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.
At 17, she founded Beauty Beyond Bars, the first and leading initiative transforming hygiene access in U.S. corrections through donation, legislation, and storytelling. In under three years, Nepomuceno has raised over $250k 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 a Teen Vogue 21 Under 21 Recipient 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 Washington D.C. and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health at George Washington University as a Presidential Scholar.
