A conversation between Vinta Nanda and Shenali Rajaratnam, a young global leader shaping future governance, digital equity, and women-led innovation, offering a window into the shifts defining our moment—where storytelling, technology, and compassion are building new systems and possibilities.

This interview explores the journey of Shenali Rajaratnam—social entrepreneur, AI ethics advocate, and founder of Power of Women—as she builds a global leadership ecosystem rooted in digital inclusion, sustainability, storytelling, and women-led innovation. Her work spans the G20, COP30 Brazil, education programs in India, Africa, and grassroots community empowerment. This piece stresses the future of values-based leadership, youth action, edutainment, climate responsibility, feminine governance, and the growing movement to rebalance representation and power worldwide through collaboration rather than conflict.

Shenali Rajaratnam is a social entrepreneur and systems thinker working at the intersection of female leadership, digital transformation, ethics- and values-based AI, and sustainable development. As Chair of ‘We Are The Hope’ and Founder of ‘Power of Women’ (POW), she designs visionary platforms that leverage storytelling, music, media, the arts, and innovation to drive climate action, digital inclusion, and women and youth-led leadership around the world.

As I continue expanding The Daily Eye into a resource of stories that document the extraordinary shifts unfolding in the world today, meeting women like Shenali feels like witnessing history shape itself in real time. Her work is not only compelling—it is catalytic. She is among the rare few I’ve encountered who have taken a singular idea and built it into a living system: a structure that moves, scales, and influences international policymaking while still creating tangible change on the ground.

To build anything today—let alone a movement—requires resilience. Noise, speed, polarization, and distraction make it nearly impossible for meaningful efforts to grow undisturbed or with clarity. And yet, Shenali has done what many attempt but few achieve: she has created an engine of change that advances from one milestone to the next with intention and momentum. She is the Producer of the Digital Power of Women Conference, after successfully completing the 3rd edition with a 24-hour broadcast with leaders across sectors, is now entering its fourth edition, collaborating with global forums in parallel to the G20. Through initiatives like POW Academy and Power of Girls Clubs across India and Africa—often in partnership with Rotary—Shenali’s work translates high-level policy conversations into ground-level impact for young women and their communities.

A sought-after global speaker, she has presented at G20-aligned platforms, the United Nations NGO CSW, and international Rotary summits, speaking on digital connectivity and AI, climate leadership, edutainment as a tool for social impact, women-led innovation, and cross-sector collaboration. In this conversation, Shenali speaks about her journey from Sri Lanka to Los Angeles, the birth of Power of Women, why governance begins at home, and how storytelling and impact media can help rebalance leadership in the world.
Origins, Identity, and Early Seeds of Leadership

I asked Shenali to tell me about herself. There is something striking about how young she is and yet how much she has already achieved. I wanted to know where it all started—where she came from, what shaped her, and how her journey began and she explained that she was born in Sri Lanka and spent her early childhood in her home country, but her family moved to the United States when she was in high school. She completed high school in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA, eventually spending the rest of her formative years—her entire adolescence—in America. Because of that, she grew up exposed to two very different worlds: the cultural, spiritual, and emotional grounding of Sri Lanka, and the Western frameworks and systems of the U.S. She says the contrast gave her a broad, dimensional perspective—almost like growing up between extremes, learning from both.

When I asked whether she had lived only in the U.S. since then, she clarified that during the pandemic, she lived in Montreal for nearly two years. And it was in that period—when the world slowed down and introspection replaced constant movement—that the idea for Power of Women was born. On February 22, 2022—symbolically 02.22.2022—she hosted the very first Power of Women gathering. It was just eight women on a digital call, but as she describes it, something profound began.

Among those seven were a former Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Universe, a former Miss World representative from Italy who was a lawyer, a reconstructive surgeon who routinely works on medical mission trips in India, and women from sectors such as HR, STEM, and business. Shenali remembers telling them: “This is what I want to do. And I’m going to do this.” And that was the beginning.

I asked her what truly triggered this need to create something so purposeful and transformational, and Shenali didn’t hesitate: it began in her childhood. She grew up in a family where generosity wasn’t a value taught—it was lived. Her grandparents and parents were givers, and that spirit shaped her identity long before she understood its vocabulary. Her father never identified her as just a girl. Instead, he told her repeatedly that she could do anything in the world. That unconditional belief, she said, was her first foundation of empowerment—long before she ever used the word.

Her grandmother—another defining influence—had spent 30 years devoted to world peace. After a spiritual transformation, she lived as a vegetarian in a simple white sari and practiced Shiva devotion. Though not born Hindu, she practiced with deep reverence. She passed away in 2017, and her passing profoundly affected both Shenali and her brother. To cope with the loss, they founded the nonprofit ‘We Are the Hope Foundation’, guided by three pillars: a culture of peace, environmental stewardship, and conscious values-based leadership and education.

The Moment an Idea Became a Movement
So, when the Power of Women idea resurfaced strongly during her Montreal years, she recognised it not as a new mission—but as the next chapter of one that had already begun. She also saw a glaring imbalance in global leadership structures. In families, she explained, we instinctively recognise partnership and balance. A mother and father raising a child create the first template of governance we ever witness. Yet in global structures and policymaking, this balance is missing.
She recalled a pivotal moment when she reviewed the leadership list for the G20 Summit in India. Out of 20 world leaders, only two were women. The disparity—especially in a world where women influence over 85% of household decisions—was undeniable. That moment, she said, ignited a fire.

She had no desire to fight the existing system, argue with it, or rage against imbalance. Instead, she wanted to build a parallel space where women could lead and demonstrate what governance looks like when guided by balance, collaboration, inclusivity, and values-based conscious leadership.
She decided—with no funding, no institutional connections, and only the conviction of her idea—to create the ‘Digital Power of Women Conference’. She spent months writing and rewriting proposal documents—almost twenty versions in total. What started as a daring digital experiment soon grew into a 48-hour continuous global live broadcast. The conference reached participants in over fifty countries, had more than a hundred speakers, and gathered over 36,000 viewers.

The initiative gained global traction and became an official digital event under Civil 20 (C20), one of the official engagement groups of the G20. During 2023 India’s presidency, the movement aligned with leaders like Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi), known worldwide as a symbol of feminine leadership and compassion. With this alignment and advocacy, the initiative supported long-standing efforts that finally resulted in India passing the landmark Women’s Reservation Bill—reserving one-third of parliamentary seats for women beginning 2029.
When I asked how an idea could grow so quickly and so massively, Shenali said the answer was clarity. When someone sees a vision fully, the task afterward is simply convincing others to see it too.

And, she said, people recognize intentionality—when someone is aligned with purpose, support gathers naturally.
Impact, Expansion, and the Power of a Digital Ecosystem
Her work expanded from digital mobilization to on-ground implementation, and one of the most powerful outcomes appeared unexpectedly—from a village in Kinoni, Uganda.

After viewing the Power of Women Conference, a teacher reached out asking whether Shenali could help bring leadership content to girls in his village. They lacked resources, exposure, and mentorship—but they had potential. Shenali agreed. With no funding and no structured program, she began anyway. Their first focus was building confidence.

The girls were shy—even speaking on a digital call felt overwhelming. But they loved music. So, the Power of Women Anthem became their entry point into leadership: dancing, singing, and practicing expression. Then came the deep work: envisioning their future selves. Some wanted to become nurses. Others wanted to build healthcare access in their communities.
The girls began planting trees—1,000 saplings—to understand environmental stewardship. A menstrual equity project provided reusable products and education for two years, dramatically improving school retention.

Soon, partnerships expanded. Through support from institutions like Google and Cisco Networking Academy, the girls received digital certifications in AI, storytelling, and video literacy. Four of the girls—once too shy to speak on a call—became Power of Girls Ambassadors. Three are now in university, two in nursing school, fully supported by volunteer Rotarians.
Shenali shared how emotional it is to receive messages from them, filled with gratitude and belief she says belongs not just to her—but to the possibility they now see in themselves.

After learning from the pilot program with 289 girls in Uganda, the approach is now scaling to 2,000 students across India through YUVA Unstoppable, demonstrating its potential for national and international expansion.
As the initiative grew, she noticed something else: global policy groups working separately on interconnected issues—women, climate, business, digital spaces, education. During Brazil’s presidency of the G20, Shenali proposed something unprecedented: unify all engagement groups under a cross-cutting theme centred on the feminine perspective and shared development goals.
Almost all the engagement groups during Brazil 2024 presidency contributed and participated. A Nobel Peace Laureate, Tawakkol Karman, represented Power of Women and Civil Society in Brazil in 2024, personally handing the consolidated recommendations to President Lula, who carried them forward to G20 leadership.

Then came South Africa’s presidency in 2025. With political complexities affecting coordination, Civil 20 struggled with continuity. Shenali was invited—now in her third year of involvement—to join the International Advisory Committee. She was then tasked with rebuilding the entire international advisory committee structure.
Calling leaders across India, Indonesia, Argentina, the U.S., South Africa, and the African Union, she gathered representation, legitimacy, and unity. She also noted that her work contributed three policy recommendations on AI governance mechanisms, STEM education, and female leadership, which were incorporated into the Civil20 Final Declaration 2025 and presented to the G20 leaders and were formally accepted by the President of South Africa. By then she had travelled extensively—though she now lives in Las Vegas—and her work had firmly entered global governance spaces.
Next year, the G20 will take place in the U.S., and Power of Women will mobilize global leaders and heads of state into dialogue—not as rivals or critics, but as collaborators.

A New Narrative for Feminine Leadership
Throughout our conversation, Shenali returned repeatedly to a core principle: unity over opposition.
She emphasizes that the era of fighting and demanding has passed. Now is a time for expression through dignity, inclusion, storytelling, and action. Feminism, she believes, must evolve—not into conflict—but into expanded partnership. She emphasized the importance of the 4R Guiding Principles she uses in her work—Reflection, Recognition, Respect, and Resolution—as a framework for moving toward solutions.
She shared how many senior feminists have told her they are relieved to see this shift. They fought battles that allowed this generation of women to vote, study, lead, own businesses, and sit in boardrooms. Now, she said, the work is not to fight the old—but to build the next. Media, storytelling, music, and cultural representation, she believes, are key. Representation shapes belief.
And so, she wants filmmakers, musicians, studios, and storytellers to embed narratives—not lectures—into entertainment: a scene where a brother defends his sister; a mother teaches her son how to respect women; a female mentor leads with dignity. She shared the way she reframes the conversation—not as women vs. men, but as a shared journey: brothers, fathers, sons, uncles, husbands—all invited as allies.
She also spoke about her mother, whose strength and presence shaped her understanding of how foundational a mother’s role is in a child’s life. She spoke with tenderness about her own family—especially her sister-in-law, who works quietly behind the scenes, proving that collaboration rather than competition among women is itself transformative cultural messaging.
I asked her where she believes the narrative of womanhood is right now—and where she wants it to go. She says the answer is both simple and complex. We are living in a time where extraordinary progress has been made, but equality is still incomplete—not just in wages or representation, but in how society values feminine roles, especially motherhood and caregiving. True equality, she believes, is not forcing all women into the same mould—it is honouring choice and contribution in all forms.
She shared one final story from Uganda. One of the girls who became an ambassador approached her and asked: “We are learning AI, digital skills, leadership. But what about the boys? These boys are the ones we will marry someday. Shouldn’t they learn too?” That, Shenali said, revealed everything.
When women receive resources, they don’t hoard power—they distribute it. And her mission ahead is balance—not recreating the old wheel, but shaping a new one that turns through unity, mutual respect, storytelling, spiritual wisdom, modern governance, and shared stewardship of the future.
She envisions storytelling programs for half a million children, partnerships with leaders across India and globally, and a new wave of impact media grounded in ancient principles—AUM as Activating through music, Awareness through media—and Seva, or selfless service, as a cultural operating principle.
She says, the work is unfolding—not finished.
And the momentum is only growing.