Nikita Shukla is a 2013 Cherry Hill High School East alumna, a graduate of Tufts University, was a Tisch Summer Fellow in citizenship and public service, and can speak proficiently in three languages.
It’s not surprising then, to find out she has been selected, among hundreds of applicants nationally, to represent the United States as a delegate at the upcoming G7 Youth Summit in Paris. What’s more, Shukla has been chosen as head delegate of the team of four.
It’s a long way from Sharp Elementary and Beck Middle School.
Shukla told The Sun in a phone conversation from California that her interest in international matters began in earnest at East, where she held the position of secretary general of its Model UN.
“That started me down the path. I learned about negotiation and understanding the inner workings of how to debate with groups of people who were representing other countries. I learned how to build consensus and then to use that to reach agreement on a particular proposal. I learned how to build alliances,” she said.
Later, while attending Tufts, where she graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations with a concentration in global health, Shukla said she “fell into” public health and women’s empowerment.
While there, she ended up working in India, Washington, D.C., and then at Tufts’ labor lab, which conducts experimental research revolving around the dignity of work. Though firmly ensconced in the private sector upon graduation, Shukla felt the pull of something different.
“I used to work at Amazon, overseeing data visualization for Alexa across several different countries, and it actually pushed me to go into international development rather than on the actual technology side of things,” she revealed. “That’s how I found CHAI (Clinton Health Access Initiative). Now, I’m concentrating on bringing health care to underserved populations across the globe.”
Using analytics, Shukla currently works to assist in the projection of the amount of help workers CHAI will require to implement necessary changes over the next 20 years. Having already worked extensively for this goal in Ethiopia, she will soon find herself doing the same in Rwanda.
As for the G7 Youth Summit, “Y7” for short, Shukla seemed to be a shoo-in to be a part of the American delegation. She related how the selection committee combed through each of the four delegates’ resumes and chose a head delegate based on varied professional and personal experiences.
“What actually helped clinch it (her selection as head delegate), was the Model UN experience I had from Cherry Hill East,” Shukla said.
From June 8-16, delegates from eight entities across three continents will gather in Paris for a week of negotiations, to prepare a call to action with recommendations to the G7 Heads of State and Government. This year’s theme is inequality.
“We are working on a joint declaration. It will be presented to the G7 leaders on June 13. The part that I’ll be working on, will be economic inequalities, and which forms of injustice that occur as a result: racial, gender, drug addiction. I will be examining current U.S. policies in place regarding inequality and then submitting a proposal for future action,” Shukla stated.
“This is the stuff that inspires me to keep going and to make a difference.”
