By Yuvi Parmar
August 05, 2025
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The first time I realized that service could be more than volunteering at a local shelter was during a family trip to India. I was young aged ten and I clearly remember the moment. A boy my age was balancing on a broken bicycle, weaving between traffic to sell bottled water under the heat of the summer sun. That image stuck with me. It wasn’t guilt I felt, but urgency. Years later, that same urgency became the foundation for something much larger than myself—Empower and Connect.
I’m Yuvi Parmar, a student in Katy, Texas, and the Founder and President of Empower and Connect, a youth-led non profit organization committed to creating sustainable, community-driven impact. What started as a modest service initiative in Greater Houston has now grown into an international movement with chapters and ongoing projects in: India, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, and the United States. The road from idea to impact wasn’t always easy, but has been transformative.
The earliest version of Empower and Connect was a quiet reaction to a not-so-quiet reality: too many students and families around me, both locally and abroad lacked access to the basic tools needed to thrive. From access to clean water to digital literacy to STEM education, these needs weren’t theoretical. They were urgent.
With support from close friends, Elvin Li and Allen Nguyen now Secretary and Advisor of our board respectively, formalized the organization in Texas under a 501(c)(3) status. We set out to build more than a charity; we wanted a platform where young people could lead, build, and innovate solutions that mattered.
Our motto, “Where creativity meets impact,” reflects that philosophy. Empower and Connect isn’t built on a top-down model. Instead, we give student leaders the tools to launch their own projects; tailor them to local needs, and receive institutional backing from our leadership and partners. Every chapter is unique, but all united by a shared set of values: Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Loyalty our ICARL framework.
India and Kenya: Innovation Where It’s Needed Most
One of our most impactful ongoing efforts is our water filter project, developed and implemented across underserved communities in India and Kenya. The need was evident: schools in rural regions were still using untreated or contaminated water, resulting in health issues that quietly derailed childhood education and quality of life.
In partnership with local government leaders including the Trans-Nzoia County Government in Kenya and MBBS students in Mumbai—we developed low-cost filtration systems, assessed them through local testing labs, and conducted onsite surveys to assess impact. The result: A replicable system for clean water access that continues to expand.
In parallel, we launched Inventor Workshops a 3D design and engineering education initiative, targeting under-resourced students in Kenya. Volunteers from our U.S. chapters train them remotely through Autodesk Inventor and Tinkercad to teach students technical skills that build long- term digital fluency and career readiness. From sketching basic models to building prosthetic parts for real world challenges, our goal is to equip youth with just knowledge, but direction and purpose.
Pakistan, Australia, Canada: Chapters on the Rise
Empower and Connect now has newly formed chapters in Pakistan, Australia, and Canada, each undergoing their own induction ceremonies and member on boarding. The Pakistan chapter, based in Lahore, is focused on educational equity through free tutoring and after-school workshops. In Canada, we are working with young change makers to develop mental health literacy campaigns tailored to immigrant communities. Australia’s early projects involve environmental cleanup and data-based water sustainability assessments.
Each of these chapters is not an extension of our U.S. model, they are their own teams, with their own officers, building solutions grounded in their own contexts. That’s the beauty of the network:we empower leaders to connect their personal skills with local needs.
Back Home in the U.S.: Leadership in Motion
Even while our chapters expanded abroad, our home chapter at Tompkins High School in Katy remained a hub of innovation. In 2024, we launched a six weeks Coding Workshop series at the Cinco Ranch Library, teaching game development from scratch to students aged 8–16. We also established a free library at Mary Jo Peckham Park, promoting community literacy through a take- one, leave-one book system.
In 2025, we introduced our most ambitious initiative yet: a youth-led App Development Team designing an all-in-one platform for underserved populations. The app will address needs across sectors mental health, local food access, and crisis reporting is being developed entirely by high school students trained by professionals and mentors in our network.
The Path Forward
Looking back, it’s hard to believe we’ve grown from a group chat to an international network of change makers. But I’ll never forget why we started: the memory of that boy in India, and countless others like him, still drives my work today. In the next year, Empower and Connect plans to launch 10 new projects globally, expand its grant partnerships, and build long-term sustainability pipelines through digital platforms, non-profit coalitions, and policy collaboration.
This isn’t just a non-profit. It’s a reminder that young people can lead. They should lead and when they are trusted, empowered, and connected, they deliver impact beyond what most expect.
