About PolicyForHer
Access, not ability,
is the gap.
Women remain under-represented in policymaking and leadership worldwide, not because of a lack of ability, but because of limited early access and exposure. PolicyForHer sets out to close that gap, one case study at a time.
Why it exists
Start early. Start with the real thing.
The earlier a young woman sees herself as someone who can shape policy, the more likely she is to do it. PolicyForHer gives high-school girls that first, formative experience: not a hypothetical debate, but a genuine policy problem, read and reformed the way an analyst would.
It’s deliberately open. Any girl in Grades 9 to 12, anywhere in the world, can enter for free. The competition is fully online, so a student’s postcode or school never decides whether her ideas get heard. In 2026, girls from across the country and beyond took part.
Entrants analyse existing policies and propose practical reforms. Their work is judged on clarity, depth, feasibility and originality, the same qualities that make policy writing land. The strongest fifteen share a ₹5,00,000 scholarship pool, awarded as One Young India credit to fuel whatever they pursue next.
Behind the competition
Built with partners in policy and education.
PolicyForHer is delivered with partners who bring policy grounding and academic depth: the Asia Society Policy Institute and Wesleyan College. They work alongside One Young India, where a winner’s scholarship credit opens programs, mentorship and the Hub.
Those partners also sit on the jury:
Free to enter · For girls in Grades 9 to 12 · Worldwide
See how it works.
One case study, three rounds, and a jury that reads every entry.