Gitanjali really cares about the world, which is evident in all her creations. She is a brilliant example of how determination and hard work can break stereotypes of age, gender, race, nationality and resources. If you, too, have an idea that can revolutionise/impact India's rural development or solve a global problem, please pursue your dream. Who knows, you could be the next Gitanjali Rao.

Get Inspired with

Blog and News

Success Stories
October 31, 20203 Minutes Read

Learn About Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and Her Role in Planning for the Fight Against COVID-19

There are so many inspiring stories of women at the forefront of the fight against COVID 19. Some have taken the initiative independently and while others have used their position in official government positions. One such shining example is female IAS Officer and recently-retired Union Health Secretary, Preeti Sudan. Between June 2019 and July 2020, she served in her post and her time in the position had to deal with the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic. As part of her responsibilities, she led the way when it came to sharing key information with the entire country about the virus when little was known about it and it was just beginning to spread.

Faced with a challenging situation, the ex-Health Secretary shouldered some very important responsibilities and was always leading from the front. Her job was three-pronged. First, she had to create a strategy to tackle the outbreak effectively and in coordination with the Prime Minister's Office to ensure that the unavoidable outbreak of the virus would be contained as effectively as possible while minimizing the damage it would cause across the country. Looking at the number of cases that were reported within the first two months, it was clear that she had successfully dealt with the task at hand. For example, she created the zoning system which helped identify the level of infections within every area in each city. She also created protocols for restricted travel during the early days of the outbreak.

As more and more people joined the fight at the forefront against COVID-19, Preeti Sudan was one of the many inspirational women in India who were more than up for the challenge. She comforted the nation at a time when it was a delicate situation as migrant workers were heading back to their hometown and there was a mass exodus of people from bigger cities. Through regular and effective press briefing, she was not only able to give important and necessary updates to the entire country but also ease the fears of the people. Her calm and confident nature saw her deal with common and frequently asked questions comfortably and with positivity. If that is not the definition of a woman warrior, then what is?

Finally, she used her position to ensure the containment of the outbreak within as small an area as possible within the states. She was continuously in touch with officers in every state who was in charge of dealing with the outbreak and she was very proactive in ensuring that all the departments were executing their tasks in the best way possible. As the Union Health Secretary, she used her powers to oversee the execution of such tasks personally for every state emerging as one of the key women leaders in our country. She acted as the first and most important point of contact for all disease-related queries that were directed at the government by both, the media and the general public.

The former Health Secretary has a very rich educational background. She holds a Master's degree in Economic Philosophy and a doctorate in Economics from the prestigious London School of Economics. Her drive to serve the country saw her rise from the Andhra cadre as one of the early women IAS officers in the country. Her service to the nation saw her serve several positions including Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence and a Special Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development. One of her most recent positions was as a Secretary in the Department of Food and Public Distribution. She was also at the forefront of dealing with the Kerala floods in 2019 and her action drew her high praises from all sections of the government.

The story of former Health Secretary minister Preeti Sudan proves that the will of women in this country can move mountains. If you were inspired by her story, read about more such inspiring women on Glow & Lovely Careers (formerly known as Fair and Lovely Career Foundation) website here.

To explore careers in Healthcare check out the Career Options section of the Glow & Lovely Careers site.

Success Stories
July 23, 20213 Minutes Read

Designing: The Emerging Career Opportunity of the Future

Are you creative and can think out of the box? Then, Designing can be a great career opportunity for you to consider!
Some element of Designing is present in various professions. There is Designing in everything - from constructing a building to working with computers.

Usually, when people think of designing, they automatically think about fashion. They do not go beyond fashion designing. While fashion designing is a rewarding career option, one may use Designing in many different professions. In Designing, there are many career options for women. A person working in designing can have flexible working hours. Work-from-home job opportunities are always available. This makes Designing a good career option for women.

Today, a woman has the freedom to choose any career she wants. The career opportunities for women are the same as a men.

However, sometimes women also have to face some additional limitations. A man may not face the same restrictions.

For example, girls and their parents think about safety more. So, girls may not want to travel far away from home for work. Or they may not want to work late till night. As mothers, the women may want to spend time with their children. Simultaneously, they may also want to keep working.

A career in Designing offers these benefits. There are opportunities to work from home. Additionally, some jobs also offer flexible timings. That means you can choose how many hours do you wish to work every day.
Plus, designing involves creativity. All these factors make Designing a good career option for women.

<br /> <br />

Picking up from designing article -- We don't want to discourage or show less importance of any full-fledged degree. Our tonality shall be, while degree has its own advantages, but if someone can't get there for any reasons, there are always free online courses available.

A degree in Designing has its own advantages. But, if someone cannot get a degree, then there are always free online designing courses available.
So even if you have a degree in Science or Engineering or Arts, you can still consider a career in design.
Click to check these free online courses in Designing!

Apart from regular courses which you have to attend physically, there are also online courses available. So, you can even study Designing from the comfort of your home.

Some courses are paid ones, but there are also free courses available.

There are many free courses in Designing available on this site. These are all online courses. You can click here to check them out.

Many also offer certification. So, you can include them in your CV. This will make your CV look strong.

Computers, Interior Designing, Advertising, Films, and the list just goes on.... There are thus many career options for women in designing.

We have made a list of some career opportunities which are currently popular in Designing. These are also considered to be good career opportunities for girls.

<br />
  1. Animation and Multimedia
<br />
  1. Graphic Designing
<br />
  1. User Interface and Experience Designer
<br />
  1. Interior Designing
<br />
  1. Photography
<br />
  1. Art Direction
<br />
  1. Fashion Designing

    Design jobs are relevant across. 3D modeling. Animation. Motion graphics. Videography. Digital designing. Social media. Website designing, Packaging designing... Many other professions require designing skills.

    This site offers many free courses in design. You can learn them online and also get certifications for them. There are courses in Digital Design, Product Design Automation, Fashion Designing Illustration... and so many more! And all of them are free.

    Click to check these free online courses in Designing!