Grassroots Spotlight: Keerthi Samanthapudi

I never thought I could do anything about poverty.

I was born in India, and grew up in Pittsburgh. I saw a lot of poverty – especially when I went back to India. I felt powerless – which is how most people feel. They learn to treat poverty as something that you accept. I think RESULTS has taught me that that’s not the case. You don’t have to be a politician to bring about change! You can use your voice, and that’s very, very inspiring for me.

I didn’t understand the importance of civic engagement until I got involved with RESULTS.

I recently talked to some middle schoolers about civics. I realized civics is not just words that you memorize, or how many votes it takes to do this or that. It’s really something that involves us, and that starts from young people.

Regardless of your pursuits, there’s always place for change, and there’s room for people with very diverse interests. I’m studying pre-med and economics. In our RESULTS Fellowship class, there are some people doing financial planning, and there are people wanting to go to law school. There’s a place for all of them, because we really do need all of those voices to feel empowered and to help empower others.

The ability to understand how to create change is a really powerful skill. In a time where there’s so much disillusionment within politics, I think RESULTS’ mission just shines even brighter.