Ayushi Chandaria: Lessons from my grandfather

Ayushi Chandaria: Lessons from my grandfather 

Ayushi Chandaria was born into what some might call a world of opportunity. Her father, Neal Chandaria, is Kenya’s honorary consul to Singapore, while her grandfather, Manu Chandaria, is one of Kenya’s renowned business gurus, having built a multi-billion dollar business empire.

As a young girl, Ayushi could have easily slipped into the comfort that comes with a privileged upbringing.

But from an early age, Ayushi’s heart was filled with compassion. When she was around seven years old, she and her sister began fundraising and helping the less fortunate in society, including children in local orphanages.

But it was in her teens, while representing Kenya at a swimming competition in Singapore, that Ayushi’s heart was tugged further by the sight of disadvantaged paraplegic swimmers competing alongside the able-bodied.

“These paraplegics were in the same competition with the rest of us. These are people who require thoughtful consideration when it comes to crafting solutions. For such ones, it is not easy to get job opportunities since their physical condition stands in the way,” says the 26-year-old.

Not only did Ayushi think of such people, but her love for them fueled her determination to start a non-profit organisation dedicated to uplifting and empowering communities in need.

In 2019, the Design Innovation Programme was launched with high school students as the first cohort but later pivoted to focus on university students between the ages of 20 and 35.

The programme, run by USIU-Africa, is a hub for a design mindset that aims to develop socially conscious individuals who can create solutions to common problems through empathy.

“Sometimes we think we know what a person needs as a solution to his problem. However, we need to design the solution from his standpoint hence the need to do so with empathy,” says Ayushi.

Take the case of a person living with a disability and who needs a wheelchair, for example. Ayushi says it would be easier to just get a wheelchair and deliver it to the individual.

However, it could be that the person needs a small table that can be attached and detached from the wheelchair so that he can navigate through the day with ease.

“Such a wheelchair can make life comfortable for the person, be it in school or elsewhere because it is designed with the person’s needs in mind. More often though, such critical thinking does not always have to create solutions that involve large sums of money but a change in societal mindset,” she says.

She cites the example of a group of 15 women in Kibera who are in the vegetable business. All would wake up early and spend nearly half a day travelling to the big market in the city, haggling for prices with different vendors before returning to Kibera with their goods.

“That took a lot of time and energy for all these women,” says Ayushi.

“Some of our past cohorts made a brilliant suggestion. ‘What if the women assigned one among them to go to the market, collect the vegetables from one vendor, come back and distribute to the rest’? That would save them money because by buying in bulk, they would buy the items at a discounted price. It would also save them the time that they could now use for other family or business-related activities,” says Ayushi.

With the organisation receiving about 250 applications each cycle, it is a painstaking task to select the 40 finalists. These then go on an eight-week mentorship programme after which they showcase their solutions while creating market-ready prototypes. 

“In this program, you must fully understand the problem and then generate a wide range of potential solutions. Otherwise creating costly prototypes that may not work in a specific situation would be a waste of time and money,” she says.

Ayushi kept the goal of creating the program throughout her studies at Standford University where she majored in product design and later, during her secular engagements at the global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company.

Her family, especially her grandfather, Manu, who is also the USIU-Africa Chancellor, have been her biggest cheerleaders, egging her on the quest to make the world a better place, where all can have equal opportunities.

“My grandfather always says people may not always remember the expensive clothes you are wearing or the money you give them but how you made them feel, especially if you created opportunities for them,” she says.

Others who have shaped the programme include artiste Daniel Ndambuki (Mwalimu Churchill), Prof Scott Bellow, who heads the USIU Innovation and Incubation Centre, and Savannah Kagiri, the programme manager.

During the 10th anniversary of Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 list, Ayushi was among the nominees whose place was sealed in a process that began in late 2023 with the sifting of over a thousand applications. According to the organisers, Africa, with 54 countries and 1.4 billion people, needs young minds to spur innovation and drive the economy.

The nominees, according to Forbes, were on a quest to succeed “through innovation, influence and individuality, not to fill big shoes, but to lace up their own and take giant steps forward, leading by example and leaving an indelible mark for the changemakers to come”.

For her, working to improve the lives of the community is not a sacrifice, as if she might have missed out on more rewarding opportunities. Her quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro as well as being a yoga instructor is proof that she can achieve what she sets out to do.

“I am doing what I enjoy without missing out on anything in life. I still have my full-time job in the United States, but my heart is here in Kenya, at home working on the next innovation,” she says. 

Through her unwavering commitment and visionary leadership, Ayushi has not only given hope to countless people but has inspired a generation to follow in her footsteps and make the world a better place.