Maya Kirti Nanan has once again placed T&T on the world map.
She has been named one of the Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust 100 Young Leaders Awardees for 2026. This award recognises 100 young changemakers across the Commonwealth and was launched to mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday. For Maya, this is another major international recognition in a journey that has already included the 2020 Diana Award and being named Commonwealth Young Person of the Year 2023.
Maya’s story started with her brother, Rahul. Before she became an internationally recognised youth leader, she was a little girl growing up with an autistic brother who is only one year younger than her. She saw, very early, how difficult the world can be for children like him. Autism was not something she read about in a book. It was part of her everyday life. As a sibling, she saw the struggle to find a suitable school, the stares when they went out in public, how quickly people judged what they did not understand, and how many doors remained closed to children like Rahul.
At just 12 years old, Maya started the Autism Siblings and Friends Network so that siblings, friends and other young people could come together to create change. Through the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, she later received grant funding that helped open Rahul’s Clubhouse, which is now four years old. Today, she manages the Clubhouse and continues to help create programmes and opportunities for autistic children and young adults. Through the Sixth Form Volunteer Programme, young people are also given the chance to interact with and support autistic children at Rahul’s Clubhouse. The same little girl who once watched her brother struggle to find a place in the world is now helping to run a space named after him, where other children can belong.
Maya understood very early that Rahul did not need to change to fit into the world. The world needed to make space for him. Over the years, she has done what many adults only talk about. She built a strong youth advocacy base, trained volunteers to work with autistic children, and helped create a generation that understands autism differently. Through her work, thousands of young people have been exposed to inclusion not as a nice word, but as something they have a role in building. She has shown them that they do not have to wait until they are older to serve. They can volunteer, lead and help build a better T&T now. Now 23 years old, Maya has completed her BSc in Youth Development Work with first-class honours from UWI. She wants to work with at-risk youth, and one day she wants to become Minister of Youth.
What makes Maya’s story so special is not just the awards, although those awards are important. It is the fact that all of this started at home, with Rahul. It started with a sister watching her brother struggle in a world that did not always understand him. Instead of accepting that, Maya decided to do something. She turned her love for Rahul into work that now touches hundreds of families and thousands of young people.
For Maya, when she is honoured internationally, T&T is being recognised too. The world is seeing that powerful advocacy can come from a small island, from an ordinary family, and from a young woman who simply refused to let her brother be pushed aside.
