Bucks County Teen Attends Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Malaysia - Only 2 students under age 18 from US and 50 youth leaders from around the world invited to participate

Ashvika Dhir is not your average teenager.  A senior at Pennsbury High School, Dhir’s resume reflects a series of awards, achievements and accomplishments that adults twice her age might be hard-pressed to attain. But Dhir has a passion that drives her to create, innovate and educate. She is a social entrepreneur and it is her entrepeneurial spirit and sheer determination that led her to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Kuala Lampur, Malasia last month at the invitation of the Department of State.  Dhir, one of the summit’s youngest participants, was one of only two American students under the age of 18 to receive an invitation, and one of only fifty youth leaders from around the world to to be invited. In addition, she was offered a full scholarship to the program by the Malaysian government.

The summit, first held in 2010 in Washington, DC, and hosted by President Obama, brings together entrepreneurs, thought leaders and researchers from all over the world to meet, discuss, debate, share ideas, connect and network. This year’s theme was “Empowering & Connecting Entrepreneurs”. The Summit acts as a catalyst for a series of world events where entrepreneurs are placed center stage as leaders of economic development, with support from government and the educational and financial sectors.

While in Malaysia, Dhir promoted CauseHub.com, a website she developed to promote social causes among the world’s youth and get her generation to contribute and be socially responsible. A platform for young social changemakers and innovators, “CauseHub is a place for young adults to promote, educate, share, search and join causes that they are passionate about,” says Dhir. Individuals can create their own blog/site and have their own followers. Site visitors are encouraged to visit, chat, discuss and support other members in their causes. Dhir continues, “My vision is to create a movement of ‘global citizenship’ among youth around the world and help eradicate cultural misunderstandings.”

CauseHub is entirely run by teens who, like Dhir, want to make an impact and help bring global change to issues of poverty, sex trafficking, teen suicide awareness, bullying and much more. The site also provides a platform for NGO’s, charities and other organizations in the developing world as well as here in the United States.

CauseHub has used crowd funding to raise $4000 to keep the site running and expanding. They have received letters of recommendation from the Indian Ambassador to the United States, UNICEF, Rotary International and the Ministry of Environment for the government of India. Their long term goal is to establish country-specific Causehub sites in places like in Brazil, India and Australia. 

Dhir says that her inspiration for CauseHub came from family visits to India, where she has seen firsthand what poverty looks like, and from her service as the UNICEF Club president at Pennsbury High School. Fellow students who wanted to make a difference didn’t know where to look for causes to support. So Dhir came up with a solution and created CauseHub. In addition, Dhir created her own CauseHub “cause” to help alleviate world hunger.  She calls it “Hungry for a Cause” and offers a line of sauces and global food products from different countries. Available products include sauces, hummus and marinades. All of the sauces are made at a local restaurant and then professionally packaged. Profits are donated to charities like Feeding America, UNICEF and others that are dedicated to fighting world hunger.

Dhir’s family is very proud of all that she has accomplished. Dr. Nisha Dhir, Ashvika’s mother, says, “In India, it’s easy to be forgotten if you’re the underserved or the poor. Ashvika was touched by that and wanted to help out in any way that she could.”

For more information about “Hungry for a Cause” or CauseHub visit: www.causehub.com.