Namya Joshi

Namya’s Minecraft journey started five years ago, when she saw one of her teachers using the software and was mesmerized by how it worked. Although Minecraft is a game, Namya realized that it could be used for education too. Without any help from experts, Namya taught herself the basics of Minecraft by watching tutorials and experimenting. She then began to create lessons using the software to illustrate topics. The first lesson she made for her peers was on the Egyptian civilization, and both the class teacher and the students were impressed. Students were more engaged, because with the software they could revisit concepts they didn’t understand – as well as being able to carry out their assignments in a non-threatening environment. Since then, Namya has mentored and trained more than 15,000 teachers and students globally to create game-based lessons for the classroom. She has also been able to create a virtual library of lessons, more than 500 of which are available free of charge on her YouTube channel and website, www.namyajoshi.com.  

In 2018, Namya won the National Minecraft Competition, and she has since been nominated as both an SDGs For Children Ambassador and a TeachSDGs Ambassador. Seeing Namya’s success has hugely encouraged other girl students to come forward, take part in competitions and use technology for good. Through her educational YouTube videos and her podcast series “EachOneTeachTen: An Amazing World Of STEM”, Namya has been able to create a range of STEM-related media that encourages girls to take up the field and inspires them to think about their own potential.

The educational resources that Namya has created have had wide-reaching influence: Microsoft, Google and other gamification giants have used her tutorials, and UNESCO has recognized her for creating a virtual library of free books made available for everyone in Minecraft. Reflecting on her own experience, Namya has also authored the book #EachOneTeachTen – The Journey Continues. This book has been a bestseller in India, the US, Canada and Australia, and is based around her credo that knowledge is spread by each person teaching ten people, who in turn teach ten others until everyone is part of the network of learning. Building on its success, she is currently writing her second book, which aims to raise awareness about digital citizenship.

Namya has been a four-time TEDx and TED speaker, and has appeared in multiple global media outlets, also winning recognition from Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) during his visit to India in 2020 for the work she has done in creating educational materials. If she wins the Global Student Prize 2023, Namya will use the prize funds to create an app and website for her startup CurriCatalyst, making it public on a global scale. CurriCatalyst will aim to advance Namya’s "Each One Teach Ten" credo with a global focus. Namya will also allocate some funds to enhancing her ethical hacking and artificial intelligence skills so that she can empower others to use technology for good.