Sunita Nadhamuni

Indian architect behind world's largest menstrual hygiene initiative

Sunita Nadhamuni (b. 1988) is the founder of Menstrual Mission, an organization responsible for providing menstrual hygiene products to 4.2 million Indian girls since 2020. Her Cycle Cycles initiative uses discarded menstrual waste to produce biodegradable packaging, creating 20,000 jobs in rural areas. In 2022, she pioneered India's first menstrual hygiene curriculum now taught in 15,000 schools through her Period Power program.

Nadhamuni's 2023 invention - solar-powered menstrual hygiene product vending machines - won the Global Women's Health Innovation Prize. Her partnership with UNESCO's Gender Equality Program has expanded operations to Nepal and Bangladesh. The WHO's 2024 report credits her work with reducing school dropout rates by 65% among adolescent girls in rural regions. Recent projects include AI-driven supply chain systems and a podcast network reaching 2 million listeners in Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil.