Atishi was raised in Delhi, and after completing high school from Springdale School, New
Delhi, she studied history at St. Stephen's College, Delhi graduating top of her class.
Subsequently, she went to Oxford University for her master’s degree in History on a Chevening
scholarship. In 2005 she went to Magdalen College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Atishi spent
some time teaching at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh before moving to a small village
near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. There she was involved in organic farming and progressive
education systems.
Atishi is presently the elected MLA from Kalkaji constituency
and is a member of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of
Aam Aadmi Party. She served as the Advisor to the Deputy
Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, primarily on education,
from July 2015 to April 2018 and has been instrumental in the
successful implementation of the Delhi government’s bold
education reform agenda. This young leader also spearheaded the flagship Mohalla Sabha
Project for the Government of NCT of Delhi which is a pioneering effort to decentralize
governance to empower every citizen. As the Advisor to the Education Minister of Delhi,
Atishi played a pivotal role in revamping the state of education in government run schools in
the national capital. She has been the driving force behind the path-breaking initiatives such as
the Mentor Teacher and Chunauti programs and has played a key role in revitalizing the School
Management Committees (SMCs) in Delhi government schools.
In the 2020 Delhi Vidhan Sabha and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Atishi ran positive campaigns
on real, every-day issues faced by voters which was widely appreciated and established her as
one of the leading young politicians in India.