Leeza Mangaldas is a prominent Indian sexuality educator, author, and content creator known for her educational work around sexual health. Born in Bangalore in 1990, she grew up in Goa and later pursued a BA in English Literature and Visual Art at Columbia University, New York. She began her career as a model, reaching the finals of Femina Miss India South in 2012 and also worked as a TV presenter before transitioning to focus on sexuality education. In 2017, she launched her YouTube channel to discuss sexual health in a scientifically accurate and stigma-free manner. Her content, which covers topics such as pleasure, consent, and safer sex practices, gained widespread attention, earning her spots in prestigious lists such as GQ India’s 25 Most Influential Young Indians and Cosmopolitan India’s Sexual Health Influencer of the Year. In 2022, she authored The Sex Book: A Joyful Journey of Self-Discovery, expanding her mission to make conversations about sex more accessible and normalized in India. Leeza is also the founder of Leezus, a platform dedicated to sexual health products and education.
Mangaldas was born in Bangalore, India. Her father is an architect and her mother is an interior designer and photographer. She grew up in Goa and attended high school in Kodaikanal. She studied English literature and visual art at Columbia University in New York, including in classes taught by Gauri Viswanathan, and graduated in 2011. After graduation, she moved to Mumbai. While based in Mumbai, Mangaldas worked as an actress and was a co-founder of Evoke India, an organization curating speaker events. She had a lead role in the 2014 film W, about sexual violence against women in India. She also wrote a 2013 opinion article noted by The Indian Express to address themes in the film about shame and self-blame by survivors.
While working as a newscaster, and with experience as a reporter that included the Indian Super League, Mangaldas began independently posting sex education videos in 2017 on YouTube in English to help address what she felt was "a lack of easily accessible information and non-judgemental platforms to share questions and experiences, and obtain facts and resources pertaining to sex, sexuality, gender, sexual health, relationships, and the body."
After success creating content on YouTube and Instagram, this became her full-time occupation in 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, she also began creating videos in Hindi. In 2021, she began the podcast Love Matters, produced by The Indian Express and Deutsche Welle. In December 2021, she began the Hindi sex education podcast The Sex Podcast with Leeza Mangaldas on Spotify. In 2023, Meta, the company operating Instagram, restricted several Indian sex education content creators' accounts—including that of Mangaldas, who then deleted some of her content to avoid restrictions after an unsuccessful appeal.
In 2022 Mangaldas founded a sexual wellness brand called Leezu's which sells massagers and lubricants.
Mangaldas is a member of The Pleasure Project, an NGO that has worked alongside the World Health Organization to research sexual health.
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| Birth Place | Bengaluru |
| Language | English |