Mannat Samra

At just 17 years old, Mannat is transforming some of the world’s most overlooked systems – from prisons to refugee camps – into platforms for dignity, education, and second chances. A student changemaker from India, she leads groundbreaking work across criminal justice reform, refugee education, and sustainability innovation, with her initiatives reaching 50,000+ incarcerated individuals, 2,000+ refugee youth, and communities across six Indian states and internationally.

Mannat’s prison reform efforts span rehabilitation, reintegration, and systemic change. She has delivered communication and vocational training to thousands of inmates, launched India’s first job portal for ex-convicts, and co-authored a public interest litigation for post-release guidance wards. Through her programme Bridge, she has supported 30+ small businesses run by formerly incarcerated individuals and successfully secured corporate jobs for others. Her work is implemented in partnership with India Vision Foundation and advocates for structural change at both state and national levels.

Simultaneously, Mannat supports refugee youth around the world. She mentors 100+ refugees through an English conversation club and SAT/IELTS preparation programme, helping alumni gain admission to universities like Stanford. She also provides educational and nutrition support for 10,000+ Burmese refugees in Northeast India – often transforming food waste into solutions, as she did with her social enterprise SustainaBite, which repurposes brewer’s grain into high-protein flour.

A fierce advocate for intersectional innovation, Mannat is also co-developer of SecureSense, an AI-powered surveillance system designed to protect borderland communities while preventing human rights violations. Her creative use of discarded materials – including using human hair to absorb industrial oil pollution in Punjab waterways – demonstrates her commitment to solving environmental challenges with ingenuity.

Academically gifted, Mannat ranked in the top 1% of her class, earned 10 A*s in IGCSE, and has completed intensive programmes at Oxford, Yale, and through Northwestern University. She is a recipient of the Diana Award, the University of Rochester’s Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award, and was named to Asia’s 20Under20.

Mannat also mentors others through her idea incubator, which has helped students launch social projects addressing autism, education, and menstrual equity. As President of her school’s Debate and MUN clubs, she has led her delegation to its first-ever team awards at Harvard MUN and Oxford MUN, and has personally mentored over 400 students.

If awarded the Global Student Prize, Mannat plans to scale her prison reintegration initiative, establish a scholarship fund for vulnerable youth, and launch career counseling programmes in juvenile detention centers. Her goal is to create systems that rehabilitate, not punish – so no one is a prisoner of their circumstances.