Atlanta student’s carbon platform heads to New Delhi summit

Woodward Academy student Rhythm Bazari built i-Pledge, a carbon tracking platform backed by Microsoft through CSR programs, for a global sustainability campaign that will debut at the GSS 2026 summit in New Delhi. The project aims to turn individual lifestyle pledges into measurable emissions reductions and could reach 5 million-plus users.

Why it matters: - i-Pledge is designed to move climate action from pledges to measurable outcomes. - The platform turns individual lifestyle changes into aggregate emissions-reduction data that campaign organizers plan to publish. - Microsoft has projected the campaign could reach 5 million+ users, giving the project potential scale beyond a school or local nonprofit effort.

What happened: - Atlanta high school student Rhythm Bazari built the i-Pledge Carbon Impact Platform from scratch with one collaborator. - Bazari attends Woodward Academy, founded Minorities in STEM, and served as lead technical builder on the platform. - The platform will be presented at the Global Sustainability Summit 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. - i-Pledge powers the "I Pledge: Reduce Your Own Carbon Footprint" campaign run by the Indian Institute of Sustainable Development and its Carbon Minus India initiative. - Microsoft is listed by summit organizers as the campaign's Technology Partner. - The product is set to launch in early September.

The details: - The campaign asks participants to commit to changes across 11 everyday lifestyle habits. - Participants then report their actions with quantifiable data. - i-Pledge calculates the resulting impact using a carbon footprint methodology recommended by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. - At the end of the campaign, IISD-CMI intends to publish total emissions reduced across all participants. - Bazari wrote the platform's entire frontend and manages the build. - The platform was developed through Microsoft's corporate social responsibility programs. - GSS 2026 is the annual flagship event of IISD-CMI, an independent not-for-profit think tank. - The summit is held at Vigyan Bhawan, the Government of India's principal conference venue. - The GSS series was officially launched by Union Cabinet Minister of Culture and Tourism Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. - Organizers list Vice President of India Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan as chief guest. - Summit supporting partners include the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and NITI Aayog. - Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft's chief sustainability officer, appears on the invited speaker roster.

Between the lines: - The project shows how student-led STEM work can scale into international policy and sustainability forums. - MIS grew out of a budget crisis at Bazari's high school robotics program, then expanded into a broader model for free student-led chapters. - The nonprofit's structure relies on teenage and young adult volunteers rather than paid staff, which keeps the program free but makes volunteer leadership central to its operation. - Avants AI, another tool in the MIS network, extends that same build-and-share model into career readiness.

What's next: - i-Pledge is expected to launch in early September ahead of the New Delhi summit. - IISD-CMI plans to use the platform to track participant actions and publish total emissions reductions at the end of the campaign. - MIS says its broader network will continue expanding through student-run chapters and shared resources.

The bottom line: - A student-built platform is moving from school-level innovation to a global sustainability stage, with Microsoft, Indian government-linked partners and a major New Delhi summit behind it.

More information: Minorities in STEM - LinkedIn - Instagram - YouTube - Linktree