Bengaluru : Reap Benefit, a leading nonprofit building India’s largest movement of youth changemakers known as Solve Ninjas, successfully hosted the 10th edition of SolveCon at PES University, bringing together close to 1700 young people and representatives from 88 organisations for a day of youth-led action. Participants mapped local climate risks, designed mental health campaigns, debated public policy, and built cross-city collaborations.
The event convened organisations across civic action, education, climate, mental wellbeing, and the arts, including Giving Tuesday India, Science Gallery Bangalore, TinkerHub, Teach For India, Azim Premji University, NIMHANS and SELCO Foundation, alongside grassroots collaborators. The gathering was supported by partners such as Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Rainmatter Foundation, NetApp and the MacArthur Foundation.
The gathering featured conversations with leaders including Kailash Nadh of Zerodha and Board Member at Rainmatter Foundation; Priyanka Francis, IAS and Director of the National Gallery of Modern Art ; Ashwini Hiremath, Founder of Wild Wild Women; and Deepak Dhananjaya, Founder of Prabhava Institute of Inclusive Mental Health (PIIMH), who engaged directly with youth through open dialogue rather than keynote monologues.
Kailash Nadh, CTO, Zerodha and Board Member, Rainmatter Foundation, at the panel of experts said, “If AI is a superpower, everybody has it. The real question is how to stand out — and that’s where fundamental human skills like curiosity, clarity, and the ability to articulate become more important than ever. There are no grand plans behind meaningful journeys; small acts, done consistently, create a butterfly effect over time.
For Kuldeep Dantewadia, co-founder and CEO of Reap Benefit, the national edition represents a shift in how youth engagement is structured in India.
“Young people don’t come to SolveCon to listen — they come to build, question and experiment. Our role is simply to create the conditions where their imagination can do the heavy lifting. There’s no pressure to impress anyone here. When young people are trusted with real problems and given the freedom to think boldly, their creativity doesn’t just flow — it turns into action.”
SolveCon ’26 clearly showed that — young people are actively seeking spaces to connect beyond screens, learn by doing, and find a community of shared purpose. The hands-on format, open dialogue with practitioners, and opportunities to collaborate on real-world challenges reflected a clear preference for participatory, in-person experiences over passive engagement. The strong interest in continuing the journey through Reap Benefit’s Solve Ninja programme shows that the gathering was not just a one-day event, but a catalyst for sustained, youth-led action.
