(May 2, 2025) In first grade, Shruthi Kumar tried yoga for the first time as part of a community program in her small Nebraska town. Surrounded by “cattle ranches and cornfields,” she never expected that gentle stretches and breathing exercises would become a lifeline. But even then, she felt the way yoga helped calm her mind. “Yoga allows you to have control over your own body,” she later explained. That early experience stayed with her through the pressures of middle school and high school, when juggling honors classes, speech and debate, and sports sometimes left her working on homework until 4 a.m.
A Family Crisis Sparks a Mission
In her sophomore year of high school, Shruthi learned that her 13-year-old cousin had been diagnosed with depression. Up close, she saw how few tools young people had to cope with stress. Remembering how yoga had helped her find calm, Shruthi decided to share those benefits with her peers. Rather than waiting for a mental health crisis, she wanted to give students simple, daily practices they could use anytime.
This led her to launch GoYogi in 2017. She traveled to Tamil Nadu in India for an intensive yoga teacher training, then returned home ready to introduce short yoga and mindfulness sessions into school routines. The idea was simple: spend five to ten minutes each morning on basic breathing exercises and stretches, guided by a teacher or using a smartphone app.
Building GoYogi from Nebraska to the World
Shruthi started GoYogi at her own high school, where she formed a yoga club that met before classes. Teachers and students soon noticed changes in focus and mood. Encouraged, Shruthi worked with classmates to develop an app that delivers easy-to-follow mindfulness lessons. By 2024, over 2,000 students were using the GoYogi app, which offers more than 40 lessons in multiple languages, from English and Spanish to Hindi and Portuguese.
GoYogi’s reach expanded beyond Nebraska. The nonprofit partnered with schools in other states and even with youth centers abroad, bringing mindfulness to over 7,000 students by early 2024. Research shows that school-based yoga and meditation can reduce anxiety, improve attention, and boost overall well-being. Teachers reported quieter classrooms and more engaged learners, confirming GoYogi’s promise as a preventive tool for mental health.
In 2019, GoYogi received the Diana Award for social action, honoring Shruthi as a teenager making a real difference. The recognition helped the nonprofit attract volunteers, secure small grants, and form partnerships with nonprofits focused on youth mental health.
Balancing Science, Activism, and Leadership at Harvard
In 2020, Shruthi made history as the first in her family to attend college in the United States. She enrolled at Harvard University, studying History of Science and Economics with a minor in Human Evolutionary Biology. Those fields let her explore the scientific side of well-being—how the mind and body interact and how social factors shape health.
On campus, Shruthi continued teaching yoga and mindfulness informally, leading free sessions for classmates. She co-founded Wellness Educators, a student group that offers peer-to-peer support and self-care workshops. She also joined Harvard’s student health advisory committee, helping shape policies around student mental health.
Her curiosity led her into labs and government agencies, too. She interned at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, assisting neuroscience research on stress and cognition. Later, she worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she saw how public health programs address mental health at a population level. Through these experiences, Shruthi deepened her understanding of how mindfulness practices and scientific interventions can work hand in hand.
Advocating for Equity: Menstrual Access and Cultural Community
Shruthi’s drive to solve practical problems extended beyond mental health. As president of the Harvard South Asian Association, she organized cultural events celebrating Indian traditions and fostered community among students far from home. She also led a campaign to improve menstrual equity on campus—installing free menstrual product dispensers in nearly every public bathroom. Before her effort, only 24 percent of restrooms offered free supplies; after her campaign, that figure approached 100 percent.
Through projects like these, Shruthi demonstrated a talent for spotting gaps in support systems and mobilizing peers to fix them. Whether advocating for easier access to menstrual products or daily mindfulness breaks, she focused on solutions that anyone could use—and that cost little or nothing to implement.
Poetry, Public Speaking, and Personal Voice
Alongside her nonprofit and academic work, Shruthi nurtured her creative side. She began writing poetry in middle school and was published in a national youth anthology. Her writing explored themes of identity, belonging, and the mind-body connection—echoing her work with GoYogi.
Public speaking became another outlet. In high school, she competed in speech and debate, earning a national finalist spot for an original oratory piece on self-reflection. She also won the Voice of Democracy contest in 2020, delivering a radio essay on civic responsibility and empathy.
Her speaking skills reached a crescendo in 2024 when she was chosen as the Le Baron Russell Briggs Commencement Speaker for Harvard College. Before thousands of graduates and families, she urged her classmates to practice resilience, authenticity, and compassion. At one memorable moment, she veered off-script to voice solidarity with fellow student activists, demonstrating the very courage she had long championed.
Part of a Broader Diaspora of Young Changemakers
Shruthi Kumar’s journey is remarkable—but she is far from alone. Across the United States, Indian-American teens and young adults are launching nonprofits, inventing new technologies, and leading community movements. They blend cultural values—like a focus on education, community, and service—with an American spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Shruthi Kumar, the Indian origin teen who made waves around the world with her bold speech at the Harvard Commencement Ceremony
From tech prodigies creating AI tools for social good to student organizers fighting for climate justice, this generation of diaspora youth is tackling big challenges with fresh ideas. Shruthi’s focus on school-based wellness fills a vital gap in mental health care, just as others are expanding access to education, clean water, and healthy food. Together, they are reshaping how their communities—and the world—approach social problems.
Looking Forward: A Future of Mindful Impact
As Shruthi prepares to graduate and step into the next chapter, GoYogi continues to grow. Plans are underway to expand the app’s features—adding live classes, stress-tracking tools, and modules for teachers’ self-care. She also hopes to partner with school districts and public health departments to make mindfulness a standard part of curricula nationwide.
Her story began on a quiet yoga mat in rural Nebraska. Now, it echoes in classrooms, apps, and public discussions about youth mental health. By combining personal experience, scientific insight, and a hands-on approach, Shruthi Kumar has created a model for preventive wellness that can travel anywhere—just like her own journey from cornfields to Harvard. And for the students who find calm in her guided breaths and stretches, that model may prove life-changing.
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