16-year-old Founder of Nai Subah Foundation Tarini Malhotra Bags Prestigious Diana Award

Tarini Malhotra, a 16-year-old student at The Shri Ram School, Moulsari Campus, Gurugram and the Founder of Nai Subah Foundation has bagged the prestigious Diana award for providing opportunities for society's most marginalised groups.

Tarini Malhotra - The Diana Award

Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, The Diana Award is the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. It is the longest running award for young people through a retrospective nomination process only. This year’s recipients included 189 young people from 31 countries around the world. HRH The Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex delivered personal recorded video messages to the young award recipients of this year.

Tarini's efforts for Parivartan Special School during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the establishment of her social startup, "Nai Subah Foundation", and its first initiative, Project Nishant, which provided the school and its students with crucial support during a financial crisis. The organisation is run by like-minded, sensitive young people with the goal of changing lives, eradicating darkness, and ushering in a "nai subah", or a new dawn. Over the past 2 years, Nai Subah Foundation has worked tirelessly to create employment opportunities for India's neurodivergent population, especially those with autism spectrum disorders and other neurological conditions. Tarini's vision is to ensure that no one is left behind, and they have successfully partnered with companies to generate meaningful work, raise funds, develop innovative models, and create awareness about neurodiversity.

CEO of The Diana Award, Tessy Ojo CBE commented, “We warmly congratulate our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and across the world who are changemakers for their generation. These young people demonstrate that young people have the power to change the world; a belief also held by Diana Princess of Wales. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own changemaking journey.”

Expressing her joy on receiving the coveted award, Tarini Malhotra said, "As a next gen changemaker, who wants to create a better and more inclusive community for the neurodiverse, the world is often a hostile, unwelcoming place. Recognition from The Diana Award provides me the inspiration to carry on building the transformative journey. Further, it enhances the credibility of our start up, helps to open doors and develop more meaningful networks that can enable and enrich Nai Subah Foundation’s projects in a multitude of ways.”

Tarini has actively promoting numerous social concerns, such as the financial inclusion of women, the education of underprivileged kids, and the assistance of kids with disabilities. She is a fierce supporter of social startups' who has collaborated with businesses to successfully generate meaningful jobs and promote awareness of neurodiversity.

‍This year’s other Diana Award recipients represent some of the most inspirational young people from around the world like Ahnaf Abrar Husain who founded 'Bhoroshasthol', a nonprofit organisation aimed at helping the underprivileged in Bangladesh, Amey Agarwal who battled nephrotic syndrome for 15 years, has dedicated themself to raising awareness and providing assistance to those affected by the condition, Adithya Anush who has supported the education of over 400 tribal students in India for the past four years. These outstanding young individuals have proven their capacity to motivate and inspire future generations to give back to their communities and bring about worldwide transformation that will persist for a long time.