Shree Agnihotri
India
SFL SUCCESS STORY:
Shree Agnihotri
SFL South Asia
Student leader and former staff member from India now studying law at NYU
Shree gives a presentation to her fellow SFL staff members
Shree Agnihotri, a former student leader and Students For Liberty staff member from India, is now working towards her Master of Laws (LL.M) at New York University. In addition, she has also worked with Free a Billion, an organization based out of Mumbai, which seeks to bring economic freedom to the billion people living in India.
Her father was a lawyer and Shree says this instilled an attraction towards policy in her. Her inclination towards liberty was more intuitive. In India, she would read the news and see a dire need for liberty. As Shree says, “India is and has been a socialist country – so much so that most Indians seem to think it is the only ideal and that we must find solutions within this umbrella. Criticisms are usually dismissed as ‘western concepts’ that cannot be applied to India. Thankfully, the past decade has seen some phenomenal work in advancing the ideas of liberty in the subcontinent by SFL, and her partner organizations.”
At NYU, her studies are focused on Political Philosophy and Constitutional Political Theory. Shree is also writing a thesis under the supervision of Professor John Ferejohn, a Hoover Fellow.
On her work with Free a Billion, Shree said, “Public Choice Theory guided our analysis of the current laws as a solution to which we worked on rewriting a model urban governance bill – a principles-based bill to fix Indian cities.”
Shree joined Students For Liberty in 2014 when her interest in political philosophy was fully developed. She says, “SFL seemed like an amazing place to connect and learn with a similarly minded, and yet wonderfully diverse, set of individuals.”
Reflecting on her time with Students For Liberty, Shree said:
It was while I was organizing the South Asia Executive Board retreat that I fully understood the impact of what I am a part of. I was with a bunch of young adults, most of whom had never stepped out of their home, or their comfort zones, and yet, I was able to bring them together and help them contribute and lead the sessions during the retreat. In a span of two days, they were able to bond and understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Increasing the number of applications by almost 200%, making substantial inroads into areas like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka would count as a proud accomplishment – although I wouldn’t have achieved half of it had it not been for the amazing Executive Board I was working with.
At Students For Liberty, we’re incredibly grateful to have someone as dedicated as Shree in our network. She’s an inspiration to us and we wish her the best as she moves forward in her studies and career!