Vidya Sri

Graduate Assistant

Vidya Sri is a global gender advocate with an interest in gender studies, political science, and technology. She grew up in the New York City public school system and has lived in many parts of the United States, Spain, and India. As a Ph.D. student in political science, she is exploring the gendered impacts of AI in the context of social impact interventions. Vidya supports the HRI team on the Charles Clements Digital Archives.

Vidya initially found herself advocating for women’s rights as part of her journey to better understand personal experiences in her own life. This led to her leaving a successful career in banking to develop a community-led innovation model to conduct research on gaps in marginalized communities to highlight the importance of context-sensitive research methodologies to address different cultural and legal frameworks. She implemented this model as Founder of Gangashakti, the first organization to raise awareness about forced marriage in the United States. She later applied this model as a human rights policy fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government to deliver a Draft Global Treaty on violence against women and girls.

Vidya has an MBA from Pennsylvania State University and two BA degrees in organizational behavior and business administration from Cabirini College and Madras University. Vidya has co-founded everywoman treaty and teqbahn labs to advance community-led innovation models for social justice. Her story is featured in the book, Social Justice and the Power of Compassion by Marguerite Bouvard.