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 SAKSHI WAGH, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of South Florida | Florida, United States | Advancing SDG 5 & UNAI 6
" Health and safety are the birthrights of every citizen in our global village. I would not be where I am today without the strong South Asian women in my life who have persevered and supported me. Survivors in my community continue to face unique challenges, ones which are deeply personal but also echo across cultures worldwide. Through the Millennium Fellowship, I hope to amplify the voices of those impacted by violence and remind the world that their stories are closer than we think. Together, we can create spaces where they feel seen, heard, and empowered. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Shakti: South Asian Youth Against IPV
This last year, I have been helping organize outreach events for HFSS, a local non-profit that supports South Asian survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). I have noticed that many survivors hesitate to reach out for help due to long-standing stigmas in our community. As a small organization, HFSS has also had trouble keeping stakeholders engaged in our mission due to a limited online presence. To address both of these issues, we are launching Shakti: South Asian Youth Against IPV, an integrated service-learning opportunity in collaboration with the USF School of Social Work and Harrell Center. The project will offer students a curriculum that defines IPV, places it in a South Asian cultural context to understand the unique barriers faced by this population in seeking help, identifies signs of IPV in early dating stages, and teaches social marketing in advertising resources towards this demographic. After the lesson, students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and gain service hours with HFSS. The students will create infographics to be published on social media and help design online platforms. Our goal is to engage youth in breaking down generational myths and showing survivors that they are not alone in their journeys.
About the Millennium Fellow
Sakshi Wagh is a pre-medical student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, originally from Phoenix, AZ, USA. She is deeply committed to supporting vulnerable populations affected by violence and abuse, with a focus on women and children in underserved communities. In her project, she collaborates with a local non-profit to address intimate partner violence faced by individuals of the South Asian diaspora. Sakshi plans to carry the leadership and advocacy experience from this work into her future as a physician, continuing to serve those in need of emergency and trauma care.
