PoojaNagpal

Beginning

Started with an issue that stung my heart

In 2012, the infamous Nirbhaya case occurred where a young woman was brutually gang-raped and murdered on a city bus. I would see protests and people raising awareness around me, however, at the end of the day, there were still cases --the voices of those affected were unheard. I wanted to go to the scene, and both interact with those affected and understand the situation.

Hence, in 2014, I traveled to a village in the upper mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India to teach school-girls. As a second degree Black Belt and trained in street fighting, I taught self defense based empowerment. I saw a clear indication of fear in terms of safety and weakness within the education system to encourage girls to further their careers--many ended up as child brides.

Activism

"Courage is like a muscle, we strengthen it with use"

-Ruth Gordon

TED Talk

After my first summer teaching, I saw amazing results which indicated the clear correlation with mental and physical strength and security. I began teaching more the next three years.

Since, I've taught over 1500 women and girls in affected areas around the world ranging from slums, rural villages in India, low income areas of LA with teen dating violence and domestic violence victims, to trafficking at-risk hubs, Blind schools for girls, and spreading to school trainers for sustainability.

Awareness is only half the battle

Geatest way to give back is through altruistic skill contribution

In 2016, I was invited by the United Nations to present my work to world leaders at the UN 60th Commission on the Status of Women. I spoke about the need for young men and women leading the way for the next generation of Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, gender equality: a goal that has been yet to be accomplished for decades.

Watch my documentary of work in 2015 India. Featured Kiran Bedi-My favorite quote by her: "We need to raise strong women and responsible boys"

Documentary

Future

"Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future."

-Nelson Mandela

I look forward to the future; to keep learning and understanding these issues. And not just reproducing them, or magnifying them, but to dive in and help those who are really affected. For this, I understand that my own skills need to be developed. I hope to do this with the power of technology.