Divyanshi Sharma

i won’t stop. because if i stop,

nothing will ever change.

Career: Computer Applications

Meet Divyanshi Sharma. In the village of Binjana, located on the outskirts of the town of Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, Divyanshi grew up knowing that opportunities for girls were often rare and dreams even more so. Employment for women was limited to working in the fields or toiling over make-shift kitchens, but most were resigned to household duties and caring for growing families. Very few were encouraged to study. Education wasn’t considered a right for girls. It was seen as a risk, one that might make them question too much, resist too soon, and dream too far.

Divyanshi’s father was a temple priest, leaving school after Grade 8 to shoulder the family responsibilities. He carried an unspoken grief for the education he had lost. Her mother’s life mirrored his - pulled out of school as a teenager, conditioned to believe that “a girl’s place” was defined by chores and sacrifices. Together, her parents raised three children, in a modest home where every rupee mattered.

Divyanshi was the eldest. Even as a child, she noticed how quickly the world shut doors for girls like her. Friends disappeared from classrooms, pulled into early marriages. Sapna, married at 14, was a mother of two by 21. Jaya, silenced for talking to a boy in school, was married at 13 and bore the scars of two miscarriages before her 16th birthday.

“These stories frightened me,” Divyanshi recalls, “but more than fear, they stirred in me a yearning for more. I kept asking myself: Why can’t I dream beyond this? Why not me?”

At 17, her life began to shift. She was selected to Milaan Foundation’s Girl Icon program, a leadership program for adolescent girls to challenge deep-rooted gender inequities. When she joined, she was soft-spoken and unsure of her voice. The Girl Icon program gave her something she didn’t know she was looking for: structure, clarity, and the language to articulate her dreams. Through peer leadership training, regular group meetings, and mentoring, Divyanshi developed a deep understanding of issues like gender inequality and adolescent rights. She formed a peer group in her village, designing a Social Action Project challenging stereotypes around girls’ education. She organized rallies, chanting slogans through the narrow village lanes convincing hesitant mothers to send their daughters to school. When villagers tore down her posters, she put up more. When elders complained to her father – “Look what your daughter is doing!” She stood firm. The once quiet young girl was starting to stand up for herself and the other girls in her village who had been told to expect less from life. For the first time, she found the courage to name her dreams and develop the tools to fight for them. Change felt possible.

But she didn’t stop. She wouldn’t stop.

During university, her first internship as a Junior Web Developer exposed her to coding in real-world contexts. Then came another opportunity, where she juggled multiple roles: SEO, business development, project coordination, and testing. Each experience helped her grow not only as a student of technology but also as a young woman building her own path on her terms. The girl who once hesitated to raise her hand in class was now writing code, managing client projects, and driving strategic decisions.

“I made mistakes, many times,” she says with a smile. “But each time I stayed. I asked. I learned. That’s when I realized - growth feels like discomfort.”

In May 2025, Divyanshi successfully graduated from university and subsequently secured full employment as a Tech Support Engineer at Teleperformance, supporting businesses with digital solutions and data-driven insights.

Her parents, once hesitant about educating their daughter, now say with pride, “She is the first girl in our family to go to college, and the first person to graduate. U-GO and Milaan didn’t just help our daughter; they gave us a new version of her.”

“The U-GO scholarship gave me the support I needed to achieve my dreams, and I am forever grateful for the opportunities it has opened for me. I want to share that sense of possibility with other girls in my community, to let them know that they are allowed to dream bigger and that support is out there,” she says.

Her story is more than a personal triumph; she has become a beacon for young girls who have never been allowed to imagine a life of learning or independence beyond their small village. For Divyanshi, every step she takes forward is an invitation to others: to dream bigger, to speak louder, to reach farther.

And every time life tests her resolve, she whispers to herself, with quiet determination, 

“Main rukungi nahi. Agar main ruk gayi, toh sab kuch waisa hi rahega.” 

 “I won’t stop. Because if I stop, nothing will ever change.”