Andrew Jelinek

Age: 26

Home Town: Rochester, Michigan

Education: M.A., International Security, Georgetown University / B.A., International Relations, Michigan State University

Specific Field Interests: Workforce Development, Education / Training

Placement: Anudip Foundation, Kolkata, West Bengal

Area of Focus: Livelihoods

Highlights: As a graduate student studying foreign affairs at Georgetown, Andrew gained internship experience at the Atlantic Council, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives. In these positions, he became passionate about international development and human security issues around the world. After he graduated with his Masters, Andrew joined Teach For America in Detroit. There, he taught for two years at a high-poverty school. As a teacher in that environment, he became increasingly aware of the ways in which food insecurity, shoddy infrastructure, high crime rates, racial discrimination, and socioeconomic inequality drastically limit human potential. Through coursework and reading in college, Andrew had always been passionately interested in similar challenges facing India. He had also always wanted to experience and learn from India's remarkable cultural diversity.