A 16-year-old Shloka Ashok has been bestowed the Diana award for social and humanitarian efforts. The award has been instituted in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales and her belief that young people have the power to change the world. She was among the 180 students worldover to receive the Today over 180 accolade a young person achieves for social action or humanitarian efforts.

The awardees are decided through a nomination process, where nominators demonstrate the nominee’s impact in five key areas: Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey. There are 20 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each region or nation both in the UK and internationally.

The panels of three judges then determine which nominations from each region or nation will receive The Diana Award. Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure quality of youth social action.

This student from Greenwood High International School, Bengaluru has been recognised for founding ‘InternMee’, a platform that provides internship, volunteering and leadership opportunities to high schoolers free of charge. Launched in December 2020, ‘InternMee’ has helped over 35,000 students from over 85 countries and was featured in the top 10 internship search websites by a survey. In August 2020, Shloka also co-founded ‘Dildaan’, a social organization that supports and raises money to fund girls’ education in India.

They began by educating 11 girls and are working towards reaching out to more. Shloka also founded a social service club at school, which aims to expand their reach and inspire the school community.

“This international award cements my belief that young people have the power to change the world and the recognition not only provides the validation that every young changemaker needs, but also acts as a driving force to do more,” said Shloka, a student of Greenwood High International School.

Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO of The Diana Award, said, “We warmly congratulate our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and across the world who are changemakers for their generation. It is especially poignant as we remember Princess Diana twenty-five years on. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.”