Reshma Saujani is a leading activist, the founder of Girls Who Code, the founder and CEO of Moms First, and the host of My So-Called Midlife with Lemonada Media. She has spent more than a decade building movements to fight for women and girls’ economic empowerment, working to close the gender gap in the tech sector, and most recently, fighting for the structural changes moms need and deserve including affordable child care, paid leave, and equal pay. She is a New York Times Bestselling author of several books including PAY UP: The Future of Women and Work (And Why It’s Different Than You Think), Brave, Not Perfect, and the Girls Who Code book series. As a leading voice on women’s empowerment, her 2023 Smith College Commencement speech on imposter syndrome has more than 18 million views, and her influential TED talk, “Teach girls bravery, not perfection,” has more than 54 million views globally.

Reshma began her career as an attorney and Democratic organizer. In 2010, she surged onto the political scene as the first Indian American woman to run for U.S. Congress. During the race, Reshma visited local schools and saw the gender gap in computing classes firsthand, which led her to start Girls Who Code. She also served as New York City’s Deputy Public Advocate, where she created innovative partnerships to support DREAMers and promote campaign finance reform, among other initiatives.

In her nine-year tenure as the CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma grew the organization to one of the largest and most prestigious non-profits in the country. Today, Girls Who Code has taught nearly 600,000 girls through direct in-person computer science education programming, and reached 14.6 billion engagements worldwide through its New York Times-bestselling book series and its Cannes Lions and Clio award-winning campaigns. In 2019, Girls Who Code was awarded Most Innovative Non-Profit by Fast Company.

n response to the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on America’s moms, Reshma launched Moms First (formerly Marshall Plan for Moms) to advocate for policies that value women’s labor in and out of the home. The grassroots movement has grown to over one million moms and supporters, has framed the national conversation about how we support moms, and is backed by A-list celebrities, activists, and business leaders. Building on her technology roots and her optimism about the potential to use AI for good, in 2023, Reshma and Moms First launched PaidLeave.ai to help parents more easily access paid leave benefits. Reshma has successfully worked with House and Senate leaders to introduce “Marshall Plan for Moms” legislation at the federal level, and she was instrumental in the creation of New York City’s Marshall Plan for Moms Task Force. She continues to act as an outside agitator to change culture through creative awareness campaigns.

Reshma is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and Yale Law School. Her innovative approach to movement building has earned her broad recognition on lists including: Fortune World’s Greatest Leaders; Fortune 40 Under 40; WSJ Magazine Innovator of the Year; Forbes Most Powerful Women Changing the World; InStyle’s Woman of Impact, and Fast Company 100 Most Creative People, among others. She is the winner of the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education.

Reshma serves on the Board of Directors of Girls Who Code, the Board of Overseers for Harvard University, the Board of Trustees of the Economic Club of New York, the Board of Advisors of International Rescue Committee, the Board of Directors of mParticle, the Board of Directors of TechNYC, and the Board of Directors of Interfaith Alliance. She is co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s first Global Futures Council on the Future of Care Economy. Reshma lives in New York City with her husband, Nihal; their sons, Shaan and Sai; and their dog Steve.