Samara Chauhan’s LEAP: A Student Movement Redefining Equity in Education

It was during the pandemic when Samara Chauhan volunteered for virtual community service projects that she learned about the inequities in education first-hand. Speaking to a group of students from a local public school, she found that many of them didn’t have access to what she and her peers considered ‘basic’ amenities.

This instance piqued her curiosity, and she slowly got in touch with schools from other localities. The glaring differences appalled her and nudged her strong sense of justice and equality.

After conducting preliminary research and poring over secondary sources, facilitating meet-ups and focus groups, she found that, in many public schools, limited funding, scarce resources, and diverse student populations quite often led to fluctuating class sizes and unstable enrollments.

This was alarming on multiple levels. Not only did these factors mean that classes, at times, would be canceled due to low attendance, but they also implied that inter-generational cycles of disadvantage would remain unbroken, defeating the very purpose of educating one’s child.

Samara was stung by how this denial of access further entrenched inequality. Children from lower-income families who could not afford a private school education lost out on a lot more than just resources. It affected social development, confidence, and growth opportunities.

The disparities felt more like deprivation, compelling her to act and form the Learning with Equity and Access Program (LEAP). LEAP is more than an initiative—it's a movement toward educational justice and meaningful student collaboration.

Through the platform, Samara intends to create a sustainable, student-driven model that bridges the gap between private and public school students through communication and collaboration by creating opportunities through education, culture, art, and heritage. The organization seeks to understand the root causes of this gap and provide solutions to bridge this division in society to create a balanced and happier mankind.

Her vision is driven and shaped by four principles - to create equal opportunities irrespective of background (equity), to empower students to become changemakers (student leadership), to foster collaboration between educational environments (community collaboration), and to promote a love for knowledge (lifelong learning).

The LEAP team attempts this through 5 pillars:

The Buddy Program, which connects students from private and public schools through specialized Discussion Boards. Each board focuses on different aspects of student life, from academics to creative expression and future planning.

Public school students access these on a webapp through commonly used browsers, eliminating the need for a mobile device. Academic Discussion Boards include a ‘Homework Help Zone’ and ‘Study Tips and Tricks’ where students pose homework questions and find answers, or share tips and hacks to improve productivity, learning, and retention. Aspirational Discussion Boards include ‘Career and Skills Talk’ or ‘Future Dreams and Goals’. Boards for interests and hobbies include ‘Book Club’, ‘Volunteer and Social Impact’, and ‘Culture Exchange Board’, which invite students to talk about causes that matter most to them, read for fun, and start conversations for those who’re culturally curious. A ‘Health and Wellness’ Board facilitates peer-to-peer support on leading a balanced life while ensuring they enjoy the best of health.

Through the Buddy Program, Samara has collaborated with 250 public schools, 250 private schools, and impacted the lives of thousands of students.

Community Impact projects, which bring together students from private and public schools to address real challenges in their communities. Through collaboration, creativity, and shared purpose, students create meaningful change while building lasting friendships. Samara and her team are actively working on securing funding in the form of microgrants to help these projects make a real impact. An Annual Showcase gives teams an opportunity to present their work, celebrate achievements, and exchange lessons with peers, decision makers, and communities.

Digital Handbook, which encourages interested individuals, students, educators, or organizations to understand, run, and replicate LEAP activities. The handbook, a work in progress, will provide practical guidance and proven strategies to create purposeful educational equity initiatives.

Teacher Toolkits are another component that the team is working on, with educators, to create inclusive practices that can be used by educators across the country to cultivate spaces, classrooms, and learning environments that are grounded in values of empathy, understanding, and mutual respect.

Open Museum for All – Research shows that less than 20% of children from low-income families have access to cultural spaces such as museums, art galleries, or science centers. UNESCO’s 2024 State of the Education Report for India further highlights how culture and arts education can drive creativity, holistic growth, and equity. Responding to this gap, Samara launched the Open Museum for All initiative, which offers experiential learning opportunities to underserved children through guided visits to museums and cultural exhibitions; experiences that would otherwise remain out of reach. From 200 students today to 50,000 in the next three years, this initiative creates meaningful learning journeys, enriching the lives of students nationwide.

Samara’s work toward educational equity embeds immersive experiences. She actively conducts workshops in public schools, sharing her own experience of building LEAP and inspiring others to pursue an entrepreneurial path. By encouraging demonstrations of ideas in classrooms and opening avenues for growth beyond them, she believes every step into entrepreneurship can uplift entire communities.

Her passion for educational equity stems not only from a strong sense of justice, but also from a cause close to her heart - advancing girls' education. As a girl herself, she feels compelled to help ensure that others have access to the same opportunities and resources that have shaped her own worldview and ambitions.

The shift she has facilitated is a clear indication of the impact of her efforts. She specifically remembers a time when she had mentored a group of driven young girls in UP who were eager to explore, learn, and succeed. The girls were not only intellectually strong but also sincere and committed. All they needed was a little guidance and encouragement. It wasn’t long after their interactions that they informed Samara of their venture—a café operated by their family members—while they were completing their education. The girls began with the resources they possessed, such as a verandah that was hardly used and utensils donated by neighbors, skillfully and tactically navigating the patriarchal systems of their village. Neighbours, acquaintances, and family stepped forward to exchange their services for meals as word spread about their establishment. Even though it might not seem like much, to those young girls, it was evidence that they were not only permitted to dream but also that their dreams could come true. This real-life experience of literally setting up shop has been a game-changer and continues to inspire generations of women around them.

Samara’s compassion and humility complement her unshakeable spirit and grit. Under her leadership, LEAP in collaboration with ATL Sarthi, has impacted more than 15,000 students, becoming a scalable model for inclusive education in both urban and rural India.

Beyond social entrepreneurship, Samara’s interest lies in the arts, literature, and music. An artist in her own way, she is proficient not only at playing the piano but also in promoting music in different forms.

Driven by her international outlook and deep cultural appreciation, she founded an a cappella group, Syncopation, to revive and popularize one of the oldest forms of music. After personally auditioning and assembling the core team, she has led the group in organizing performances and fundraising to support the education of underprivileged girls.

Samara exemplifies exceptional leadership marked by vision, resilience, and a commitment to community impact. From her early role as President of the student body in school to spearheading initiatives like LEAP, she has consistently demonstrated the ability to inspire people.

She has guided her teams to victory in highly competitive arenas, even on a global stage. Notably, she secured the ‘Best Project Management’ award at the F1 in Schools World Championship in Singapore, outperforming teams from 68 countries. Her commitment to social causes extends beyond education, earning her the Humanitarian Excellence Award 2025 and the prestigious ‘Pramerica Emerging Visionaries Award’ for innovative work on reducing food wastage. Whether leading STEM initiatives, overseeing complex projects, or representing countries at Model United Nations conferences, Samara combines strategic insight, creativity, and a deep sense of responsibility—traits that distinguish her as a visionary and empathetic leader poised to make a lasting impact.

With a glint in her eyes and determination in her heart, Samara envisions embedding LEAP into every school and community, resulting in a country where students from public and private schools are closely connected, exchanging ideas and perspectives, building together, and lifting one another up, bravely leaping toward a brighter future.

At just 16, Samara Chauhan is a force of change, blending innovation with influence, empowering learners from all backgrounds, and reshaping India's educational landscape. Samara is not just advocating for change, but driving it, proving that age is no barrier to impactful leadership.