Palampur activist selected Global Fellow 2025

Sandhya Gupta, a Palampur-based education activist, has been selected as one of 30 individuals worldwide for the Ford Global Fellowship for 2025 by the Ford Foundation.

An advocate for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education, Gupta is the founder of Aavishkaar, an initiative aimed at closing achievement gaps and empowering children, particularly girls, with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in STEM fields.

Gupta’s career includes roles as the executive director of the Sambhavana Institute in India and as a principal engineer at Polar Semiconductor in the USA. She holds a Master’s in Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and a doctorate in electrical engineering from Iowa State University.

In 2009, after returning to India with her five-year-old daughter, Gupta was reminded of the challenges she herself faced in STEM education. This led her to launch Aavishkaar, with the mission to transform how STEM subjects are taught and learned.

Speaking to The Tribune, Gupta described STEM education as key to breaking the cycle of poverty for many rural and low-income communities. “By collaborating with science and math educators to find innovative ways of teaching these subjects, we can inspire a new generation of advocates for equality and justice,” she said. The Ford Foundation supports individuals, ideas and institutions that drive change, with a focus on creating a more equitable world.

Himachal Tribune