Sharmila Mona Sinha, an Indian-American advocate for gender equality and philanthropist has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. She is the second woman of South Asian origin to receive the honour, after Indra Nooyi. The recognition marks more than four decades of work spanning finance, business, philanthropy, women’s rights and social enterprise.
At the induction, Sharmila spoke about power and what it means to share it. Recalling her mother’s practice in Kolkata of setting aside a fistful of rice each morning for someone in need, she connected that childhood memory with her own approach to philanthropy and leadership. “Power shared is power supercharged,” she said, describing the importance of opening doors, investing in ideas and giving others opportunities to lead.
That philosophy has shaped the way she has approached giving back: not only by donating money, but by helping organisations become stronger, supporting women-led ventures, developing future leaders and using business expertise to expand the reach of social-change initiatives.
From Kolkata to Wall Street
Born in Kolkata, Sharmila left India at 18 to pursue higher education in the US. She earned a BA in Economics and Art History, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Smith College, followed by an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Columbia Business School, where she was a Beta Gamma Sigma member.
Her first professional chapter was in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. She later moved into corporate roles, including work with Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Elizabeth Arden, building experience across finance, marketing and restructuring.
Those years gave her a set of skills that would later become central to her social-impact work. Rather than leaving her corporate experience behind, Sharmila applied financial and organisational thinking to the nonprofit sector, helping mission-driven organisations improve their strategy, fundraising and long-term sustainability.
Turning business expertise into social impact
I have spent much of my life thinking about power. I’ve seen it on Wall Street, in business, in philanthropy, and in the fight for women’s equality, where power ultimately comes down to who has a voice, who has a choice, and who gets to shape our lives.
Sharmila Mona Sinha
Sharmila co-founded Raising Change, which works with organisations pursuing social change to strengthen their fundraising and organisational capacity. Over the course of her social-impact career, she has helped catalyse more than $1 billion for social change and worked with more than 90 organisations focused on issues including women’s economic empowerment, legal rights and leadership.
She has also invested in women-led businesses and advised organisations on governance, strategy and sustainability. Her approach brings together two areas that are often treated separately: the financial discipline of business and the long-term work of social change.
Building opportunities for women
A significant part of Sharmila’s philanthropy has gone towards expanding women’s access to education, leadership and capital.
She founded the Asian Women’s Leadership University project in Asia, with the aim of bringing a liberal arts education model to women across the region. She also served as Board Chair of Women Moving Millions, a community of women philanthropists making million-dollar-plus commitments to organisations working for women and girls.
At Smith College, Sharmila served as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and co-led the $486 million Women for the World campaign, the college’s largest fundraising campaign for women’s education. She also helped advance a trans-inclusive admissions policy. Smith later recognised her with the Smith College Medal for her leadership.
Giving through institutions, advocacy and storytelling
Her work extends beyond philanthropy into advocacy, governance and storytelling. Sharmila has served on the boards of organisations including Breakthrough USA, which works to shift gender norms through media and popular culture, and the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania. She has also worked with Apne Aap International on efforts to end sex trafficking and advised Columbia University’s social enterprise and global mental health initiatives.
She has used film as another way to bring social issues to wider audiences. Sharmila was executive producer of Disclosure, the 2020 documentary exploring the representation of transgender people, and later served as an executive producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary To Kill A Tiger.
Today, she is the Global Executive Director of Equality Now, which works for legal and systemic change addressing violence and discrimination against women and girls. She also serves on the Executive Council of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and remains involved with social enterprise and philanthropic initiatives.
Mentoring the next generation
For Sharmila, giving back is also about people. She has mentored several hundred young people and continues to support women-led businesses as a financial investor and adviser. Her work across philanthropy, education and social enterprise reflects a belief that capital has greater impact when it is accompanied by networks, knowledge and opportunities to lead.
