Service Spotlight: Young Learners Foundation

Welcome to another edition of #ServiceSpotlight with The Smile Project where we share incredible stories of people doing incredible things in their communities. This week, we are thrilled to share the story of Sahana Srikanth, the Founder and Executive Director of Young Learners Foundation, an Ohio-based nonprofit focused on bridging the gap in literacy access. Shoutout to our friends at Matt’s Kindness Ripples On for the connection!  

Liz: Let’s start in traditional Smile Project fashion. Give us a Happiness!

Sahana: Happiness is the feeling when you realize your words or actions made someone else smile!

Liz: Tell me about the Young Learners Foundation. 

Sahana: In 2022, I created the Young Learners Foundation, a youth-led organization focused on bridging divides in access to literacy resources. Over the past four years, we've pursued that mission through several initiatives, including book drives, mentorship programs, spelling bees, vocabulary workshops, and more. In past summers, I've hosted free, accessible spelling bee workshops to help youth in my community learn more about the spelling bee program. I've collaborated with youth-led nonprofits to direct public speaking and literacy summer camps, as well as partnered with local Ohio-based organizations to host free community spelling bees with scholarships for winners.

On the book access side, we've run multiple book drives that have connected schools with a surplus of books to schools in under-resourced communities, such as Title I schools in Ohio. Internationally, we did a major collaboration with the African Library Project to donate books to an orphanage in Kenya, and we’ve provided books to a few schools in Trinidad & Tobago as well. In terms of metrics, we've donated over 18,000 books, supported 26 organizations and schools, and reached communities across three continents. 

A memorable event that I hosted through Young Learners Foundation was our Global Youth Service Day Event in April 2025. Through the support of a grant from the Hershey Company, we acquired the resources to host a day of service with my local elementary school. Students sorted hundreds of books and created bookmarks for donation to nonprofits in book deserts—all while learning leadership skills such as collaboration and empathy. I felt so inspired to see students as young as 11 years old eager to get involved in advocacy, and I know the books that we donated made a huge difference on the lives of young readers across the country.

Liz: What is the driving force behind what you do?

Sahana: My journey with Young Learners Foundation is driven by my love of spelling bees! I started competing in spelling bees when I was in third grade, and I continued until eighth grade. I grew up constantly absorbed in books, and I’d always search for interesting words to explore in the titles I was reading. I loved learning about the origins of these words from languages like  Latin and Greek, so I decided to apply my interest in language through the spelling bee. After spending many years studying and analyzing words, I qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021 and 2022, placing as a National Finalist (Top 10 in the USA) in 2022. At the National Bee, I met so many incredible people who shared my love of language, including linguists and researchers, which inspired me to carry my passion for words forward in a meaningful way.

That same summer, I began hosting spelling bee workshops and programs in local areas of Ohio. I noticed how student literacy varied significantly depending on where students lived and what resources they had access to. After doing more research, I learned that these literacy gaps were often caused by “book deserts,” or areas without adequate access to literature. Nearly 32 million young Americans live in a book desert—a gap that’s hurting youth literacy rates across the country. From this, I realized that many students didn't have the same books or mentorship that had shaped my own journey with words, and I wanted to change that. That’s why I started Young Learners Foundation, so that I could share my love of words while making literacy resources accessible to those who needed them most.

Liz: How can people get involved?

Sahana: To learn more, you can follow our work on our website and Instagram @younglearnersfoundation. 

Liz: Anything else you'd like to add?

Sahana: My most meaningful experiences with Young Learners Foundation are visiting local school districts to donate books to their community. Since 2025, I’ve worked with multiple Title I schools in Ohio and Kentucky, meeting educators and students from these districts to provide books for free. These events are special to me because I can see the impact of our book donations from both sides. I love watching students light up over a book they’re excited to read, and have conversations with friends and siblings about characters in a new novel. Teachers have also shared with me how our donations prevented them from having to pay for books out-of-pocket. Knowing that our work alleviates that burden for teachers, not just students, has definitely left a huge impression on me—and it’s reinforced my determination to keep pursuing this work in the future.

And finally, do you have a favorite quote to leave us with?

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." 

—Arthur Ashe