Kalki Subramaniam

Kalki Subramaniam is an entrepreneur, artist, poet, actor, and transgender / lgbtqi+ activist. She is the founder of Sahodari Foundation, an organization that empowers, equips and integrates transgender and gender non-binary individuals in the community and workplace.

She was honored by MG Motors in 2018, as one of “the finest changemakers of India”. In November 2018, she was invited by Schwules Museum, Germany to present her poetry, art and activism to special audience. In June 2019, she was conferred the title of International Ambassador for life for TransAmsterdam organisation in Netherlands.

She has spoken and conducted workshops in various schools, colleges, universities and corporate companies across India, advocating for economic empowerment and equality for transgender and gender non binary people in the community and workplace. She was one of the prominent Indian activists advocating and lobbying for the recognition of legal rights for transgender people by the Supreme court of India in 2014.

She was invited in 2017 by the Harvard University to speak at the India Conference about “Transgender empowerment in India”. She received a standing ovation during her speech.She is well respected and recognized in the Indian media for her literary work. She is also known across south Asia for her interviews on TV and performance in the film industry. On March 8th 2015, women’s day, Facebook chose Kalki as one of the “12 inspiring women of the world” in 2015. In 2016, Kalki was nominated by L’Oreal Paris India as the ‘Woman of Worth’ under the arts category.

As an artist, she established the TransHearts art project through Sahodari foundation, that offers free workshops for transgender and gender non binary individuals to promote their artworks and support their livelihood. More than 200 transgender people have benefited from these workshops. This entrepreneurship venture is first of its kind in South Asia.