Using her Voice
CMU alumna and activist Shriya Boppana finds support for her cause on the beauty pageant stage
By Kelly Rembold
When she was 15, Carnegie Mellon University alumna Shriya Boppana said yes to an opportunity that changed her life.
She volunteered at Save Our Stars, a foundation started by her friend Surabhi Khanal, aimed at eradicating child and female sex trafficking in Nepal.
Now, almost 10 years later, Shriya is a gender equity and sex trafficking activist whose own social impact organization, Becoming a Voice, has helped save children from black market trafficking rings around the world.
“I took the road less traveled,” says Shriya, a 2021 Tepper School of Business graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. “That’s probably the word or phrase I would use to describe my journey. It’s been very unique.”
“Once classes moved virtual, I had a lot of free time on my hands. Someone on Facebook posted that the Miss India 2020 pageant was looking for competitors so I said ‘You know what? I'm just going to compete in a pageant.’”
Taking the Stage
It didn’t take long for Shriya to fall in love with the social impact work at Save Our Stars. She began looking for ways to expand the work to India, where she was born and raised, but her efforts fell short.
“I was looking for places that would give me options to go to India to do trainings, but no one wants to take the foreigner who doesn't really know too much about the motherland,” she says. “They said ‘You don't know your way around here. You don't know anything. And you’re 16. How are you going to help out?' So I just got my start doing a bunch of little projects.”
A few years later, Shriya found a way to get the support she needed.
“It was during the pandemic,” she says. “Once classes moved virtual, I had a lot of free time on my hands. Someone on Facebook posted that the Miss India 2020 pageant was looking for competitors so I said ‘You know what? I'm just going to compete in a pageant.’”
She entered the pageant without any experience, coaching or training and placed first runner-up. That title earned her a spot in the Miss India America 2020 pageant. To her surprise, she was crowned the winner.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Shriya says. “It was the best year of my life. I loved it. And it opened so many doors that I decided to compete again.”
She went on to earn titles in several other pageants, including Miss Earth DC, Miss Grand US Virgin Islands and Miss Grand Christiansted.
Pageant Payoff
Due in part to the publicity she received from the pageants, Shriya was able to make connections and work with organizations like the United Nations Foundation, the Malala Fund, the Department of Justice, the Obama Foundation, She's the First and Bachpan Save the Innocence. Those experiences led her to focus her efforts on resource creation and survivor support.
She established Becoming A Voice in 2021. The organization holds sexual health education workshops in India and Nepal and provides resources and support to survivors of sex trafficking and sexual assault.
“I love connecting with the communities as they work to rebuild their lives and it's the most humbling experience. It makes me want to keep helping more people,” she says.
“Before CMU, I didn't even consider consulting as a career. It was the fact that the Tepper School really encourages you to explore many avenues and options before you settle into one. Hats off to that decision. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Second Shift
When it comes to her career, Shriya says she has two jobs: a 9-5 and a 5-9.
The first is Becoming a Voice, her passion project, while the second is entirely different. She’s a technology consultant at Accenture, a global professional services company where she specializes in mergers and acquisitions in the generative artificial intelligence space.
“I love it because all I do is learn about new companies and meet people who are passionate about what they do and bringing new solutions [to the space],” she says.
She’s thankful to her professors at the Tepper School of Business for steering her career in the right direction.
“Before CMU, I didn't even consider consulting as a career,” Shriya says. “It was the fact that the Tepper School really encourages you to explore many avenues and options before you settle into one. Hats off to that decision. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Future Impact
Shriya was recently accepted to the MBA program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business as a Forte Foundation Fellow and a Fuqua Impact Scholar. She hopes to use her degree to support other activists through social impact venture capitalism.
“What if, instead of focusing on my one organization, I help people fund their dreams and change the world?” Shriya says. “Having worked with so many different intercontinental, intergovernmental organizations, I have a lot of really good partnerships. I also have a lot of experience understanding where impact can truly be made.”
She’s also planning on ensuring Becoming a Voice has a long, impactful future.
“I'm hoping to turn it into its own thing, with more employees, so that it lasts beyond my time here,” she says. “And we're working on doing that in both the U.S. and in India so it has a home in both countries.”
