2019: A Year in Review of South Asian Women

Last year, the idea for this piece came about on Christmas Eve on a whim — we worked quickly over the ensuing days and were able to gather an amazing set of achievements across the South Asian women population. This year, we had a bit more time (!) and are excited to present our second annual Year in Review of South Asian Women!

There aren’t words to describe the feeling we have, reading about the inspiring, daring and courageous things we South Asian women have been pursuing. As you read, we encourage you to think deeply about what that feeling of celebration feels like for you. Hold on to it and cherish it, because there is so much to be proud of.

From women across multiple countries and all ages, we’re highlighting some of our favorite, most inspiring moments of the year — in no particular order:

BUILDING FOR WOMEN

1. Arian Agrawal and Sarina Siddhanti launched Riya Collective, a platform to rent high-end South Asian fashion in the U.S.

2. Deepica Mutyala, CEO of Tinted, released her first product, the Huestick, an eye, lip, and cheek multistick that balances out dark circles, dark spots, and hyperpigmentation.

3. Nabela Noor launched Zeba, a community focused on self-love and body celebration that strives to rewrite beauty standards.

4. Mythili Sankaran, Chitra Nayak and Sruthi Ramaswami launched Neythri, a global professional network of South Asian women.

5. Vrinda Gupta launched Sequin Card, which aims to address the 7 point gender credit score gap, pink tax and luxury tax on feminine care products with a modern credit card for women.

   
   

CHAMPIONING REPRESENTATION AND INSPIRING CHANGE

1. 3.5 million+ women in Kerala created a 385 mile human wall on New Year’s Day to create awareness of gender equality.

2. Ambassador Riffat Masood became Pakistan’s first woman envoy to Iran.

3. Amna Nawaz became the first South Asian American to be selected to moderate a US Presidential debate.

4. Caroline Jurie of Sri Lanka was crowned Miss World 2020.

5. Chaya Kumar and Shivani Bhagwan, founders of BhangraFunk and BollyFunk partnered with Toyota on a commercial for Toyota’s “Let’s Go Places” campaign.

6. Diipa Büller-Khosla initiated the Red Dot Challenge in partnership with Unicef India to bring awareness and break the taboos surrounding menstruation.

7. Nina Davuluri launched the production of her documentary, COMPLEXion, to spark a positive movement of love and acceptance globally, no matter what shade.

8. Ramita Ravi and Vikas Arun, founders of Project Convergence, hosted a Diwali celebration with Capezio as the first South Asian dancers to be sponsored by the brand.

9. Senator Kamala Harris announced her 2020 United States Presidential campaign.

   
   

PUSHING CREATIVITY FORWARD AND SHARING OUR UNIQUE VOICES

1. Bela Bajaria was appointed to lead Netflix’s international non-English TV originals, in all international markets where Netflix is available.

2. Hetal Vasavada published her new cookbook, Milk & Cardamom, drawing inspiration from her Indian-American upbringing and experience on MasterChef.

3. Mindy Kaling announced a new coming-of-age series in partnership with Netflix about the complicated life of a modern-day first generation Indian American teenage girl, inspired by Kaling’s own childhood. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Poorna Jagannathan have been cast as Mindy and her mother, respectively.

4. Lilly Singh announced her own late-night talk show on NBC, as the only female late night host on the big four U.S. networks.

5. Pallavi, a Fijian-Bay Area rapper / singer released her music video, “Identity” and was featured in the Fiji Times.

6. Rianjali Bhowmick sang the American national anthem at an NBA basketball game, as the first South Asian American to sing for the Brooklyn Nets. She also launched her first full album, “Home,” in December.

7. Surina Jindal and Melanie Chandra launched the world premiere of their digital pilot, Surina and Mel, at Urban World Film Festival.

8. Nehal Tenany and Annika Sharma of The Woke Desi, Maria Qumar of Hate Copy, Sanjana Nagesh of Brown Girl Gang and illustrator Pranavi Suthagar for being featured in Times of India

   
   

TESTING ENDURANCE, GRIT AND OUR PHYSICAL STRENGTH

1. An all-woman Afghan mountaineering group called Ascend: Leadership Through Athletics became the first group of women to summit Mount Noshaq in the Hindu Kush Range.

2. Captain Aarohi Pandit became the world’s first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a light sports aircraft.

3. Dawa Yangzum Sherpa became the first Nepalese woman to summit Mount Makalu.

4. P.V. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win the Badminton World Championships.

5. Shivangi Swaroop became the first woman pilot to join the Indian Navy.

6. Sprinter Hima Das took home 5 successive gold medals in different meets across Poland and the Czech Republic within 20 days.

   
   

INNOVATING IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Grace Hopper Celebration India celebrated its 10th anniversary this year — Asia’s largest gathering of women technologists.

2. Gagandeep Kang became the first Indian woman scientist to be elected to the Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 360 years.

3. Girls Who Code, founded by Reshma Saujani, partnered with United Technologies Corp to expand its programming to girls in India.

4. Sangeeta Bhatia, an MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

5. Sri Lanka launched the Women’s Chamber for Digital, to accelerate Sri Lanka’s digital economic growth by empowering women.

   
   

SHARING STRENGTH WITH COURAGE AND HONESTY

1. Anjali Chakra and Sundas Malik’s anniversary photoshoot went viral around the world as a revolution on many levels — Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan and a same-sex relationship.

2. Nitika Chopra started Chronicon, an open forum to address the needs of those living with chronic conditions and their support communities.

3. Parul Somani launched her new platform, Designing Silver Linings, where she continues to be a champion of health, resilience and a positive mindset.

4. Rep. Pramila Jayapal penned a deeply reflective piece in the New York Times about her decision to get an abortion.

5. Sprinter Dutee Chand became India’s first openly gay athlete, when she came out publicly and shared she is in a same-sex relationship.

6. Vaidehi Gajjar was featured in the Boston Logan airport representing McLean Hospital and the Deconstructing Stigma campaign.

   
   

MAKING STRIDES IN THE BUSINESS WORLD

1. 20+ South Asian women were named to Forbes’ 2019 30 Under 30 list, including: Shilpa Yarlagadda (Founder, Shiffon Co), Sandeep Ahuja (Co-founder, Cove Tool), Sargun Kaur (Co-founder, Byteboard), Anvisha Pai (Founder, Dover), Nikita Gupta (Co-founder, Symba), Natasha Nath (Vice President, Deutsche Bank), Ketaki Shriram (Co-founder, Krikey), Ritika Dutt (CEO, Botler AI), Varshini Prakash (Co-founder, Sunrise Movement), Charu Thomas (CEO, Oculogx), Sivakami Sambasivan (Founding Team Member, GoodRx), Snigdha Sur (CEO, The Juggernaut), Bunny & Taran Ghatrora (Co-founders, Blume), Minali Chitani (Co-founder, Wild One), Rooshy Roy (CEO, Aavrani) and Dakshita Khurana (Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign).

2. Ankiti Bose (CEO, Zilingo) was named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list.

3. Meha Agrawal (CEO, Silk & Sonder), Sabena Suri (Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, BOXFOX) and Purva Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Lily AI) were named Tory Burch Foundation Fellows.

4. Sheikh Hasina Wajed (Prime Minister of Bangladesh), Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Indian Parliament), Roshni Nadar Malhotra (CEO, HCL), Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Managing Director, Biocon) and Renuka Jagtiani (Co-Chair, Landmark Group) were named to Forbes’ Most Powerful Women list.

5. Several South Asian women entrepreneurs raised capital for their companies, including: Cuyana, founded by Shilpa Shah and Karla Gallardo, raised $30 million; The Well, founded by Rebecca Parekh, raised $14 million; Tala, founded by Shivani Siroya, raised $110 million; Samasource, founded by Leila Janah, raised $14.8 million and Summersalt, founded by Reshma Chamberlin and Lori Coulter, raised $17.3 million.

   
   

And that’s a wrap! This list is by no means exhaustive — we know there’s so many more amazing women out there who have achieved incredible things this year and that many of the achievements above transcend categories. Please feel free to share with us any other awesome moments we didn’t include on this list — we love supporting our tribe.

Thank you for an amazing year and cheers to a great 2020 — we can’t wait to share what we have in store. ♥ The Shakti Team

Originally published in https://www.shakticollaborative.co/journal/2019-a-year-in-review