Hardikar currently volunteers with DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), a community organization for low-wage South Asian immigrant workers and youth, and is a trainer for SAFER (Students Active for Ending Rape).

Prior to joining the ACLU, Hardikar was a community and youth organizer on a wide range of issues, including affirmative action, women's rights, and reproductive justice. She worked as an organizer for United for Peace and Justice in New York City, engaging in outreach with the South Asian and Arab communities on post-9/11 issues of profiling, special registration, detention and deportation. Hardikar also served on the National Student Advisory Committee for NARAL Pro-Choice America, helping students and youth to build pro-choice movements on their campuses and communities. She holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.