Esuna was born and grew up in the Republic of Buryatia, a region of indigenous people of the Mongolian origin and a centre of Buddhism in Russia. Her hometown – Ulan-Ude – lies along the Trans-Siberian Railway and is a few hours away from Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake. When she was an undergraduate student at St. Petersburg State University, she used to take a 5-day train ride to Ulan-Ude every summer, which was the most economical means to get home.

Since childhood Esuna has been driven to learn more and make a meaningful contribution to society. It is this thirst for knowledge that motivated her to apply to Cambridge University after a year abroad in Beijing. She was awarded a full scholarship for her MPhil and then PhD studies at Cambridge which she completed at the age of 26. Based on her experience studying at Cambridge, she wrote a book «The Star of the Nomadess: In Harmony between the East and the West» which received 'The best publication award' in 2016 by the journal “Baikal” (Buryatia).

Her motivation to make a positive impact brought her to the UN, first in Geneva and then in its headquarters in New York, where she has led data analytics, research and accountability for gender equality and sustainable development in over 100 countries. As part of her portfolio, she created an acclaimed global policy tracker with over 5,000 policy measures that has informed governments, practitioners and civil society around the world. In 2017, she became a laureate of the Chevening award by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for her contribution to international development.

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In parallel with her policy work at the global level, Esuna conducts research about her homeland Buryatia and its history, culture, religion, and language. In 2021, she established the Global Buryat Academy "Buryad sedkhel" to preserve the Buryat language and culture, and connect Buryat-Mongols around the world based on shared heritage. In addition to her mother tongue Buryat-Mongolian, Esuna speaks English, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish and Burmese. She also studies Buddhist philosophy and in her spare time reads history and enjoys art.