Mona Sinha Inducted Into US National Women’s Hall Of Fame

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC –  S. Mona Sinha, a Kolkata-born philanthropist who heads the international women’s rights organization Equality Now, has been inducted into the U.S. National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. She is the second woman of Indian origin to receive the honor, after former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.

Sinha’s career has spanned investment banking, corporate business and philanthropy. For more than 25 years, she has worked with organizations seeking to expand opportunities for women and girls, and now leads efforts to change laws that discriminate against them.

Her interest in gender equality took shape while growing up in Kolkata. As the third daughter in her family, she was aware of the preference for sons. “I wanted to be a boy and do what boys did,” she recalled.

While volunteering at a Mother Teresa orphanage in Kolkata, she learned that abandoned boys were more likely to be adopted than girls. The experience offered an early glimpse of how gender could influence the opportunities available to children.

Sinha also discovered during her teenage years that her grandmother had helped organize women during India’s freedom movement. Her mother’s daily practice of setting aside a fistful of rice for someone in need was another family influence she has recalled when discussing her approach to philanthropy.

Sinha moved to the United States at 18 to attend Smith College in Massachusetts, graduating with degrees in economics and art history. She later earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and began her career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.

She subsequently worked at Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Elizabeth Arden before shifting her focus to philanthropy and social change.

At Women Moving Millions, where she served in a leadership role and later as board chair, Sinha worked with a network of women philanthropists whose members have committed about $1 billion to organizations supporting women and girls. She also co-founded Raising Change, which helps social-impact organizations strengthen their fundraising and operations.

Her work has involved more than 90 organizations focused on social justice. She has also chaired the Equal Rights Amendment Coalition and supported initiatives aimed at advancing gender equality.

In education, Sinha was involved in establishing the Asian Women’s Leadership University and later served as a trustee of Smith College. She helped lead the college’s Women for the World campaign, which raised about $486 million.

Her work has also extended to documentary filmmaking. She served as an executive producer of ‘To Kill a Tiger,’ which received an Oscar nomination, and supported efforts related to the Equal Rights Amendment and the planned Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

Since 2022, Sinha has served as CEO of Equality Now, which works to reform discriminatory laws affecting women and girls. Its advocacy includes efforts addressing child marriage, sexual violence and women’s economic rights. The organization says its work has helped bring about changes to more than 135 laws worldwide.

Sinha’s advisory roles include the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, Columbia University’s Tamer Institute of Social Enterprise and the Reykjavík Global Forum. Her leadership has been recognized by Forbes and Apolitical, and she has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Her induction into the Hall of Fame recognizes a career that has moved from finance and corporate business to philanthropy and international advocacy, with a focus on strengthening legal protections for women and girls.