Named one of Forbes India's 30 under 30 in 2017, Angellica Aribam has been working on issues of gender, race, and the democratisation of politics for over a decade. Hailing from the marginalised north-eastern region of India, she has been at the receiving end of racial injustice since childhood. She joined politics at the age of 20 believing it to be the best way to change the status quo. In 2012, she became the first student from the northeastern region to be elected in Delhi University. She was a National General Secretary of the students' wing of the Indian National Congress for half a decade. She has represented the political party in various national and international media platforms.

​

As a crusader for racial equity, Angellica has advised the Government of India on anti-racism laws. She anchored the student manifesto for the 2014 parliamentary elections for the Indian National Congress. She advised Indian Members of Parliament on 'Net Neutrality' which resulted in parliamentary interventions. 

​

During 2018-2019, she was an inaugural Fellow for women political leaders at Vital Voices - an American NGO by Hillary Clinton - where she was mentored by former Prime Ministers of Canada, New Zealand, and Peru; and trained by professors of Harvard Kennedy School.

​

Based on her lived experiences as a first generation woman in politics, she founded Femme First Foundation, a non-partisan non-profit organisation, to amplify women's political leadership in India in 2019. Her work has been featured widely by both national and international media. She has spoken at universities across the world including University College of London, Graduate Institute (Geneva), IIT, Delhi University amongst others. 

​

Angellica was also a Lead Gender Consultant at the British Council India's Newton Fund. She also served on the Expert Panel of Stanford University's Impact Labs in 2022. Angellica is also a certified Public Narrative coach and has conducted workshops with Prof Marshall Ganz for students at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 2022, Angellica also led the campaign for the Indian Vice-President election for the joint opposition parties' candidate, Governor Margaret Alva. 

​

Angellica is the lead author of the seminal book "The Fifteen: The Lives and Times of the Women in India's Constituent Assembly" published by Hachette India (2024). As a staunch advocate for gender and racial rights, she regularly writes for various publications including The Indian Express, Times of India amongst others.

​

With a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi and a Masters' degree in Public Policy from Peking University, Angellica is on a quest for learning. In her free time, she loves to cook, read, and write.