lea NEPOMUCENO
“empowering the social consciousness of her generation.” - Vogue
meet lea.
Lea Nepomuceno began interviewing incarcerated people at just 13 years old and quickly uncovered a recurring, overlooked theme: most lacked access to basic hygiene and beauty essentials.
At 17, she founded Beauty Beyond Bars, the first and leading initiative transforming hygiene and beauty access in U.S. corrections through donation, legislation, and storytelling. In under three years, Nepomuceno has raised over $280k in in-kind donations, taught at two juvenile detention centers, and passed legislation to improve living conditions for ~97,600 people behind bars.
Nepomuceno was named an e.l.f. Beauty 22 Under 22 Honoree in 2026 and a Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Honoree in 2022. Her work has been recognized by Vogue, 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 San Diego and is an incoming student at Columbia University. In her free time, she teaches people on the internet how to ask interesting questions to spark deep conversations (@leanepo, 3.5M+ impressions).
