Suhani Jalota is an activist aiming at improving public health in India. After completing a Bachelor at Duke University, she is now doing a PhD at Stanford University in Health Policy and Economics. Suhani Jalota great achievements have been acknowledged in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of 2018.
Suhani has always been driven by the rights for women to obtain equality and to take decisions for their own lives. Suhani Jalota has been told by her mentor, Dr. Jockin Arputham, that the right way to make things happen is not to do it for people but to allow them to find the energy, will and possibilities to change it themselves. From all the ideas and thinkings behind the advice of her mentor, an idea arose and became: Myna Mahila Foundation.
The Myna Mahila Foundation was created in 2015 when Suhani Jalota was 20 years old. The social enterprise trains and employs women to make sanitary products. The idea behind is to enable women to make sanitary products themselves which would help them to get financial independence while improving menstrual hygiene and allowing women to access low-cost and eco-friendly sanitary products.
As of today, Myna Mahila Foundation has produced more than 1 million pads for women and had them delivered to about 550,000 women in 15 slum communities in Mumbai.
Suhani Jalota was awarded in 2016 the Glamour Woman of the Year award. She was, in this context, spotted by Meghan Merckle who managed to get in touch with her. She was then invited to the Royal Wedding and was part of the charities who would receive donations as gifts for the Royal Wedding.
What is more, in 2017, she won the Queen’s Young Leader Award for the foundation where she met Queen Elizabeth II.
Now, Suhani Jalota has been nominated and is part of the finalists for the Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award 2020. An award of $250,000 will be given to the winner’s organization.
The incredible path and amazing story of Suhani Jalota does not end here. During the Covid19 pandemic, which still continues, India has been one the most hit countries. In reaction to the critical situation, the foundation started to make masks and delivered them with food and educational materials from doors to doors. They also launched an app providing information about the pandemic but also menstrual health.
The foundation has still a great future in front of it and I highly encourage anyone willing to learn more about the foundation to read through their website: https://mynamahila.com/