Hekani Jakhalu

Hekani Jakhalu Kense (; born after 1976) is an Indian politician and social entrepreneur from Nagaland. She set up the non-governmental organization YouthNet to help the youth of Nagaland pursue business opportunities. In 2018, she was recognised with the Nari Shakti Puraskar award.

In 2023, Jakhalu and Salhoutuonuo Kruse became the first woman from Nagaland to be elected to the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. Jakhalu is a member of the Naga People's Front(NPF).

Early life Hekani Jakhalu was born in Dimapur, Nagaland. She was educated at Bishop Cotton Girls' School in Bengaluru and earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi. She then studied for a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Delhi and took a Master of Laws at the University of San Francisco. After running for two years, the "Made in Nagaland" centre opened an e-commerce platform in 2020. In June 2025, YouthNet facilitated the disbursement of the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme to nine Nagaland-based startups, including Kohima-based cybersecurity firm NexusCipherGuard India.