Receives Award in Memory of Princess DianaDubai, United Arab Emirates
Young person from Dubai is honoured with The Diana Award for going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change.
Netra Venkatesh, aged 15 from Dubai has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – The Diana Award.
Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.
Netra set up her organisation ‘SpunkGo’ in July 2020, which brings together over 5,000 young girls from over 20 countries and from all walks of life to one community platform with the objective of using social media for good. Netra is a very passionate young entrepreneur who is on a relentless mission to educate and empower girls from developing countries in Asia and Africa. Through her ‘SpunkGo’, she organises free life skill webinars featuring inspiring women speakers, to impart knowledge to girls around the world. These members mostly come from impoverished backgrounds and for whom this opportunity to learn and network globally provides enormous opportunities of personal growth.
Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO of The Diana Award, says, “We warmly congratulate our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and across the world who are changemakers for their generation. It is especially poignant as we remember Princess Diana twenty-five years on. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.”
What is the Nomination Process?
Award recipients have been put forward by adults who know the young people in a professional capacity and recognised their efforts as a positive contribution to society. Through a rigorous nomination process, these nominators had to demonstrate the nominee’s impact in five key areas: Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey.
There are 20 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each region or nation both in the UK and internationally. Panels consist of three judges who understand the value of young people, including one young person representative. The panels have an important main purpose: to determine which nominations from each region or nation will receive a Diana Award.
Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure quality of youth social action.
