Skip to Content
Sprout
DonateMENU
FellowshipThe FellowsSummitsOther OfferingsContactDonateHomeDonate

Prachi Ray

Ajax, ON

Prachi Ray is the co-founder and president of Ask An Undergrad (AAU). Prachi has been leading the team since June 2020, shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a life sciences student at the University of Toronto, she developed an appreciation for mentorship opportunities because they were instrumental in exploring different educational and career interests. Creating AAU has been an incredible journey, building upon Prachi's passion for mentorship and collaboration with undergraduate students across Canada.

Ask An Undergrad: Helping Youth Transition to Post-Secondary

Ask An Undergrad (AAU) is a national not-for-profit organization aimed at helping youth across Canada transition to post-secondary. The team is comprised of university students who are passionate about mentorship and creating resources to help high school students make informed choices regarding their post-secondary path. AAU also invites high school students to join the team as ambassadors in order to voice their challenges with navigating the higher education system and guide AAU's initiatives.

https://www.askanundergrad.com/

About this Project

Communities Served

My project will involve and/or impact the following communities:

  • At risk youth & children
  • Refugees & newcomers
  • Indigenous Peoples
  • Racial or visible minorities

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

When it comes to community impact projects, the UN has created 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These are the Sustainable Development Goals associated with my project.

  • SDG 4: Quality education
  • SDG 10: Reduced inequalities

How the project works

AAU provides the coffee chat initiative which allows youth to connect 1-1 with university students, and develop accessible resources such as a new interview series with professors and working professionals. Ask An Undergrad (AAU) has a current following of 3000 on Instagram, has conducted over 100 coffee chats to date and run multiple webinars with over 50 attendees. Youth who use AAU resources benefit from the mentorship opportunities and feel more confident making decisions regarding their post-secondary path.

Project Impact

Ask an Undergrad held a successful online event with 30 attendees and ran about 40 coffee chat matches over the past few months during the time of the Sprout Fellowship. Besides this quantitative impact, we like to think we made important qualitative impacts as well. Through the mentorship relationships that were fostered during this time, students were able to learn more about different university programs directly from students and university professors. They were also able to gain more confidence in their own skillset and future goals.

Project Mission

Ask An Undergrad is a national not-for-profit organization comprised of undergraduate students attending universities across Canada. Our goal is to provide equitable access to resources and mentorship relationships to youth across Canada in order to help them in their transition to post-secondary education.

Project Team

AAU is comprised of a team of 50 university students and 15 high school ambassadors.

    Video Name or info

    Ask An Undergrad: About Us