Svanika Balasubramanian

Svanika Balasubramanian is a social entrepreneur based in Mumbai, India. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2018, she has worked on her startup, rePurpose, with the dual mandate of empowering workers in the informal recycling industry while simultaneously diverting waste away from urban landfills.

As a 2018 Student Fellow for the Pulitzer Center, Svanika focused on the lives of low-skilled Indian migrant workers in the Middle-East. With persistent issues of scamming, human trafficking, and labor rights violations among this marginalized population, it is imperative to give voice to their stories.