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Est. 2008 · Gurugram, IndiaVol. I · June 2026

The Official Record

SHIVANSH GUPTA

AI Builder · Startup Founder · Mathematician · Philosopher · Debater

Lead Story

Building at the frontier of AI, mathematics & philosophy

Harvard ʼ30 · Team India Debater

I'm an incoming freshman at Harvard University ('30) and an IBDP graduate. I founded The Teen Debater — Asia's largest youth-led, government-recognized debate nonprofit — training 12,000+ students across 250+ schools in 15+ countries. I represented India on the national debate squad (2022–24), competing at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Toronto, and Georgetown, winning ESL Championships, Grand Finals, and Speaker Awards at the world's top tournaments.

I represented Team India at the Eskom Expo International Science Fair in South Africa — Africa's largest science fair — winning the Gold Medal, Best in Category (Engineering), and a cash prize. I'm a published economics researcher (mentored by Dr. Rocco Zizzamia, Oxford and President Meaghan Blight, Wesleyan College), a coder with 300+ applications since age 12, and a Silver Medalist (2nd in the world) at the International Economics Olympiad. I've spoken on BBC World Service, Disney+ Hotstar, ET Now, and All India Radio — and been recognised as a Top 50 Global Student Prize finalist (Chegg.org) and Young Changemaker by The Economic Times. I published a book at 13.

“Philosophy teaches you to ask harder questions. Mathematics teaches you to answer them.”

By The Numbers

12,000+
Students trained via The Teen Debater
250+
Schools across 15+ countries
284+
Media features (ANI, The Print, ET Now)
Top 50
Global Student Prize 2025 (from 11,000+)
40,000+
Rural women reached through govt. work
Printing…0%

SHIVANSH GUPTA

Gurugram, IndiaEst. 2008
Harvard ʼ30
SG.

About

Harvard ʼ30 · From Gurugram, India

Shivansh Gupta

I'm an incoming freshman at Harvard University ('30) and an IBDP graduate. I founded The Teen Debater — Asia's largest youth-led, government-recognized debate nonprofit — training 12,000+ students across 250+ schools in 15+ countries. I represented India on the national debate squad, competing at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Toronto, and Georgetown, winning ESL Championships, Grand Finals, and Speaker Awards at the world's top tournaments.

I represented Team India at the Eskom Expo ISF in South Africa, winning the Gold Medal & Best in Category (Engineering). I'm a published economics researcher, a coder with 300+ applications built since age 12, and a Silver Medalist (2nd in the world) at the International Economics Olympiad. I've spoken on BBC, Disney+, ET Now & All India Radio — recognised as a Top 50 Global Student Prize finalist and Young Changemaker by The Economic Times. Published a book at 13.

I build big, ambitious things — AI systems, startups, research, content, art. Driven by obsession with ideas across AI, mathematics, philosophy, economics, debate, music, languages, and public speaking. Always pursuing one thing: to become the best version of myself — and to help others do the same.

“My work sits at the intersection of communication, economics, and social impact.”

⚖️

Debater

Team India · National Squad

💻

Coder

300+ apps built since age 12

📝

Author & Researcher

2 peer-reviewed papers

🚀

Leader

Founded The Teen Debater

🎸

Musician

Guitar Grade 5 · Trinity College London

🌐

Polyglot

English & Hindi — Native

12,000+

Students trained

100+

Awards won

300+

Apps built

2nd

World (IEO)

284+

Media features

40,000+

Women reached

Work, Impact & Activities

Ventures & Leadership.

The Teen Debater
Nonprofit

The Teen Debater

Founder

Sep 2023 – Present

Asia's largest youth-led, govt-recognized debate nonprofit. 12,000+ students, 250+ schools, 15+ countries. Young Changemaker Award 2025 (ET Now). Featured in 284+ publications.

Team India Debate
Team India

Team India Debate

Indian National Debate Squad

Dec 2022 – Dec 2024

Top 15 of 3,000+ students (<0.9%). Green Squad (2022–23): Thistle Cup, AWSDO. White Squad (2023–24): UPenn, Everest, Doxbridge WSDC.

Team India @ Eskom ISF
Team India

Team India @ Eskom ISF

Gold Medal · Best in Category

2024

Represented India at Eskom Expo ISF, Johannesburg — Africa's largest science fair. Gold Medal & Best in Category (Engineering) for ParkinStep. Also IRIS National Finalist (Top 100, ISEF India).

Team India Economics
Team India

Team India Economics

Silver Medalist · 2nd in the World

2024

Represented India at the International Economics Olympiad. Silver Medal with 100/100 in Economics — ranked 2nd in the world from 50+ countries.

HIXS Debate Society
School

HIXS Debate Society

Founder & President

Dec 2024 – Apr 2026

Founded school DebSoc; won Distinctive Debate Club Grant (ISDS). Built 7-year resource bank. Hosted HIXS's first Debating Cup (24 teams, 72 participants).

Student Congress
School

Student Congress

President

Oct 2024 – Oct 2025

Elected by 400+ students. Authored the first Code of Conduct. Ran a 6-stage election for 450+ students. Previously Grade 9 Representative (2022–23).

Beyond The Gavel
Media

Beyond The Gavel

Founder

Dec 2024 – May 2026

Official podcast of The Teen Debater. Led strategy, guest outreach, team management, production & distribution. Distributed on Apple Podcasts & Amazon Music.

Haryana Skill Dev Mission
Government

Haryana Skill Dev Mission

Intern, Govt. of India

Feb 2025 – Mar 2026

HSRLM Nuh — built and delivered curriculum on financial literacy, digital security & fraud-call safety, reaching 40,000+ women across SHGs. Featured in Outlook India.

WCD Dept., Haryana
Government

WCD Dept., Haryana

Intern, Govt. of India

Jan 2025 – Mar 2026

Kishori Shakti Yojana — upskilled Anganwadi workers & women 18+ in banking, insurance schemes, and government financial apps.

Antler VC
Startup

Antler VC

Intern

Dec 2024 – Jan 2025

Under Chief of Staff to CEO. Built a data portfolio of 100+ US founders to inform board-level investment decisions.

Inspire Her
Advocacy

Inspire Her

Advocacy Lead

Dec 2024 – Mar 2026

Gender-advocacy campaigns, NGO partnerships, and spokesperson work focused on women's empowerment and gender equality.

TEDx Youth Speaker
Speaking

TEDx Youth Speaker

Speaker — 'Giving is Growing'

2025

One of only 3 student speakers selected. Delivered an 11-minute TEDx talk on how generosity compounds — personally and communally.

All India Radio
Media

All India Radio

RJ — Youth Adda

2025

Radio journalist and guest on FM Rainbow 102.6 Delhi — hosted a 1-hour youth-focused program broadcast across India.

Substack
Writing

Substack

Freelance Writer

Jul 2025 – Mar 2026

Essays on gender economics, unpaid care work, and rural empowerment — building on academic research for a public audience.

Lakshyam
Advocacy

Lakshyam

Volunteer

2025

Women & girl-child empowerment initiative. Contributed 90+ hours across programs focused on education, safety, and opportunity.

TASS Ambassador
School

TASS Ambassador

Ambassador for HIXS, India

2024 – 2025

Led sustainability initiatives and co-organized the inaugural TASS FireSide Chat series at HIXS.

Speech & Debate India
Debate

Speech & Debate India

Competitive Debater

2019 – 2025

NSDA national tournaments; represented at Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown, University of Michigan. NSDA MS JV National Champion (Policy, 2021).

HIXS School Roles
School

HIXS School Roles

MUN Trainer · Theatre · Slam Poetry · Cyber Safety

2022 – 2026

MUN Society Trainer (2022–24). Theatre Team — performed at Shri Utsav & WIRED. Slam Poetry Circle. Cyber Security Month core team. 3-year Emcee for Cyber Safety workshops.

Published Work

Research & Publications.

Who Cares? Unpaid Labor, Human Capital and Inequality in India

American Journal of Student Research

2025

Who Cares? Unpaid Labor, Human Capital and Inequality in India

A two-period economic model showing how unpaid care work shapes human capital formation — documenting that India's poorest households shoulder 53.9 more minutes of unpaid care per day than the richest. Supported by Dr. Rocco Zizzamia (Fulford Junior Research Fellow, Somerville College, University of Oxford). First paper to uniquely theorise the feedback of care on human capital in a neoclassical model.

EconomicsGenderPublished
Read
Project NeoWave: Conservatism & Gender Dynamics in the USA and India

Journal of Student Research (+5 more journals)

2024

Project NeoWave: Conservatism & Gender Dynamics in the USA and India

A comparative analysis of conservative ideologies and gender dynamics since 2010, conducted under President Meaghan Blight of Wesleyan College. Presented at a panel discussion with 9 senior Wesleyan economics students. Published in JSR and archived on RePEC.

EconomicsPolicyPublished
Read
Parkinson Disease Detection & Severity Classification: Catch the Stumble before the Fall

GRENZE Journal

2024

Parkinson Disease Detection & Severity Classification: Catch the Stumble before the Fall

A CNN-based deep-learning methodology (TensorFlow) for early detection and severity classification of Parkinson's Disease using Hoehn & Yahr scores — the research behind the award-winning ParkinStep project. Nine rigorously defined sub-sections covering data acquisition, preprocessing, feature engineering, and model development.

Machine LearningHealthcarePublished
Read
Helping Hand: A Student-Led Initiative for Sustainable Communities

InterACT Magazine

2023

Helping Hand: A Student-Led Initiative for Sustainable Communities

Published in the prestigious high school social impact project journal covering the Helping Hand app — which won ₹75,000 from Harvard MUN India's Impact Initiative and an Honourable Mention at MIT Appathon 2022 from 800+ submissions.

Social ImpactPublished
Read
13 Life Lessons by a 13 Year Old

Notion Press (Book)

2021

13 Life Lessons by a 13 Year Old

A published book sharing 13 life lessons for teenagers — written and published at age 13. Aimed at helping teenagers navigate middle and high school with agility and purpose.

AuthorBook
Read

Credentials

Skills & Certifications.

Programming

PythonJavaScriptTypeScriptNode.jsHTML/CSSSwiftKotlinRubyGoSQLPHPp5.jsEJSSCSSArduinoTensorFlowOpenCV

Domains

EconomicsGender StudiesDebate (WSDC/BP/PF/Policy)Public PolicyFinancial LiteracyResearch (Qualitative + Quantitative)Machine LearningPodcastingEvent ManagementAdvocacy

Music

Guitar (Grade 5 — Trinity Rock & Pop)Drums (Grade 3 — Trinity Rock & Pop)Music Theory (Grade 2 — Trinity Rock & Pop)

University Courses & Certifications

WGS 363: Gender & Occupation across Cultures

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Jul 2025 · Grade A+

ECON 211 — Gender in the Economy (GT-SS1)

Colorado State University

May 2024

Big Data, Machine Learning, and their Real World Applications

Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Jul 2023 · Columbia Pre-College Programs · Letter of Evaluation awarded

BWSI Python Core

MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute

2022

Guitar Grade 5 — Trinity Rock and Pop

Trinity College London

Jan 2023 · Certified

Drums Grade 3 — Trinity Rock and Pop

Trinity College London

Jan 2023 · Certified

Music Theory Grade 2 — Trinity Rock and Pop

Trinity College London

Dec 2022 · Certified

Epidemics, Pandemics and Outbreaks

University of Pittsburgh

May 2020 · Credential ID: 259XNMVUA9X4

Introduction to Food and Health

Stanford University

Jul 2020 · Credential ID: VEE75L22697P

Introduction to Psychology

Yale University

Sep 2020 · Credential ID: KNF9S8FFK8A3

Learn Ruby Course

Codecademy

Jun 2021

Learn Swift Course

Codecademy

Aug 2021

Learn Kotlin Course

Codecademy

Jul 2021

Build iOS Apps with SwiftUI Skill Path

Codecademy

Sep 2021

Learn SQL Course

Codecademy

May 2021

Learn Go Course

Codecademy

Dec 2020

Life in frames

Moments.