Ananya Tiwari

Ph.D. candidate, Educational Psychology

Ananya Tiwari won the 2020 Illinois Innovation Prize for her work with SwaTaleem Foundation, a non-profit that she co-founded. SwaTaleem, which roughly translates to mean “Owning your Education,” aims to solve challenges that schools in rural India face, such as lack of professional development and resources for teachers. It also tackles the still too common practice of child marriage by keeping girls in school and building their education and socio-emotional skills.

"As a scholar here, I’m given respect and a sense of freedom to bring in my ideas. I don’t feel limited in what I can do. I feel like I’ve been really supported by the people here, in whatever capacity they’ve met me—my adviser, the faculty members, staff—and I’m thankful."