Vignesha Sudalakshmee Chiniah is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. Growing up in Mauritius, Vignesha has always shown a strong interest in educational development and driving positive change. She believes that with the right mindset and toolkit, young people can change the world for the better. Hence, she started Mauritian Youth Network in her home country to empower Mauritian youth with leadership skills and provide them with a platform to openly discuss and take action toward pertinent issues in their communities. “With a more collaborative environment, these young minds will redefine what it means to be a changemaker,” she says.

She is also a former member of the secretariat for the African Leadership Academy Model African Union(ALAMAU), an annual conference that brings together diplomats from the African continent and across the world, as an opportunity to have conversations about economic, political and social issues in Africa and draft resolutions on how they can be solved, where she served as the Director of Finance and the Director of Committee Dynamics.

In her free time, Vignesha maintains her research on the education system in Mauritius and how it can be tailored to equip Mauritian youth with 21st century skills and push them to be better innovators and leaders of tomorrow.