Meera Shenoy
Updated: Oct 26
Meera Shenoy is a pioneering social entrepreneur and a leading voice in inclusive livelihoods, disability inclusion, and market-linked skilling. She is the Founder and CEO of Youth4Jobs Foundation, which connects persons with disabilities to education, skills, and sustainable employment opportunities. She is recognised for building scalable models that bridge policy, technology, and markets to empower rural, tribal, and disabled youth.
She began her skilling journey in 2004 as Executive Director of the Employment Generation and Marketing Mission (EGMM), which she helped establish from the ground up for the Government of Andhra Pradesh. She led its expansion and contributed to shaping skilling policy. Her subsequent work includes advising the Chairman of the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), serving as Senior Advisor to UNDP on youth skilling, and contributing to World Bank poverty alleviation projects, for which she authored learning notes circulated globally.
Under her leadership, Youth4Jobs developed SwarajAbility, a pioneering AI-triggered, fully accessible livelihood platform and one of its kind in South Asia. The platform connects persons with disabilities to skilling, jobs, and livelihood opportunities through accessible technology. Youth with 18 disabilities can register with a single click, even without a smartphone. Accessibility is further enhanced through sign-language videos for persons with speech and hearing impairments, a dedicated call centre, and support in 11 Indian languages.
An internationally recognised speaker, Meera has spoken at platforms including the United Nations, TED events, Stanford, and MIT. She has received several prestigious national and international awards for her contributions to social impact and inclusive livelihoods. Her bestselling book, You Can Be Smarter & Wiser, published by Bloomsbury, shares inspiring stories of entrepreneurs with disabilities and business leaders advancing disability inclusion. She is also the founder of Not Just Art, which champions the creative talent of photographers with disabilities.
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