Indian American Teen Gitanjali Rao Honored by First Lady at White House Event to Mark International Day of the Girl

Indian American scientist and innovator Gitanjali Rao, 17, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, was among 15 young women leaders honored by First Lady Jill Biden at the first-ever “Girls Leading Change” celebration at the White House to observe the International Day of the Girl. The event “recognized the profound impact young women who are leading change and shaping a brighter future for generations to come, are having on their communities across the United States, the White House said. 

“The girls on this stage are using their voices to change their communities and shine a light on issues that are often overlooked,” the first lady said, addressing the Oct. 11 event. “They’re protecting and preserving the earth, writing and sharing stories that change minds, using their summer breaks to testify before their state legislature, and turning their pain into purpose.”

Rao, Time magazine’s first ever ‘Kid of the Year,’ is a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a scientist and inventor whose groundbreaking lead contamination detection tool won her an EPA Presidential Award and America’s Top Young Scientist by Discovery Education/3M. Her book “Young Innovator’s Guide to STEM,” which offers a prescriptive five-step innovation process, is used as a STEM curriculum globally in selected schools. She is committed to not only continuing her career as a scientist and inventor, but expanding her STEM education initiative, which has already touched more than 80,000 elementary, middle, and high school students.

She was featured in an episode of Marvel’s Hero Project, “Genius Gitanjali,” which focused on her work inventing an app that detects lead in drinking water, inspired by a trip with her family to India and the Flint Water Crisis. which followed her work developing an app that detects lead in drinking water. Her work was inspired by a trip with her family to India and the Flint water crisis.

She went on to combat another significant problem for her generation—cyberbullying. Her app, Kindly, uses artificial intelligence to detect and combat cyberbullying in its early stages. While in high school, also dedicated her time to running innovation workshops to mentor fellow students. To date, she has mentored more than 45,000 students across 4 continents and continues to pay it forward.