This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. (July 2025)
Jayakumar was born as Kirthi Jayakumar in Bangalore, India, to Hindu parents. She studied law at the School of Excellence in Law, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[1][2]
An activist for women's rights issues in military conflict, Jayakumar formerly ran The Red Elephant Foundation.[5][6] Currently, she runs The Gender Security Project.[7] She has worked in voluntary capacities with "16 civil societies and UN agencies"[4] through the UN Online Volunteering program.[8] She is a columnist for the Deccan Chronicle/Asian Age.[9]
Jayakumar created Saahas, a mobile app that supports survivors of gender-based violence to find support and facilitates active bystander intervention.[12][13][14][15][16][17] Saahas was listed on the Global Innovation Exchange.[18] The app received recognition from DEF India under the SM4E Awards.[19] For her work with Saahas, Jayakumar was listed on the shortlist for the WATC 100 Women in Tech List.[20]
Jayakumar produced two e-Books on entrepreneurship in Africa with the AAE[21] and, in 2013, headed a team working to open the first school in Okoijorogu, Nigeria.[22]
Feminist Foreign Policy
Kirthi has served as a co-chair for the Feminist Foreign Policy Subgroup alongside Mabel Bianco as part of the Women 7 during the German Presidency of the G7 in 2022,[23] and alongside Muzna Dureid and Chia Nagashima as part of the Women 7 during the Japanese Presidency of the G7 in 2023.[24] She has addressed the European Parliament, the German and Japanese governments, and other multilateral processes on Feminist Foreign Policy.[citation needed] As part of her work at The Gender Security Project, Kirthi centers a decolonial feminist approach to foreign policymaking and implementation.[25][26]
Artist
Kirthi previously ran an Instagram-based project called Femcyclopaedia[27][28][29] where she doodled portraits of inspiring women through the ages and from across the world and curated their stories under these portraits.[30] The story of Femcyclopaedia won a Story Award from World Pulse in February 2017.[31] Kirthi curated an exhibit for International Women's Day and Women's History Month at the US Consulate General in Chennai as part of Femcyclopaedia.[32][33][34]
In 2021, Kirthi led an Instagram-based art project called KJ and the Universe, where she created space art. Her artwork, particularly those inspired by the findings of the James Webb Space Telescope, were spotlighted on NASA's official website for the telescope, and were featured as part of the #UnfoldTheUniverse challenge.[35]
Writer
Stories of Hope is Kirthi's first solo book, comprising a collection of short stories. She co-authored a book titled Love Me Mama: The Unfavoured Child, along with Elsie Ijorogu-Reed, the founder of Delta Women NGO.[36] She is also the author of The Dove's Lament, published by Readomania. The book was nominated for the Muse India Young Author's Award in 2015.[37] A review by Femina of The Dove's Lament suggests that, "Kirthi embroiders a tapestry of unvanquished human spirit in words."[38]
The Times of India reviewed The Dove's Lament, with its critic opining that "...The Dove's Lament takes the reader to several such places with a compassion that shakes you to your very core."[39]
Theatre
Kirthi wrote a play, Frankly Speaking,[40][41] which essentially starts off from where The Diary of Anne Frank ends. The play channels the voices of eight young women from conflict zones in different parts of the world, and is interspersed with passages from The Diary of Anne Frank.[42][43][44]
She also wrote and acted in HerStory, which brings twelve women from history alive through poetry, performed through contemporary dance in sync with spoken word poetry.[45] Kirthi wrote a monologue and performed it as part of Dolls, by Crea-Shakthi.[46]
In October 2016, Kirthi delivered a TEDx Talk at TEDxChennai, addressing her work around peace education as a solution to end bullying.[48][49] In November 2017, she delivered a TEDx Talk at TEDxChoice, addressing her art project, Femcyclopaedia.[50]
In November 2016, she delivered a talk at the National Edu-Start Up Conference in Pune, talking about Peace Education as a sustainable solution to create well-rounded citizens.[51]
Kirthi was a speaker at Lakshya-SSN's annual event, SYCON, speaking about her work with The Red Elephant Foundation and the curation of the GBV Help Map.[52] She was the keynote speaker at SRM Aarambh, speaking about her story as a social entrepreneur in the Gender Equality space.[53]
In April 2017, Kirthi addressed the Rotary Club of Madras South on the topic "Women's Empowerment: Myths and Realities."[54] She spoke at the Economic Times Women's Summit in March 2018, on her work with her app, Saahas.[55] Kirthi was a speaker at ISFiT 2019 alongside Tawakkol Karman and Gro Harlem Brundtland, addressing women and peacebuilding.[56][57]
Engagements in Multilateral Processes
Kirthi was one of the members of the Civil Society Committee that was convened by the UN-NGLS to support the selection of the UN Secretary General in 2016.[58] In March 2021, Kirthi spoke at a special session convened by the President of the UN General Assembly on Political Leadership and Violence Against Women and Girls: Prevention First (23 March 2021).[59] She served as an advisor to the G7 through the Women7 under the German Presidency of the G7 in 2022, the Japanese Presidency of the G7 in 2023,[60][61] and currently under the Italian Presidency of the G7.
On May 24, 2023, she spoke at a hearing on Gender aspects of defense, peace, and security organized by the FEMM Committee at the European Parliament.[62]
Awards and recognition
Kirthi is the recipient of the United States Presidential Service Award from US Consul General Jennifer McIntyre.[63][64][65] She won the Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards. She received two United Nations Online Volunteering Awards, in 2012 and 2013, for her work with Delta Women and the Association for African Entrepreneurs.[66]
In 2015, Kirthi was nominated for the Digital Women Awards 2015, presented by She The People TV.[67]
In March 2016, she was one of the EU's top 200 Women in the World of Development Wall of Fame. She was also one of the nominated changemakers for the United State of Women 2016.[68] She is a two-time story award winner with World Pulse, and her work has been featured in Time Magazine.[5][69]
Kirthi has been acknowledged by India Today as one of the "Game changers" in the city of Chennai, "who are transforming the city with inspiring thought and hard work."[70]
In September 2016, Kirthi was shortlisted for the Rising Stars Award 2016 by We are the City India,[71] which she went onto win. In October 2016, she was recognized as one of the "52 Feminists" by 52Feminists.com.[72]
In October 2016, Kirthi was recognized as a Burgundy Achiever at the Digital Women Awards 2016, presented by She The People TV.[73] She received the Peace Award from the Global Peace Initiative in November 2016.[74][75] She was selected as an Impact Leader at World Pulse in November 2016.[76] She won the Orange Flower Award for Video Blogging, awarded by Women's Web.[77][78] Kirthi was featured in Sarah Brown's Better Angels Podcast alongside UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Harriet Lamb, and Jakaya Kikwete.[79]
Kirthi was featured on Google's WomenWill Landing page on International Women's Day, 2017, as part of a five-women-stories feature by World Pulse.[80] She was named as one of "eleven of India's feminist bloggers who are making a difference to women's lives" by Women's Web.[81] She was featured on Show of Force: Social Good.[82] She was awarded Outstanding Social Entrepreneur (NGO) of the Year by FICCI FLO Chennai (2018)[83] Kirthi received the Heroes of Chennai Award in the Social Good category in November 2018.[84] She also served as a member of the youth council as part of the Global Business Coalition for Education (GBC-Education).[85] She was nominated for the Better India's COVID Soldiers award in September 2020,[86] and the We are the City TechWomen100 Awards for Global Achievement.[87] She was also listed as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy in 2021 by Apolitical.[88]
Kirthi was listed as one of the "Nine famous female fellows inspiring inclusion" by the Royal Society of Arts in 2024, alongside author Bernardine Evaristo, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, and artist Jane Boyd.[89] She was also listed as one of 50 famous fellows of the Royal Society of Arts.[90]
List of awards received
US Presidential Services Medal (Gold, Silver and Bronze) 2011–2012[63]
UN Online Volunteer of the Year Award (Delta Women) 2012[91]
UN Online Volunteer of the Year Award (Association of African Entrepreneurs) 2012[91]
UN Online Volunteer of the Year Award (Delta Women) 2013[92]
UN Online Volunteer of the Year Award (Association of African Entrepreneurs) 2013[93]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
