Shruti Kapoor (born 25 September) is an Indian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, women's rights activist, and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

. She is the founder of Sayfty, an initiative that aims to educate and empower young women and girls against all forms of

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

Early life and education

Born in

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

, India, Kapoor moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2000. After earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in economics from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

, she worked as an economist for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, for two years. Following this, she moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to complete her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, and continued as a consultant for the

. After earning her doctorate degree, Kapoor taught economics at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

for a year.

Work

Kapoor founded Sayfty in June 2013 to educate and empower young women and girls against all forms of violence. The initiative focuses on training young women and girls in self-defense, using safety tools such as pepper-spray, increasing awareness of laws and

legal rights Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental rights ...

, and creating dialogue around safety and what makes women feel unsafe. Sayfty received the People's Choice Award by Femvertising in 2015. Kapoor founded Sayfty in the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old female, which shocked the country and garnered global media attention. In May 2019, Kapoor started a public petition on Charge.org to oppose two shelters for women and children in her neighborhood of

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She argued that "locating two large buildings for the homeless on two adjacent blocks is not fair to our community," and that they would have "a negative impact on the property value," although no evidence was provided regarding the effect of homeless shelters on property values.

Public speaking

As an

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, she has addressed many public forums including the Youth Assembly at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in August 2016. In August 2017, Shruti delivered a Talk at 2017 Summer Youth Assembly at the United Nations, addressing her work around the use of technology to address gender equality. In March 2017, Shruti moderated a panel on Young Women As An Economic Force at Youth Forum (CSW61) at the United Nations. In January 2017, Shruti addressed the Winter Youth Assembly at the United Nations. She talked about Young Women's Economic Empowerment. In November 2016, In celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Organized by

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...

and the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, Shruti talked about the impact of violence against women on young women's economic empowerment. In August 2016, Shruti addressed the Summer Youth Assembly at the United Nations on two separate panels. Her first talk focused on Youth Involvement at the United Nations. The second talk focused on Investing in Young Women's Leadership.

Awards and recognition

Kapoor is named by

Apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased p ...

as One of the Most Influential People in Global Policy 2019. Indian Ministry of Women and

Child Development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. It is—particularly from birth to five years— a foundation ...

facilitated Kapoor as one of the 30 #WebWonderWomen who have been driving positive agenda of social change via social media. Richtopia named Kapoor as one of the top 100 leaders from multilateral organizations globally in 2018. Kapoor served on the judging panel for Anu and Naveen Jain's $1 million, Women Safety Xprize competition. She is the recipient of the International Women Of The Year Award by Aosta Valley, Italy (2015). She was the 2nd runners up. She also received the Rex Karamveer Global Fellowship on 23 March, in New Delhi at the exclusive awards function, which is a part of “iCONGO’s REX Conclive, organized on 21st, 22nd, `and 23rd of March 2015. In March 2016, she was one of the EU top 200 Women in the World of Development Wall of Fame. She was also one of the nominated changemakers for the United State of Women 2016. She is a three-time story award winner with World Pulse In September 2016, Shruti was one of the women shortlisted for the Rising Stars Award 2016 by We are the City

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, which she went onto win. In October 2016, she was recognized as one of the "52 Feminists" by 52Feminists.com.

References

External links

About Our Founder: Shruti Kapoor
(Sayfty) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, Shruti Indian social entrepreneurs 20th-century Indian businesswomen 20th-century Indian businesspeople Living people Indian human rights activists Indian women economists World Bank people Marquette University alumni University of California, Riverside alumni Indian women's rights activists 20th-century Indian economists People from Kanpur Activists from Uttar Pradesh Year of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Uttar Pradesh Women scientists from Uttar Pradesh Businesswomen from Uttar Pradesh