

Aakya Manamperi
[she/Her]
FOUNDER of The GirlShield Project
Aakya is a 2nd-degree black belt who has trained in karate for over seven years, competing internationally to empower others through martial arts. Representing Team USA as a National Champion for age 14-15 girls Kata divisions at the 2026 WKC World Championships in Cadiz, Spain. Aakya earned the world championship title for the Korean forms division at the 2024 WKC World Championships in Portugal and two bronze medals for traditional forms divisions at the 2025 WKC World Championships in Niagara Falls, USA. She is also a NASKA-world ranked top 3 competitors in traditional forms for girls 14-15 age category in 2025 and Minnesota State Grand Champion in traditional forms 14-15 age girls division for 2024/25 season. Aakya also serves as an instructor at Dojo Karate, Medina, teaching over 200 students and helping new members grow in confidence and discipline. Through karate, she is inspiring others to pursue excellence with resilience and heart.
Aakya has also won several regional math competitions, First place in Health Professional Display category at the 2025 state leadership conference for HOSA for future health professionals, and will be competing at the HOSA International Conference in June 2026. She has also won many regional level speech competitions and competed at Minnesota state level high school speech league competitions. Aakya loves to play piano and has won several state level competitions including finalist for Junior young artist at the Minnesota Music Teachers' Association state competitions in 2025.
























