Interview with Kartik Sawhney : Disability at Stanford Oral History Project
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Kartik Sawhney (BS and MS Computer Science, 2017) speaks about his childhood in Delhi and what it was like growing up blind. He describes his early school experiences, including his introduction to computers and computerized assistive technology and his mother’s role in advocating for and helping him during his education. He recalls how the Indian education system’s refusal to allow blind students to pursue the science track inspired him to develop software to read graphical images and to successfully challenge IIT admission policies that prohibited blind students from attending. Sawhney goes on to explain the challenges of taking college entrance exams, his decision to attend college in the US, and his acceptance to Stanford. He shares highlights from his undergraduate years and his leadership in the campus disability advocacy group Power2ACT and talks about founding I-Stem and NextBillion.org to provide training and mentorship to students with disabilities interested in technology careers. Sawhney also reflects on how his relationship between his disability and identity has changed over time, and his vision for equity for people with disabilities.
Description
| Type of resource | moving image, sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 video file; 1 audio file; 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | February 9, 2021 - |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Sawhney, Kartik | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Sawhney, Kartik | |
| Interviewer | Battle, Anne | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | People with disabilities |
|---|---|
| Subject | Education, Higher |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Kartik is a disability advocate and technologist who has not let his disability prove an impediment in the pursuit of his personal and professional goals and has done substantial work in empowering other people with disabilities to be successful tech professionals. As the first blind student to pursue science education in high school in India, he advocated for change in rules that now allow all blind students across the country to pursue sciences in high school. Similarly, after several months of advocacy, he convinced the top technical universities in India to open their doors to blind students, leading to at least fifteen students in India pursuing engineering today. A computer science graduate of Stanford University, Kartik co-founded Project StemAccess (now I-Stem) that provides technical training, mentorship and hands-on opportunities to blind math and science students across the country, and develops technical solutions to empower them to access educational and employment opportunities. I-Stem also works closely with the government, technical universities and corporates to make their campuses and culture more inclusive, and has worked with nearly 1,200 people with disabilities so far. Before this, he co-founded NextBillion.org, an award-winning global mentorship program for students with disabilities interested in technology that has worked with over 180 mentees and mentors in 10 countries. As the technical lead for the AI for Accessibility Program at Microsoft, Kartik continues to advocate for and develop accessible technologies. Further, given his experience in accessible education, he serves on boards of several organizations and other high-level committees, such as the Education Commission’s Expert Panel on Technology and Education, and his work and views have been published in several journals including UNICEF’s State of the world’s children Report. In recognition of his leadership potential and work, Kartik received the Queen’s Young Leaders Award 2016 from Her Majesty The Queen. In addition, he has received the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (India's highest honor for contributions to the disability sector) and was selected as one of the 17 UN young leaders for Sustainable Development Goals 2018 by Secretary General's Envoy on Youth. |
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| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/gc311qd8888 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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