Kartik Sawhney

Kartik Sawhney

Kartik is a disability advocate and technologist who has not let his disability prove an impediment in the pursuit of his personal and professional goals and has done substantial work in empowering other people with disabilities to be successful tech professionals. As the first blind student to pursue science education in high school in India, he advocated for change in rules that now allow all blind students across the country to pursue sciences in high school. Similarly, after several months of advocacy, he convinced the top technical universities in India to open their doors to blind students, leading to at least thirty students in India pursuing engineering today.

A computer science graduate of Stanford University, Kartik co-founded I-Stem that develops technical solutions to empower them to access educational and employment opportunities. I-Stem also works closely with the government, technical universities and corporates to make their campuses and culture more inclusive, and has worked with nearly 25,000 people with disabilities so far. He also leads the Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities (GNYPWD), an organization supported by multiple UN agencies, and is committed to building the capacity of the community to lead initiatives, voice their opinions and advocate for their rights. Further, given his experience in accessibility and assistive technologies, he serves on boards of several organizations and other high-level committees, such as the Education Commission’s Expert Panel on Technology and Education and national Federation of the Blind. His work and views have been published in several journals including UNICEF’s State of the world’s children Report among others.

In recognition of his leadership potential and work, Kartik received the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016 from Her Majesty The Queen. In addition, he has received the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (India’s highest honor for contributions to the disability sector) and was selected as one of the 17 UN young leaders for Sustainable Development Goals 2018 by Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. He is an Echoing Green fellow, an MIT Solve winner, and a UNICEF digital champion. Kartik’s vision is to redefine disability through achievement.