lea NEPOMUCENO

Lea Nepomuceno is a 19 year-old Filipina-American visionary at the forefront of the criminal justice reform movement. 

Nepomuceno is the Executive Director of Beauty Beyond Bars, the Nation’s leading initiative empowering incarcerated people with beauty and hygiene. Through her leadership, Beauty Beyond Bars is designing a future wherein all are empowered to look good, feel good, and do good. She has raised over $230k in in-kind donations, taught at two juvenile detention centers, and passed legislation to improve living conditions behind bars.

Nepomuceno was named a Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Recipient in 2022. Her work has been recognized by Teen Vogue Magazine, The Associated Press, Allure Magazine, GW Today, the Taco Bell Foundation, and The San Diego Union-Tribune. She was an Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders x Vital Voices Visionaries Fellow in 2024, and represented the United States among 20 finalists invited to the Visionaries Summit in 2025.

Nepomuceno currently lives in Washington D.C. and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health at George Washington University as a Presidential Scholar. She aspires to transform the United States criminal justice system through the intersection of law, business, and storytelling.