Mona Sinha, CEO of Equality Now, inducted into National Women’s Hall of Fame

Global advocate for gender equality recognised for more than 40 years of strengthening women’s rights movements worldwide

ROCHESTER, NY- September 24, 2026 – S. Mona Sinha, Chief Executive Officer of international nonprofit organization Equality Now, was inducted this evening into the National Women’s Hall of Fame at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.

Sinha becomes only the second South Asian inductee in the Hall’s history, recognized for transforming Equality Now into a global force for legal reform on behalf of women and girls. She joins a 2026 class of 11 women (5 Contemporary and 6 Historical) whose leadership and achievements have shaped American life, including Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Janet L. Yellen, Audre Lorde, Harriet Jacobs and Virginia Hall. The induction ranks among the highest honors given to American women, recognizing more than 40 years of Sinha’s leadership across gender equality, philanthropy, advocacy and social enterprise.  

At Equality Now, Sinha leads worldwide efforts to use the law to end discrimination and violence against women and girls, work that in 2025 alone helped secure 17 legal changes across nine countries, benefiting 69 million women and girls. That builds on more than three decades of impact: since its founding in 1992, Equality Now has helped reform 140 discriminatory laws worldwide. 

The urgency of this work remains profound. The World Health Organization estimates 840 million women have experienced partner or sexual violence in their lifetime, yet just 0.2 percent of global development aid in 2022 addressed violence against women, with funding falling further in 2025.

Sinha has also brought women’s rights stories to global audiences as an Executive Producer of the Academy Award-nominated documentary To Kill a Tiger, Netflix’s Disclosure and the Tony Award-nominated play What the Constitution Means to Me.

Founded in Seneca Falls, New York in 1969, the National Women’s Hall of Fame is the country’s first and oldest nonprofit organization and museum dedicated to honoring the achievements of distinguished American women. More than 300 women have been inducted since the first ceremony in 1973, including Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou and Gloria Steinem. The Hall received over 400 nominations for its 2026 class, with candidates evaluated on the reach and significance of their impact, the importance of their accomplishments and the duration of their work. Sinha’s induction places her permanently alongside these icons in the record of American women’s achievement: a distinction rarely extended to global human rights leaders, and rarer still for a South Asian woman.

During the ceremony, Sinha reflected on a lesson that has guided her work across business, philanthropy and the global fight for women’s equality: 

“Power shared is power supercharged,” said S. Mona Sinha, CEO of Equality Now. “Open a door, invest in an idea, hand her the microphone and watch power grow through her. That is how power compounds.”

Sinha opened her induction speech with a childhood memory of her mother in Kolkata, who each morning set aside a fistful of rice for someone in greater need. This quiet ritual became a lasting lesson in generosity, responsibility and the cumulative power of everyday action.

“I don’t receive this extraordinary honor as mine alone,” Sinha continued. “I receive it as a fistful of rice, placed in my hands with a responsibility to pass it on.”

Beyond her role at Equality Now, Sinha serves on the boards of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and Columbia University’s Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise. Her earlier honors include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and a place on Forbes’ 50 Over 50: Impact list.

ABOUT EQUALITY NOW

Founded in 1992, Equality Now is an international human rights organization working to achieve legal and systemic change that addresses violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. Working alongside local, national and regional partners, Equality Now combines legal expertise, advocacy and coalition-building to advance legal equality, end sexual violence and exploitation, and eliminate harmful practices. Since its founding, the organization has played a pivotal role in reforming 140 discriminatory laws worldwide. To learn more, please visit www.equalitynow.org.

For more information, please contact: equalitynow@thenumber29.com