On Tuesday, Patkar will receive the 2014 global human rights award from Vital Voices, an organization that began as a policy initiative in 1997 by then first lady Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to empower women across the globe.
Patkar is the latest interviewee to join The Washington Post's "On Leadership" video series. In the video above, she shares the story of starting her organization and how she's drawn inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi to change the ills she sees in the world.
Other recent conversations on leadership in the series: