Hekani Jakhalu Kense

In this Angami name, the surname is Kense.

Hekani Jakhalu Kense (née Jakhalu; born after 1976)^[1] is an Indian politician and social entrepreneur from Nagaland. She set up the non-governmental organization YouthNet to help the youth of Nagaland pursue business opportunities. In 2018, she was recognised with the Nari Shakti Puraskar award.

Hekani Jakhalu Kense
Hekani Jakhalu receiving the 2018 Nari Shakti Puruskar award
Member of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 March 2023
Preceded by	Azheto Zhimomi
Constituency	Dimapur III
Personal details
Born	Hekani Jakhalu 1976 (1976) (age 49–48) Toluvi, Dimapur, Nagaland
Political party	NDPP
Spouse	Kevilezo Kense
Children	2
Residence	Kohima
Education	Bishop Cotton Girls' School
Alma mater	Lady Shri Ram College (BA) University of Delhi (LLB) University of San Francisco (LLM)
Occupation	Politician • Social entrepreneur
Awards	Nari Shakti Puruskar

In 2023, Jakhalu and Salhoutuonuo Kruse became the first woman from Nagaland to be elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. Jakhalu is a member of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP).^[2]

Early life

Hekani Jakhalu was born in Dimapur, Nagaland. She was educated at Bishop Cotton Girls' School in Bengaluru and earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi.^[3] She then studied for a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Delhi and took a Master of Laws at the University of San Francisco.^[3]

Career

After working in the United States, Jakhalu returned to Delhi and began a career as a lawyer.^{[citation needed]} She was made a partner in the firm but having seen firsthand the number of young people from Nagaland migrating to Delhi, she decided in 2006 to move to Kohima (the capital of Nagaland) in order to set up a non-governmental organization (NGO) called YouthNet which aims to create more opportunities for the youth of Nagaland.^[1] As of 2018, YouthNet had 30 employees and claims to have helped 23,500 people.^[1] It aims to help entrepreneurs pursue their ideas and set up a "Made in Nagaland" centre in Kohima which sells their artisan goods.^[4][5] After running for two years, the "Made in Nagaland" centre opened an e-commerce platform in 2020.^[5]

In recognition of her work, Jakhalu received in 2018 the Nari Shakti Puraskar award, India's highest civilian award given only to women. She was the only person from the northeast of India to be honoured that year.^[6]