“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” (The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost, 1915)
Rashmii Mahendra, MBA, has had an amazing journey that spans across three continents. She completed her degree in Social Sciences from a Russell Group university – University of Manchester, now known as UMIST, in the U.K. She then completed her MBA from the U.K. and began her corporate career of 12 years in India within Fortune 500 Multinational companies within the Human Resources, Learning & Development and Project Management departments. She is a Master Diversity facilitator and has trained in various Fortune 500 companies as a Freelancer for 5 years before embarking on her interest in the field of cognitive diversity. Diversity and Inclusion are of paramount importance to Rashmii.
Her inspiration for research into the field of neurodiversity was her son, who is Autistic and profoundly gifted. He never quite fit into the “norm” and his gifts sparked a question of are we truly servicing children who are gifted outliers, those that have acute challenges as well as huge potential. How can we redefine, reimagine and reservice those that are hidden for who they truly are? The educational system has to be transformed to make learning fun for all the students and not just some students.
Rashmii is an advocate for twice-exceptional students and is a SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) facilitator where she co-facilitates for the community providing support groups for parents. She has completed a Graduate Academic Certificate in Twice Exceptional Education from Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. Rashmii is currently developing educational tools for her doctoral project, to engage students through game playing and positive identity formation. She is also a student in UCLA pursuing a certificate in Business Studies with Leadership.
Rashmii is committed to providing resources and tools to help families and educators understand and serve their neurodiverse students better. Her interests are in the field of arts and sciences and she enjoys writing.