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Six Indian-origin women are among 34 recipients of the 2026 Women Who Empower Innovator Awards for pursuing game-changing ventures in AI, technology, health, arts, entrepreneurship and social change.

Anwita Chaudhry, Simran Mohinani, Aashka Dave, Soumya Raguraman, Aarya Dhru and Tanya Singh are among the winners of the award announced by Northeastern University on Aug. 14.

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They join a community that now totals 167 honorees and represents all of Northeastern University’s schools and colleges and more than 25 countries.

Now in its sixth year, the program has invested more than $2.3 million in Northeastern founders since it was launched in 2021.

“We believe we’re in the business of producing entrepreneurs and creating innovators for life,” said Betsy Ludwig, executive director of Women’s Entrepreneurship at Northeastern and one of the awards leaders.

“This is about building an ecosystem of support throughout their lifelong journey as builders, entrepreneurs and change agents. Each of these innovators are making a difference in the world and we want this network to amplify their impact.”

A record number of 165 Northeastern University students, graduates and affiliates applied for this year’s awards from across Northeastern’s network, including Mills Institute at Northeastern, Roux Institute Founder Residency and Marymount Manhattan College, now called Northeastern University New York City.

This group of winners includes eight new Innovator Fellows, recognized for their extraordinary vision, impact and leadership. Now in its second year, the Women Who Empower Fellowship Program provides Fellows with resources and support to help accelerate their professional and venture growth.

Congratulations to this year's winners and fellows of the @Northeastern Women Who Empower Innovator Awards!

These 34 recipients are pursuing game-changing ventures in AI, technology, health, arts, entrepreneurship, and social change.

Read more: https://t.co/RSbUaSQ34S

— Northeastern Alumni (@AlumniNU) August 12, 2026

Chaudhry placed first in the AI and Technology category.

Chaudhry has been committed to making communication more accessible from an early age. At 14, she founded DesiHeart, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting speech development in neurodivergent children through creative communication programs and accessible technology. Building on that mission, the current Northeastern student now leads the development of ExpressAI, an AI-powered communication app designed to help nonverbal individuals express themselves with greater authenticity. By preserving tone, emotion and personal identity, Chaudhry’s work is making assistive technology more human, inclusive and empowering.

Mohinani topped the Entrepreneurial Leadership category.

As a Northeastern student, Mohinani combined her passion for entrepreneurship, design and social impact to found Mohlia, a luxury floral brand specializing in preserved roses that last for 10 years. Since launching the company, she has grown it into an international brand, partnering with organizations including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and The Walt Disney Company while creating a more sustainable alternative to traditional flowers.

Aashka Dave placed second in the Future of Work category, and Aarya Dhru placed third.

Dave is driven to help founders succeed.

While working with the Women’s Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship at Northeastern, she saw that founders sometimes need talent with specific skills to help boost their ventures, but don’t need to invest in a full-time hire.

Her solution is Atrium, a platform connecting startups with experienced professionals who can step in and do the work exactly when it’s needed. In turn, Atrium helps workers build flexible careers defined by skills, not job titles or career boundaries.

While in high school, Aarya Dhru saw COVID-19 devastate small businesses in her community and realized that her fellow classmates had the digital fluency — in apps, websites and social media — that many struggling businesses needed to stay afloat.

Driven by a belief in closing the resource gap for small business owners and creating opportunities for underrepresented young people, she created the I3 (imagine, innovate, inspire) Competition, in which high school students develop tailored digital infrastructure for small business partners under the mentorship of strategists and executives, culminating in a pitch competition for a financial prize.

The results are striking — more than 80% of team members earn internships or job offers from their business partners and go on to highly competitive higher education institutions.

In the Social Impact and Sustainability category, Raguraman placed first, and Singh placed third.

As the child of immigrants, Raguraman was the first in her family to attend college. After sending dozens of cold emails for a lab position to no avail, she was inspired to start LabMatch — a platform designed to provide equitable access to undergraduate research by matching students with academic labs based on merit and fit, instead of traditional networking. As LabMatch continues to improve and scale, Raguraman is optimistic that the platform will be a sustainable resource that universities will continue to adopt.

Singh always wanted to find the answer to finding the perfect product while supporting a local business. That inspired her to start Athenova Group, an AI-driven marketplace that helps students on college campuses match with others to buy and sell items locally. As future trends increasingly move toward AI, Athenova Group is poised to transform the campus marketplace experience for the better.

Discover more at New India Abroad.