Sougandhi Bogupally graduated from Azim Premji University Bengaluru in Master’s in Development with a specialisation in Social Sectors. She is a budding Development Practitioner who works to enhance the participation and decision making of the vulnerable sections of the society to access their rights. She is passionate about understanding the ground realities and bridging the gap between policy and action. Her research work revolves around various issues dealing with building sustainable cities, property rights, forest rights and understanding land use planning and efficient spatial distribution. In realising current challenges in sustainability, she aims to strike balance between the rejuvenation of natural resources and livelihood opportunities by building alternative development pathways driven by entrepreneurship.
At the age of seventeen, when she started studying politics and economics, she was exposed to several political loopholes which made her think about other alternatives. In 2016 when she attended SFL Regional Conference in Hyderabad, she was introduced to ideas on liberty where she learnt that politics is not of force, but of persuasion of live and let live, of rejecting both subjugation and domination.
Sougandhi currently works in the Philanthropic sector and manages funding relationships with IT companies in India. She is Director at Swatantrata Centre, a liberal think-tank based in Hyderabad. She has been selected as Top Global Students’ Leader at SFL Washington in 2019 and 2020. She is Fellow at Acton Institute-Grand Rapids Michigan and Alumni at Heritage Foundation Academy.
Sougandhi, along with Akash, conceptualized and co-founded the Freedom Fellowship as a South Asia Students for Liberty initiative. She looks after the partnerships and fundraising for the fellowship.
