ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2021
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In 2021, over 25,000 young leaders on 2,000+ campuses across 153 nations applied to join the Class of 2021. 136 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 2,000+ Millennium Fellows. The Class of 2021 is bold, innovative, and inclusive.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT SAMAJA PENUMAKA, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW AND CAMPUS DIRECTOR FOR THE CLASS OF 2021.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras | Chennai, India | Advancing SDG 3 & UNAI 2
" Our world is evolving, we are thinking of new ways to be inclusive, kinder and develop sustainable societies. Mental Health will be a big brick in the foundations of such a civilization. Through our project we would like to understand how to create healthy micro-societies and the way forward and share the results with the Millennium Fellow community. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: IITM Mental Wellness Network
IITM Mental Wellness Network is a grassroots level endeavour aimed at raising mental health support systems within the student community. We will work within the IIT Madras campus and with underprivileged students from around the city of Chennai. We planned to mobilize students into tightly-knit support groups at the intra- and inter-departmental levels so that their mental health issues can be voiced in safe spaces. We will also work towards normalizing conversations surrounding mental health and conduct campus-wide data collection drives to cater to the specific needs of students. More importantly, we shall engage in a conversation with campus administration and other stakeholders to introduce a formal mental health infrastructure as part of the healthcare facilities available to students on campus, both in terms of counselling as well as medical attention. Simultaneously, we aim to interact with school students and introduce them to issues regarding 'Mental Health' potentially helping form an inter-university mental health support system that connects major campuses in South India. IITM Mental Wellness Network ultimately wishes to constitute a dynamic network that evolves with changing needs and times, in ways that understand connections between mental health and other spheres of life, such as educational quality, or gender equality.
About the Millennium Fellow
Samaja Penumaka is pursuing her education in English Studies and International Relations from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. She was born and raised in south India and resides in the worlds of well written words. She was always interested the Political Sciences and Gender rights. She is the Head Editor of the Campus Literary and Culture Magazine and Core organizing member of Vannam (in-campus LGBTQ+ advocacy and support group). Her work with a Mental Health Tech Start initiated her into the her work with integrating Mental Health support into health policy inclusively and equitably. Samaja wishes to further pursue her education in Global Health Policy.
