2025-2026 World Series of Innovation Opens for Submissions in September
What advice would a fifth-grade inventor give to other big thinkers?
“You’re never too young or never too old to make an impact because I started when I was 6,” offers Myra Saxena, a student at Herbert Hoover Elementary School in California.
At just 10 years old, Myra is the visionary founder and Chief Sparkle Officer of Sparklez, a youth-led nonprofit with a mission that shines far beyond sparkle. Each handmade charm jewelry sold at business fairs or farmer’s markets supports causes close to Myra’s heart — including The Johns Hopkins Pediatric Diabetes Center, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health pediatric center, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and American Diabetes Association’s Camp Charm City summer camp, as well as a school for visually impaired girls in India. Through Sparklez, Myra is proving that purpose-driven entrepreneurship can start young and make a powerful impact.
Myra is an example of the high caliber of young entrepreneurial thinkers who enter NFTE’s annual World Series of Innovation (WSI), set to launch a new slate of challenges in September at innovation.nfte.com. WSI is a global competition for young people ages 5-24 who wish to create entrepreneurial solutions that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Myra won first prize for WSI’s 2024 Imagination League – MetLife Good Health & Well-Being Challenge with another creative idea, the Healthy Littles app. Now being beta-tested by friends, family and teachers, the app emphasizes healthy living and quality education. Her target market is youth, particularly those who are in underprivileged communities, managing life with diabetes or wanting to stave off the disease.
Most recently, Myra pitched her Healthy Littles invention at the RTX Invention Convention at The Henry Ford in Michigan. She was among only 490 K-12 student inventors who bested more than 200,000 to make it to the national competition. Her confidence was buttressed by the advice she received from Dr. Risa Wolf of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as others.
“I was honored to represent California with about 90 other inventors and even more excited to be the only student from the Palo Alto Unified School District selected this year,” Myra said. She pitched the latest iteration of her invention, Healthy Littles powered by SmartGenes. It’s a wearable device combined with an app. The system will help kids understand their genetic risk for Type 2 diabetes and gently reminds them to take proactive, fun steps to stay healthy. It combines micro-bit technology and sensors to track physical activity.
“It’s called SmartGenes because after I learned about diabetes, I became more interested in genetics and research,” Myra explained. “Smartwatches can’t be worn at school, but kids can wear this to school, and it’s eco-friendly.”
SmartGenes will be built using an AI model trained on simulated data to provide wearers with a genetic risk score.
“You’ll know that as a kid you may be susceptible to getting diabetes when you grow up, so here are the things you should do now,” explained Myra’s supportive mom, Sweta Sinha.
A prototype for Healthy Littles powered by SmartGenes is on track. Myra estimates eight months for completion. Until then, expect the young inventor who began coding at age 5 to continue to hone her craft. While her award-winning work thus far “is fine,” she said, Myra wants to make it even “more creative and unique,” so children will enjoy taking charge of their health.
Myra’s motivation is deeply personal. Her grandfather passed away due to diabetes-related complications. “I was 7 years old, and I was really heartbroken,” she said. “I knew I was too young to cure diabetes, but I had to find a way to help other kids maintain healthy living and a healthy lifestyle.”
To learn how to enter NFTE’s 2025-2026 World Series of Innovation, contact us.
