Kristin Nash, MPH
Sep 17, 2026
We're pleased to introduce a 2026 recipient of the William G. Nash Social Impact Grant, Achyut Chebiyam, a senior at UC Berkeley, and the founder of SkillVision.
Now in its fifth annual cycle, the William G. Nash Social Impact Grant continues to support college student-run businesses and initiatives that aim to positively impact society by providing grants, support, and mentorship to help them expand and grow.
We wanted to introduce you to a 2026 recipient, doing important work to help informal and displaced workers prove what they can do.
Achyut Chebiyam is a senior at UC Berkeley studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and Engineering Physics, and the founder of SkillVision. He describes the problem like this:
"There are 2 billion people working in the informal economy globally, and another 123 million who are forcibly displaced. Most of them have real skills, but no formal record of those skills. A Venezuelan nurse cleans houses in Bogota. An Indian carpenter carries bricks in Lucknow. The skills exist. The documentation doesn't. This isn't a problem of talent. It's a problem of visibility."
SkillVision turns a 15-minute WhatsApp voice conversation into a verified skill profile. A worker sends voice notes in their own language, with no app to download and no need to read or write. An AI conducts the interview, asks for specifics, and pushes back when answers are vague. At the end of it, the worker has a record of their skills that they own and can share with anyone.
Cost is the reason this can work at scale. NGOs and resettlement agencies currently document worker skills through caseworker interviews, at $50 to $200 per worker. A SkillVision profile costs less than $0.10. Achyut is careful to say the tool is meant to support caseworkers rather than replace them, freeing up their time for the work that needs a person.
The idea came out of four years volunteering with ENGin, a nonprofit matching volunteer English tutors with Ukrainian students. Two of those years were spent tutoring one student, a teenager who was forced to relocate after his city was bombed. Achyut learned what the family could do, and saw they had no way to make any of it visible outside their immediate community. That student had someone sitting across a screen, patient enough to draw out who he was. As Achyut puts it, "2 billion informal workers and 123 million displaced people don't have that."
The technology is already built and live on WhatsApp, working in more than 30 languages. It has not yet been used with workers at scale, and that is what Achyut sought a grant for. Over the summer of 2026, SkillVision will profile 100 informal workers in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, in partnership with SmartGaon, a rural digitization NGO already working in those villages. The funds cover interview costs, field coordination, stipends for every worker who takes part, and travel so Achyut can supervise the work in person. Workers pay nothing, and any wages they go on to earn through SkillVision are theirs in full.
We have been impressed by the rigor of Achyut's planning, and by his commitment to treating workers as the experts on their own experience. WGNF is proud to support SkillVision through the William G. Nash Social Impact Grant and we wish Achyut every success in the pilot ahead.
About the William G. Nash Social Impact Grant Program
The William G. Nash Social Impact Grant program seeks to support college student run businesses with grants of between $2,500 - $7,500, support and mentorship to help them expand and grow.
Your business can be at any stage from idea, through to up and running and we particularly look to support those whose businesses have the potential to impact society in a positive way.
The main criteria for funding include: 1) you and/or others on your team is/are a student or recent graduate and 2) your business makes some type of social impact. Applications for the 2027 grant cycle will begin soon. Please feel free to reach out to info@williamgnash.org with any questions about the application process.
We are proud to honor Will's legacy by supporting young changemakers and their visions for impact. And we look forward to receiving your application!