23-year old Asha Clementi is on a well-earned trip. Over the past years, her work has created waves uplifting and inspiring young women to pursue their leadership dreams through Girls Run The World, a not-for-profit organisation that gives young women in Canberra exposure to the world of diplomacy. Her tireless vision and effort have earned Asha the honour of being named the ACT’s Young Woman of the Year 2022. And while taking over the world one embassy at a time, Asha was also studying a Masters in Diplomacy from the Australian National University, which undoubtedly amounts to a lot on one’s plate.

So where did this all start? Four years ago, 18-year-old Asha was selected to represent the National Council of Women Australia and attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 2018, where she snuck into a security council meeting. “I was sure that I was not supposed to be there but they let me in, and I learnt so much that I am still talking about it four years later!” she said. It was from that moment Asha realised that she could try to open doors to those rooms for other young women, and create similar opportunities for others. 

“As a young woman, it is so empowering to be in a room that you don’t think that you are supposed to be in,” Asha notes. This sparked an idea - enter: Girls Run The World.

Asha birthed Girls Run The World in 2018. The concept was simple and impactful: it would facilitate young women aged between 18 and 25 to spend a day in an embassy. Here, these young women could get a ground view of diplomacy and foreign affairs by shadowing embassy staff members, attending and observing meetings, meeting ambassadors, and making tangible contributions to the embassy’s work.

The diplomacy program started with grunt work - cold-calling, lots of emails to generic email addresses to embassies, and utilising personal connections Asha had made through her earlier initiatives but over the years, it has created a unique space for itself. The sector understands the need for it, with embassies reaching out to invite participation, diplomats championing the program and Asha’s support system advocating for its growth. 

In its first year, the not-for-profit sent 22 young women into 11 different agencies across Canberra. And over the past five years, Asha’s resilience has successfully placed over 120 young women to gain experience at 30 different embassies in Canberra. 

Participants’ growth remains at the core of Asha’s profit and she says the effect of this is clear for those who partake in it.  She remembers a particular young woman who said she’d never considered that she could be an Ambassador until she went through the program. But the participants aren’t the only ones who conclude the term enriched. In 2022, Girls Run The World ran a high tea with the British High Commission where a staffer said that it was their favourite event they had done all year. “It has everything to do with being around bright, vivacious young women! [The embassies are all] amazed at our participants - they are intelligent, articulate, driven and passionate. This program is a unique opportunity for both sides,” Asha gushed.

Speaking to her on Zoom and learning about her vision, I would say these qualities stand true for Asha as well. Having been interested in international relations since she was 12, Asha said her path was set from her first Model United Nations in year seven. And listening to her story, it is clear that leadership and innovation came to her naturally. 

Asha grew up in the United States until 2010, where her mother, Ritu Clementi, worked with the Red Cross and also ran a leadership program for young women. In 2012, the family moved to Australia and in 2016, Ritu won a YWCA Canberra grant to develop another leadership program for young women. This was Asha’s first step into the world of not-for-profits, and working as a dynamic mother-daughter duo, Ritu and Asha co-founded The Girls Leadership Network together. The network still exists today and has successfully grown to run a series of workshops, usually six in a year, that teach young women, in Years 11 and 12 and the first two years of university, about leadership, gives them access to incredible speakers, offers support for their own initiatives, and creates constructive opportunities for them. The first program was run in 2017, and since then has affected tangible change for young women by giving them the chance to find their voices, build self-confidence, and think about their place and role in the community and world.

“There is so much impact for these sessions that they truly change lives and trajectories,” Asha reflects.  She gives an example of a 2021 Year 12 student who decided to make a change in the system, focussing on the prevention of sexual violence. The student wrote a Sexual Violence Prevention Plan to educate senior school students, universities and colleges. The Plan first got approval from her school board, and was then accepted for trial by the ACT Government, which will now be trialling it at the Dickson College in Canberra. “[The student] will also be a part of the working group for the trial to get the plan into every public college in the ACT,” Asha said. 

This example is just one of many that Asha recounts during the conversation. It is clear that organisations like Girls Run The World, and The Girls Leadership Network provide a forum for young women to find their feet, as well as offer them a chance to discover themselves, develop skills, and network while potentially affecting real change in society. For a number of young women, the organisations are giving them opportunities and supporting the development of skills that they would otherwise not have access to. It is clear that empowering these young women today gives them the confidence to create waves in the world tomorrow.

Having her mother as a prime role model, Asha credits Ritu with helping her stay steady on her path. “We are very similar in a lot of ways, so it has been good to bounce ideas off of her,” she said. “I have taken a lot of inspiration and guidance from her, and she has shaped a lot of Girls Run The World into the program that it is today.” 

Ritu feels similarly, and speaks glowingly of her daughter. “It has been so great to see Asha grow since we started TGLN. Now we work together side by side, and I learn a lot from her - she is a fantastic networker, and has helped me with great contacts and speakers for TGLN!,” Ritu said proudly. Working with her mother has also kept Asha grounded, because at the end of the day - they are still mother and daughter. 

“My mum will tell me to finish writing my email to the US embassy so that I can then go and load the dishwasher!”

To learn more about The Girls Leadership Network, visit thegirlsleadershipnetwork.org/girls-run-the-world/

Tia is a freelance journalist from Sydney.