18-year-old Chaitanya Venkateswaran from Delhi got the opportunity to become Britain’s highest senior diplomat for a day on October 11. She participated in an initiative run by the British High Commission, in which the organisation urges young Indian women, between the age of 18 and 23, to step into the role of being a world leader.
Chaitanya is the 4th young woman to take over as British High Commissioner in an annual competition run by the UK mission, the British High Commission said in a statement. The initiative aims to empower the next generation of women as leaders and trail-blazers, and to highlight some of the challenges women and girls around the world still face. The competition is run in celebration of International Day of the Girl Child (11 October).
As the High Commissioner for a Day, Chaitanya started her day by distributing tasks to the High Commission’s department heads. She also got a chance to interact with senior woman police officers and hosted press conferences.
Chaitanya, a recent high-school graduate from New Delhi, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree with a full scholarship in International Studies and Economics, and certificate programmes in Advanced Leadership Studies and Political Thought at American University, Washington DC, studying remotely. An active volunteer, she has worked to aid visually-impaired students, acid attack survivors and marginalised LGBT+ groups.