Sejal Hathi is an excellent student, earning the highest academic honors at her high school, winning the Presidential Scholar Award and the Principal’s Leadership Award, and going to Yale in the fall. On top of that, she has become an international figure, founding Girls Helping Girls, an international organization in 15 countries that empowers girls by raising funds for scholarships, working with victims of the sex trade and sex trafficking, and providing microloans to enable women to become self-sufficient economically. Here is an interview she did with CNN:
The Daughter, who goes to the same high school from where Sejal just graduated, tells me that Sejal was always on the phone. That isn’t surprising as she must have been managing her foundation and making some high-level appointments, as she has talked to the World Bank, spoke on a panel with the Dalai Lama, and met with Beatriz Merino, the first female prime minister in Latin America, and arranged for her to give a talk at Sejal’s high school. While we have done posts on Asian American whiz kids who excel academically, it is refreshing to do one on a girl who breaks stereotypes of the academically talented yet passive Asian American by being an incredible activist.
