2020
Ananya Singh
- Age: 25
- | She/her/hers
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Efforts to boost women empowerment must not present a pre-decided set of choices to women; they must enable women to freely choose the opportunities they'd like to explore and the goals they'd like to pursue. Let women power through deciding for themselves!
- Ananya Singh
Bio
Ananya is, at present, the Youth Advisor to USAID’s Digital Youth Council (Cohort 2). She has previously served as one of the 12 global members of USAID’s 1st Digital Youth Council. She was one of the panelists for USAID’s Virtual Symposium on Protecting Children and the Youth from Digital Harms in February 2022 and USAID’s session on the Impact of Digital Harms on the Mental Health and Well-being of Children at the Global Digital Development Forum in May 2022. She was also the Closing Speaker for the Employability Week of USAID’s Higher Education Global Evidence Summit in 2022. Ananya was the Master of Ceremonies for USAID, YP2LE, & Youth Excel’s International Youth Day online event in 2022 where she also moderated the intergenerational panel.
Ananya deeply cares about the digital safety of young children and youth, especially girls. She has, in the past, also ran a massively popular campaign against TikTok, asking the social media giant to make its app more responsible in terms of content moderation. The campaign, which ran with the hashtags #TweakTikTok and #TikTokTheekKaro, was started in response to a viral TikTok video glorifying a man spitting acid onto the face of a woman. Ananya’s campaign garnered 158,000+ signatures in a month’s time. Ananya was awarded the very prestigious Diana Award in 2021 for her remarkable humanitarianism and exemplary social action.
What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?
In a 24/7 online world like ours, children and the youth, especially girls, face increased risks of digital abuse and online scams. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to evolve mechanisms to ensure their safety online. I also hope that online platforms take cognizance of the amount of influence and magnitude of impact they have on young people's lives, and hence, start behaving more responsibly.
Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.
In 2020, amidst the pandemic, I ran a massively popular campaign against TikTok, asking the social media giant to make its app more responsible in terms of content moderation, in response to a viral TikTok video glorifying a man spitting acid onto the face of a woman. The campaign garnered 158,000+ signatures in a month's time.
Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?
I like to read, write, sketch, and cook in my free time.
Languages Spoken:
- English (Advanced/Native)
- Hindi (Intermediate)
- Odia (Advanced/Native)
- Hindi (Intermediate)
Publications:
Speaks On:
- digital economy
- cyber safety
- women's value creation
Past Awards, Certifications, or Fellowships:
- 1. Global Top-25 Most Thought Provoking Essays at the 51st St. Gallen Symposium, Switzerland for essay on understanding intergenerational justice in the context of entry-level job market in 2022 (1,000+ entries received from 74 countries)
- Top-100 at the Global Leadership Challenge 2022, University of Oxford & University of St. Gallen. Working Group: SDG 4 (Quality Education) (2,500+ applications from 150 countries)
- Diana Award in recognition of extraordinary humanitarian work and outstanding contribution to society
