PROJECT AVANADIGITAL LITERACY IN ACTION

PROJECT AVANA · DIGITAL LITERACY IN ACTION

Using digital literacy to level the playing field.
For those behind the starting line.

In the 21st century, being digitally capable is not optional.

At Avana, we believe every young person must be able to use digital tools to learn, question, create and solve problems. We turn access into ability—and ability into agency.

Request brochure ↗Explore the curriculumSee what students built ↘
An Avana volunteer leading a session with students at a partner schoolLearners following a live demonstration on a shared screenStudents and an Avana facilitator in their classroomAn Avana volunteer with learners after a sessionChildren exploring a laptop with an Avana volunteer
Digital access is only the beginning.What matters is what a learner becomes able to do with it.
690+students empowered
4cities: Dubai, Mumbai, Jammu & Mohali
₹42K+raised through donation drives
20+student volunteers

FROM SUPPORT TO SKILL

Donation drives.
Devices in hand.
Digital capability.

Avana conducts fundraising and donation drives, uses the funds to expand access to devices, and then delivers practical learning experiences that help children use technology independently.

Avana students running a boba and donut fundraising stall
01FundraiseDonation drives have raised more than ₹42,000.
Tablets purchased using funds raised for Avana
02EquipFunds become tablets learners can use directly.
Children gathered around a laptop during an Avana session
03LearnChildren explore, practise and build on the devices.
Learners viewing a website they built during an Avana session
04BuildLearning becomes a real website the learners built themselves.
An Avana learner working on a laptop beside a large screen during a session

20+ VOLUNTEERS · ONE MISSION

Level the playing field through digital literacy.

Project Avana was co-founded by Amaay Gupta and Mihir Dhankani. Its volunteer club raises support, facilitates workshops and helps children move from consuming technology to creating with it.

Meet the founders ↘

THE PEOPLE BEHIND AVANA

Founded by students.
Built for students.

Project Avana was co-founded by Mihir Dhankani and Amaay Gupta with one mission: level the playing field through digital literacy—turning access into ability, and ability into agency.

Mihir Dhankani, co-founder of Project Avana
CO-FOUNDER

Mihir Dhankani

Mihir Dhankani is a Dubai-based student and AI systems engineer who co-founded Project Avana to help young people turn access to technology into practical ability. His work combines AI, community learning and accessibility, bringing technical ideas into settings where they can support children directly.

Through repeated engagement with children at community level, Mihir guides learners through AI systems and connects them with scholarship opportunities. These activities bring together two parts of his work: helping children explore what technology can do, and helping them access opportunities to continue learning.

His work also extends to Mumbai, where he is developing technology for blind children. This accessibility work sits alongside his broader involvement in building learning interfaces for children through a club he runs in Dubai.

Within Avana, Mihir leads fundraising in Dubai, helping gather the support needed for the initiative’s community work. Across engineering, learning interfaces, scholarships and fundraising, his contributions connect the creation of digital tools with the people who can benefit from them.

  • AI systems
  • Accessibility tech
  • Scholarships
  • Fundraising
Amaay Gupta, co-founder of Project Avana
CO-FOUNDER

Amaay Gupta

Amaay Gupta founded Avana in 2024 and led its early-stage development, beginning the initiative in Jammu before expanding its operations to Punjab. He shaped Avana’s initial vision, scope, mission, and programme structure around the idea of building a more digitally relevant population.

At the core of this vision was a shift from passive consumption of technology toward active creation: encouraging students to move beyond simply scrolling and consuming digital content to building, experimenting, and using technology in ways relevant to their everyday lives. This philosophy became central to Avana’s broader goal of making technology more practically relevant and accessible to everyday Indians.

Amaay designed Avana’s flagship Digital Relevance programme for school students and led its early on-ground implementation. He helped establish the organisation’s initial operating model, session structure, outreach approach, and early partnerships while building Avana’s presence across schools and communities.

He continues to work with Avana as its Co-Founder and Jammu Ambassador, contributing to curriculum development, conducting student sessions, expanding outreach, strengthening partnerships, and advancing Avana’s mission across new schools and communities.

  • Robotics
  • Jammu sessions
  • Community

TWO PROGRAMMES, ONE MISSION

Learn it by
living it.

Avana runs two flagship programmes in schools and communities—each a complete, activity-first curriculum with its own sessions, tools and outcomes. Open either to see the full session-by-session breakdown.

Facilitator leading a Digital Relevance Building Program session
AVANA PROGRAMME

Digital Relevance Building Program

An in-school workshop series helping students move from passive technology use to purposeful, practical digital independence—no personal devices required.

  • 3 phases
  • 5–8 sessions
  • Device-free
Open this programme
Student presenting on a screen during an AI Literacy Curriculum session
AVANA PROGRAMME

AI Literacy Curriculum

Seven activity-first modules moving learners from understanding how AI works to using digital tools independently, critically and safely.

  • 7 modules
  • Ages 10–17
  • Student-led
Open this curriculum
BUILT BY AVANA LEARNERS
nagar-hub-connect.lovable.app
Open this student project ↗
santoshi-darshan-portal.lovable.app
Open this student project ↗

FROM LESSON TO LIVE PROJECT

Built by
the children.

Learners choose the problem, plan the content, take the photographs, write every prompt and review every result. Facilitators guide the process—the children author the work.

01

Nagar Hub Connect

A community website that makes local places, facilities and stories easier to discover.

Visit project ↗
02

SDBFC Home Kit

A website created by Don Bosco learners, showing how the same skills transfer to a new brief.

03

Santoshi Mata Mandir

A multilingual temple website created by learners for a real community audience.

Visit project ↗

TAKE AVANA WITH YOU

The Project Avana brochure

Explore our approach to digital literacy and practical learning.

Request brochure ↗