Kenisha Arora

About Kenisha Arora

Kenisha Arora is a Forbes-recognized leader dismantling inequities in education and health.At just 16 years old, Kenisha was elected as a School Board Trustee in the Greater Toronto Area and successfully championed a provision to provide free menstrual hygiene products in school washrooms. Since then, she has served as a Board of Governor at Western University, upholding fiduciary responsibility in the governance of an $896 million institutional budget.Kenisha was also selected from candidates to become a Representative of Youth on the United Nations High-Level Committee on Education. Through this committee she worked alongside global leaders, including the Prime Minister of France, President of Sierra Leone, the Executive Director of UNICEF, World Bank Managing Partner, and UNESCO Director General to oversee the global governance of education and set indicators in the United Nations SDG4 framework. She has authored several education policy papers and championed a Youth Declaration for Transforming Education alongside the UN Secretary General António Guterres. Kenisha has been invited to share her bold vision at many high-level global floras including the World Bank & IMF Spring Meetings and G20 Education Meetings, where she met with many G20 Member States including India\'s Minister of Finance.Kenisha\'s leadership in improving girls education and health has also been recognized by the World Health Organization. She was invited to join the WHO Director General in Switzerland, to launch WHO\'s first-ever campaign on Adolescent Health. As a Master\'s student at Johns Hopkins University and future physician, Kenisha combines her expertise in medical science and her passion for policy advocacy to transform systems.

Experience

1. Representative on High-level Committee for Education

   United Nations

   Jan 2022 — Present

   Selected out of nearly candidates to serve on the UN High Level Committee for Education. Worked alongside other committee members including the Prime Minister of France Gabriel Attal, President of Sierra Leone Julius Bio, UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russel, UNESCO’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay, World Bank Managing Parter, OECD Managing Partner, and other partners to oversee the global governance of education. The committee provided leadership on the global education agenda and mobilized global financing for education. Key Achievements- Brought together the voices of youth from 120+ countries with support from the UN Youth Envoy\'s Office to develop recommendations for Member States on transforming education. Had the honor of launching the Youth Declaration on alongside UN Secretary General António Guterres- Successfully championed the adoption of the first-ever Digital Education and Greening Education indicator in the UN SDG4 global monitoring framework, making it the first formal metric to track how countries integrate digital literacy and environmental sustainability into their national education systems. This marked a shift in global education policy ensuring that digital and climate-related competencies are now recognized as essential skills by UN Member States and tracked regularly by UNESCO\'s Global Education Monitoring Report- Led the campaign on Transforming Education and LeadingSDG4, mobilizing youth across 120+ countries and reaching over 77 million people. Brought its message to global policy platforms including the G20 Education Meetings and the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings, advocating for increased investment in children’s and girls’ education- Formally launched a policy letter at the United Nations Headquarters with UN General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi, co-authored alongside former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other leaders. The letter urged UN Member States to increase investment in education.

Education

• International Baccalaureate

  IB Diploma, International Baccalaureate (IB) Program

  2016

• McMaster University

  Mini Medical School

  2019 — 2020

• Western University

  Bachelor of Medical Sciences

  2020 — 2024

• The Johns Hopkins University

  Master of Science, Global Health and Economics