Warwick Economics student receives the 2021 Diana Award

Warwick Economics student receives the 2021 Diana Award

Tuesday 29 Jun 2021

We are delighted to announce that Sana Mittar, a first year undergraduate Economics, Politics and International Studies student, was honoured this week with The 2021 Diana Award for her fundraising and community work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sana Mittar, who is from New Delhi, 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.

About Sana’s work

GLOBAL VOLUNTEERS ACTION NETWORK (NEW DELHI, INDIA)

Witnessing discrimination on the basis of her gender, and watching youth voices being marginalised, Sana resolved to change the way the world looks at young people. At the beginning of the pandemic, Sana coordinated a digital campaign and worked with 150 volunteers to fundraise ₹500,000 for vulnerable communities. Sana has also raised funds for 40 disadvantaged children to buy mobile phones, so they could continue learning from home during lockdowns.

A strong leader and self-starter, Sana recently started her own social enterprise, bringing in the first cohort of volunteers in April 2021. She also initiated a Covid Relief Response during the second wave of Covid. Her team at GVAN helped 5000+ people with resources and medical supplies during the most difficult times.

We asked Sana what this award means to her and she said:

Receiving The Diana Award is life changing - it is the most prestigious award a young person can achieve for their social action and humanitarian work and is given out in memory of Princess Diana. It is the longest running award for young people. This is special because young people don't work towards the award, rather they demonstrate their suitability through their actions, without any expectation of reward. This means so much to me, as my efforts have truly been recognised at a world scale. I am very grateful to have been recognised in the memory of Princess Diana, the epitome of selfless community service.

Tessy Ojo, CEO of The Diana Award, said:

We congratulate all our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and all over the globe who are changemakers for their generation. 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. For over twenty years The Diana Award has valued and invested in young people encouraging them to continue to make positive change in their communities and lives of others.

Congratulations to Sana from all of us in the Department of Economics. Well done!

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 12 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each UK region or nation and a further three panels representing countries outside of the UK. Each panel consist of three judges; one young person, an education or youth work professional, and a business or government representative. The panels have an important main purpose: to determine which nominations from each UK region/nation/country will receive The Diana Award.

Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure quality of youth social action.