ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT KARTIKAY MENDIRATTA, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of Delhi North Campus | New Delhi, India | Advancing SDG 3, SDG 10 & UNAI 9
" I do this work because no family should have to face the shock, fear, and financial burden that comes with a late-stage kidney diagnosis. Having lived through it, I know how isolating it can feel. Through the Millennium Fellowship, I'm excited to turn my personal experience into a platform for awareness, advocacy, and change - so more people can get help earlier, and no one has to go through this journey alone. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Nephra
Every year, around 200,000 people in India find out they have kidney failure extremely late, and most can't afford treatment. On top of that, organ donation is still taboo only about 0.65 donors per million patients get an organ donation. Since my dad's diagnosis, I've wanted to bring forth change by focusing on three things: Awareness, Access & Advocacy. Awareness: A Kidney Care Playbook helping people understand how to support patients. We will conduct talks with patients, doctors and families to create a reality and insight focused, visually appealing, multilingual guide to fight CKD. Access: Raising volunteers and Hosting a Kidney Health Summit at DU to improve detection and give information to the youth and guardians of CKD patients. We can raise funding via sponsors, something I have experience with, and set up free creatinine booths, bringing in well known nephrologists for talks (also streamed online). Advocacy: Bringing forth a cultural shift starting from colleges. We'll run fun quiz stalls and AR photo booths in college fests, which also actively advocating on a social media page using creative visuals and digital campaigns. The goal is simple: To get people talking earlier, catch the disease sooner and make organ donation normal.
About the Millennium Fellow
Kartikay Mendiratta comes from Delhi, India. He is currently pursuing his final year of Bachelor’s in Economics at Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi.
A motivated changemaker, his passion for impact stems from witnessing a healthcare crisis in his own family. Through the Millennium Fellowship, he aims to make essential health information more accessible, foster awareness around chronic illnesses, and challenge stigma - starting with kidney health and organ donation. His vision is a world where no family suffers due to late diagnosis or prejudice, and where communities work together to safeguard public health.
