Girl Up

Sneha , India
Sneha is a mathematics undergraduate and incoming pre-doctoral fellow at IIT with a growing interest in the circular economy and sustainability. As President of Girl Up Noor, her community-based Girl Up chapter, she led the Club for two consecutive years and organized more than 50 initiatives that reached over 2,500 people across Delhi NCR. When she’s not building community, Sneha is reading psychology and catching up on webtoons. 

Dhanvi , India  

Dhanvi studies Economics at NMIMS Mumbai and has spent a lot of time thinking about power — who holds it, how it shifts, and what changes when more people are in the room. Through Girl Up, she works on girls’ rights advocacy and creating space for voices that get overlooked. She also trains MUN students across Mumbai, helping more than 1,000 students find and use their own voice. Dhanvi is headed toward a future in global policy and international relations. 

Avanthika , India  

An 11th grader with her sights set on medicine, Avanthika leads Girl Up Power Pioneers, where she’s run multiple fundraisers and campaigns. Her leadership track record includes serving as House Captain in 8th grade and being elected Student Council President in 9th grade with 72% of the vote! She’s also an anime enthusiast who loves discovering new stories, cultures, and places. 

Areebah, Bangladesh  

Areebah is President of Girl Up Bangladesh and a passionate advocate for gender equality across the country. She began her Girl Up journey with Girl Up STEM, where she led Project Shopnojatra — a collaboration with Grameenphone, one of Bangladesh’s largest telecom companies — as Assistant Project Manager. A Duke of Edinburgh Awardee, Areebah is committed to building youth-led initiatives with lasting impact. 

Madhupriya, India  

Madhupriya has been part of Girl Up for two years, currently serving as Collaborations & PR Head of her local chapter, and now representing the Eastern Region as a Grassroots Leader. Her roots in social welfare go back to 2020, when she joined her school’s Interact Club and threw herself into campaigns, youth-led protests, and donation drives. She’s currently pursuing a psychology degree and has a keen interest in filmmaking and content creation. “I am really grateful to Girl Up India for giving me the opportunity to become the voice of the unheard,” she says. 

Luisell, Peru  

Inspired by her family’s history with teen pregnancy, Lu conducted academic research on comprehensive sex education policy in Peru. After local news reports of child sexual abuse in towns near her home, she started teaching her younger sister how to protect herself — and turned that lesson into a guide for parents that she shared online. Lu is an advocate for the sexual and reproductive rights of vulnerable populations, a sitcom devotee, a potter, and a committed keeper of notebooks. 

Karol, Colombia 

Karol has been drawn to community-building projects since she was young, volunteering with organizations across her city. Last year, she joined Girl Up’s Incubadora de Activaciones y Habilidades, sharpening her project management skills and discovering a real interest in leadership. As a scholarship recipient herself, Karol believes deeply in education and technology as tools for transformation — a belief that now drives her work bringing STEAM opportunities to girls and women across Colombia. 

Pachakanchay, Ecuador  

Pacha founded Girl Up Red Ecuador and built Hablemos Claro IA, a bilingual (Spanish/Kichwa) tool designed to widen access to menstrual health, sexual health, and consent education. Her advocacy has taken her to the UN, the OAS, UNICEF, and Harvard’s HPAIR conference. “My driving force is decolonization,” she says — reclaiming ancestral knowledge and historical memory while putting emerging technology like AI in service of a more just, sovereign society. 

Lola, Argentina  

Lola studies Sociology and competes as a rower. Since joining Girl Up in 2023, she has advocated for digital rights, education access, and gender equality in sports, working alongside other young women to drive change through leadership and collective action. 

Sofia, Chile  

Sofi’s leadership journey started at 13 with Inspiring Girls, where she discovered the power of youth voice in public spaces. At 14, she launched Innovemos Escuchando, a project pushing for youth participation in decision-making. Since then she’s served as class president, founded her Club’s first female basketball team, and collaborated with the UK and US embassies. In 2025 she founded the Asociación Juvenil de Ciencia y Tecnología, now connecting hundreds of young people across Latin America, and she currently sits on UNICEF’s Youth Council. 

Fatema, Egypt  

A high school student driven by a passion for community-led social change, Fatema focuses on SRHR, STEM, and youth advocacy. Since joining Girl Up in 2024, she has founded the Girl Up Egypt Coalition and worked on the 2024 and 2025 Global Leadership Summits as well as the 2025 Egypt Leadership Summit. Fascinated by biological sciences and biochemistry, she balances her STEM pursuits with handcrafts, leatherwork, and playing Egyptian drums — always looking for the bridge between scientific innovation and grassroots change. 

Salma, Canada/Palestine 

Salma is a Palestinian refugee born and raised in Lebanon, now based in Canada, where she completed her MSc in Business Analytics at Ivey Business School and has worked across the government, nonprofit, and banking sectors. She is the former founder of Girl Up Palestine and Lookin’ Pali, initiatives centered on women’s empowerment and cultural identity.