Sanjana Chhantyal is dedicated to expanding women’s and youths’ access to education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. At SDSN-Youth, she leads two SDG-focused global entrepreneurship accelerator programs that have supported young changemakers in over 50 countries. Sanjana is UN Women Asia and the Pacific’s 30 for 2030 Youth Leader, USAID Youth Excel’s Global Youth Advisor and Max Thabiso Edkins Climate Ambassador. She regularly speaks at international conferences, advocating for a youth and gender lens to be incorporated in policy and program design at grassroot and global levels. As part of UN Women campaigns, she has authored articles highlighting how technological interventions can connect women and girls to career opportunities and how investments can create holistic change in women’s sports. A Fulbright Scholar and Emory MBA graduate, Sanjana founded the Next Steps Project and conducts mentorship sessions to help aspiring students, especially young girls and first-generation students to pursue higher education and apply for scholarships. She co-founded the Stree-Shakti (Women in Energy) Project that encourages and prepares young women to pursue green jobs in Nepal’s Energy sector and support climate action.
