ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2024
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 52,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2024 on 6,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 280+ campuses worldwide (just 5%) were selected to host the 4,000+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT JILL LAKSHMI, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW AND CAMPUS DIRECTOR FOR THE CLASS OF 2024.
Sai University | Chennai, India | Advancing SDG 5, SDG 4 & UNAI 6
" "I went through child sexual abuse when I was twelve. My teenage self went through depression, helplessness, eating disorders, body insecurity and PTSD, because there was no one who could help me out. The Millennium Fellowship, I believe, will provide me with a platform where I can act upon my ideas so that nobody else will have to fight or go through trauma alone and will get justice and the help they need. Through this fellowship I seek guidance, support and connections that will help me pursue my aspirations in a goal oriented way. Working with individuals who have the same goals but different viewpoints will broaden my horizon and provide a fresh perspective. I look forward to gaining more experience and improving my skill set so that I can bring about positive changes in other people's lives." "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Project PonVizhi
Project PonVizhi, consisting of eight undergraduate students, is an organisation that aims to raise awareness about sexual assault, domestic abuse, and child sexual harassment in particular. We aim to educate people on the steps that can be taken to report harassment and seek help in terms of their mental well-being. The target audience of the program is school and college students. When we were school students, there were no committees or legal mechanisms that provided redressals to child sexual harassment survivors or conducted events to spread awareness on gender rights and sexual harassment prevention in our schools or in other educational establishments like coaching centers. Cases of child sexual harassment often go unreported. We seek to raise awareness among kids and young adults (both girls and boys this time, as our educational systems often leave boys out of this) on what counts as harassment, because abuse comes in all forms, and goes much deeper than “good touch and bad touch”. We intend to push educational establishments to have POSH centres. Also, if possible, educate parents, teachers, and guardians on how to respond to children when they confide in them. As a survivor of sexual assault, it is difficult to navigate a world that turns a blind eye towards victims. Through this program, we aspire to create a community that will provide a safe space and support for people, particularly, girls and women who have been through abuse and sexual assault.
About the Millennium Fellow
Jill Lakshmi is a 20 year old undergraduate student, hailing from Chennai, India. She is currently pursuing a double major in Cognitive Neuroscience and Biology with a minor in Psychology, from Sai University, Chennai. Jill advocates for gender equality and through the project, aims to spread awareness and pave the paths of tackling gender based violence and child sexual abuse. In the last three years, she has helped over ninety young women from less privileged backgrounds, with their academic endeavours by helping them with their university curriculum; out of which eighty three have been enrolled in masters programs in Tamil nadu, India. She also volenteers at a student-run NGO- “Ujjawal Shiksha Foundation (USF)”, that strives to educate children from the lower rungs of the society. Working closely with communities apart from her own and utilizing the power of education to create an impact in the lives of people, Jill strongly believes that education and community awareness are the two pillars that will help bridge gender gaps in society.
