New Delhi edition · October 2026Economics · Enterprise · PolicyWrite to the editor →
New Delhi · India

Yukti Dahiya

Vol. I · No. 1
Economist · Founder · Researcher · Essayist · Classical vocalist
Pathways▲ 500+ students mentoredRISE▲ 75+ women-led venturesSAT▲ 1590/1600IEO▲ AIR 6 China roundAMC 12▲ Top 5% worldwideCommonwealth Essay▲ Gold of 26,322Fin. literacy▲ 3,000+ students taughtGates Fdn.▲ 20,000+ rural women reachedOxford Global▲ 1st best paperSRCC NEO▲ Rank 3 national
New Delhi, IndiaAmity International School, Pushp Vihar · Grade 12Front page
Lead story

Where opportunity runs out, I start building: career guidance for government schools, capital for rural women, and the research to back it.

Economist.
Founder.
Researcher.
Vocalist.

Inside this edition
  1. Pathways & RISEA1
  2. Beyond CreditB1
  3. Gates FoundationC1
  4. Rooms I runD1
  5. The archiveE1
  6. In the pressF1
Portrait of Yukti Dahiya

Yukti Dahiya, founder of Project Pathways and RISE. New Delhi.

By the numbers · 2024–2026

I'm Yukti Dahiya, a Grade 12 student at Amity International School, Pushp Vihar. In 2024 I founded Project Pathways, a mobile career-counselling cell that has mentored 500+ students in government schools and underserved areas.

A year later I launched RISE, a rural incubator that has trained 2,000+ aspiring entrepreneurs and incubated 75+ women-led ventures.

My research on women's self-help groups has been published, and my newest paper surveys 240 enterprises across 12 states. I've interned with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, scored 1590 on the SAT, and won Gold at the Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition.

“Credit and group membership alone do not explain which enterprises grow.”

From my working paper “Beyond Credit,” 2026. See B1.

By the numbers2024–2026
500+students mentored by Project Pathways
2,000+rural entrepreneurs trained by RISE
75+women-led ventures incubated
20,000+rural women reached through Gates Foundation work
3,000+students taught financial literacy
1590SAT score, 800 in Reading & Writing
Section A · ImpactSocial enterprise

The Pathways Report

Three initiatives, each aimed at one gap: who gets career guidance, who gets capital, and who learns how money works.

A1 · Project Pathways · Founder · 2024–present

Beyond doctor or engineer

For many children in government schools, career choice comes down to two words. Project Pathways is a mobile career-counselling cell that goes to them, working in Hindi and English and introducing fields like AI, finance, technology and entrepreneurship.

An aptitude-based assessment helps each student find a direction. Workshops cover communication, leadership, AI, resume writing and financial literacy, and a network of 50+ mentors connects students to 100+ internships, scholarships and mentorships.

500+students mentored
30+workshops
₹46Lin scholarships secured

Project Pathways. Expanding access. Creating opportunity.

Outdoor session. Primary school children at a Project Pathways session.

Classroom visit. With students at a government school.

Village drive. The Pathways Handbook.

In class. Guiding students through an activity.

One student at a time.

A2 · RISE · Founder · 2025–present

An incubator for the village

RISE Incubator Hub. Entrepreneurs from the programme.

Rural Incubation & Startup Enablement gives women entrepreneurs mentorship, seed funding and access to investors. With the Amity University Incubator it runs Demo Days and seed microgrants, backed by a network of 100+ mentors: founders, investors, CAs and lawyers.

2,000+trained
75+ventures incubated
100+mentors

In the field. Working with entrepreneurs at a RISE session.

Cohort 3. A RISE session in the Sonipat region.

A3 · Youth Power · Founder & Team Leader · 2024–26

Teaching money, school by school

Workshop. Budgeting and digital finance in the classroom.

A financial literacy nonprofit with its own newsletter, the Sampann Gazette, and curricula on budgeting, investing and digital finance. Its team won 1st place in a national inter-school competition across 20+ schools.

3,000+students taught
50+workshops
1stof 20+ schools

Beyond the classroom. We also ran sessions helping our school's support staff start saving and investing, explained in Hindi and English, and raised funds through our Arth-Port stall and bake sales.

Staff session. Small investments, explained in Hindi and English.

With our school's support staff.

Arth-Port. Our stall, with the Sampann Gazette.

Fundraiser. A bake sale alongside the Gazette.

Section B · ResearchEconomy

Beyond Credit

My new study of 240 women-led self-help group enterprises across 12 Indian states finds that loans are not what separates the businesses that grow.

B1 · Working paper · 2026

Innovation, Market Access and the Scalability of Women-Led SHG Enterprises in Rural India

I built an SHG Enterprise Scalability Index from nine measures: revenue, growth, profitability, market reach, innovation, digital adoption, employment, formalisation and institutional links.

In my models, innovation, market access and digital adoption were linked to growth and profit. Formal credit was not a significant predictor of high scalability. I argue for support built around market linkages, digitalisation and growth-stage finance rather than credit alone.

Fig. 1

Only 1 in 13 enterprises is highly scalable

Share of 240 SHG enterprises by scalability tier, %

015304560 SubsistenceEmergingGrowth-stageHighly scalable 8.852.530.87.9

Source: Y. Dahiya, “Beyond Credit,” working paper, 2026. Survey of 240 enterprises in 12 states, Feb–Apr 2026.

B2 · Also published
  • Social Innovation and Grassroots Entrepreneurship Among Women SHGs in Rural HaryanaIntl. Journal of Economics & Management · 2024–25
  • Role of Incubation Centres in Developing the Startup Ecosystem in Universities in Delhi-NCRIntl. Journal of Economics & Management · 2024–25
  • Labour Economics: Wage Determination, Inequality & Economic MobilityBest Research Paper, 1st Place in Economics · Oxford Global · 2025
Section C · Field WorkPolicy & investment

Policy & Capital

Four internships, all asking the same question: how money and opportunity reach the people who need them.

01

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Policy & Research Intern · with the Govt. of Odisha · 2025–26

  • Analysed rural credit barriers, helping expand financial counselling to 20,000+ rural women
  • Evaluated women-led SHGs and farmer producer organisations for supply-chain, market and financing gaps
  • Ran quantitative analysis of rural enterprises and recommended a capital allocation policy
02

Govt. of India, Office of the Minister of Education

Strategy & Entrepreneurship Intern · Data Analysis

  • Selected as 1 of 5 from Delhi
  • Analysed education data across 12 states for programmes reaching 15M+ students
  • Built multilingual outreach frameworks linked to a 15% rise in enrolment
03

Caspian Impact Investments

Investment Intern · 2025–26

  • Evaluated 25+ early-stage pitch decks on team, market size, CAC, margins and path to breakeven
  • Built a screening rubric adopted by the investment team to prioritise ventures for due diligence
  • Contributed analysis to 12 Investment Committee discussions
04

Leverage Edu

Venture Development Intern

  • The only school student selected into an undergraduate cohort
  • Led 75+ customer discovery interviews and analysed 10 competitors
  • Evaluated pricing and acquisition channels to build a go-to-market strategy adopted for launch
Section D · LeadershipSchool & community

The Rooms I Run

01

Student Council

Cultural Secretary · 2025–present

I represent 1,200+ students and chair a weekly council of 25. I ran a cultural fest for 2,000+, rolled out 5 policy reforms including mental health support, and led teams to 15 inter-school wins.

02

PVOLVE MUN

Director General · 2025–26

I directed an inter-school conference of 700+ delegates, managed 60+ Executive Board members and built training and evaluation systems for debate quality.

03

Rotary Interact Club

Vice President · 2024–present

I lead 130 members across 15+ drives reaching 1,500+ people: mammography, dental and blood donation camps, 500+ saplings, and road safety for 1,000+ drivers.

04

Startup & Innovation Club · Economics Club

Founder · 2025–present

I started my school's student entrepreneurship club, with hackathons and workshops. I also lead the school's Economics Club.

05

HundrED

Youth Ambassador · Mar–Jun 2025

I was the only student selected from my school for a global cohort on systemic change and the UN SDGs.

Section E · HonoursMarkets data

Complete Archive

Every honour, filed. Rankings, results and the issuing body, in one table.

YearHonourResultIssued by
2026National Humanitarian Excellence AwardAwardeeFor educational equity through Project Pathways
2025–26International Economics OlympiadAIR 6National qualifiers; selected for the international round in China
2025Queen's Commonwealth Essay CompetitionGoldRoyal Commonwealth Society; 26,322 entries
2025MAA AMC 12Top 5%Mathematical Association of America; 141/150, AIR 7, AIME qualifier
2025National Economics OlympiadRank 3SRCC; national final round
2025Best Research Paper, Economics1stOxford Global, Academic Summit of Young Leaders
2025Harvard Sustainability Impact Summit2ndPlus Best SDG Representation Award (SDG 7)
2025India's Young-preneur Summit1stGovt. of NCT of Delhi; 1 of 5 from 5,000+
2025Emerging Entrepreneur AwardWinnerThe Economic Times
—Youth Entrepreneur AwardWinnerPrime Square Magazine; rural women's economic empowerment
—World Scholar's Cup5 GoldTeam Leader, Regional Round
2024–25Wharton Global High School Investment CompetitionTop 50The Wharton School; 1,800 teams from 66 countries, Team Lead
—Wharton Essentials of Entrepreneurship2ndThe Wharton School, UPenn; Startup Pitch
—SAT1590Math 790, Evidence-Based Reading & Writing 800
2025Academic Excellence, Founder's Day90%+Amity International School; proficiency in academics, Class X
—Valedictorian95%+Amity International School; All-Rounder Award 8 years running

Exhibit 1. Commonwealth Essay, Gold, 2025

Exhibit 2. AMC 12 Certificate of Distinction, 2025

Exhibit 3. IEO, All India Rank 6, 2025–26

Exhibit 4. Academic Excellence, Founder's Day 2025

HSIS 2025. On stage at the Harvard Sustainability Impact Summit.

National Humanitarian Excellence Award, 2026.

International Excellence Awards 2026. On stage at Hyatt Centric, New Delhi.

Wall of Fame. National Humanitarian Excellence Award, New Delhi, August 2026.

World Scholar's Cup. Team Leader, 5 Gold Medals.

Section F · Press & MomentsCoverage

In the Press

ANI article: Project PathwaysANI · October 2026Project Pathways: How Yukti Dahiya Is Bridging the Career-Guidance Gap for Underserved StudentsRead on aninews.in → Forbes India: The visionaries defining India's next chapterForbes India · Brand Connect · September 2026Yukti Dahiya: A Young Leader Turning Ideas into ImpactIn “The Visionaries Defining India's Next Chapter”Read on forbesindia.com →
Summer programme · The Wharton School, UPenn

Essentials of Entrepreneurship

A summer programme at Wharton, where I placed 2nd in the Startup Pitch.

The Global Times · Young Changemakers of Amity

Our financial literacy team was featured among Amity's young changemakers, with me as team leader.