Fellowship Project: Deepen the analysis of program data and revamp the microfinance value chain through various process innovations.

Highlights: Joshilyn is serving as an American India Foundation (AIF) Banyan Impact Fellow with Sub-K IMPACT Solutions in Hyderabad, Telangana. For her Fellowship project, she will deepen the analysis of program data and revamp the microfinance value chain through various process innovations. Prior to starting degrees in economics and sociology, Joshilyn served in rural Ecuador as a Global Citizen Year Fellow where she supported work at a public health clinic and primary school. Once at Kansas State University, she returned to Ecuador to conduct research on rural development and migration as a Chapman Scholar. She first traveled to India in the fall of 2015 to study sustainable development practices and economic policy at Christ University in Bangalore. The courses and field experiences she had in India inspired her passion for identifying policy best-practices and exploring the role of government in promoting social and economic protections. She further developed her skills in public policy research and evaluation in 2017 at the University of Economics in Prague. After finishing her degrees, Joshilyn worked for a summer as a program development Fellow for Shared Nation while living in Delhi. She then spent a year at the Honolulu Community Action Program providing social and economic services to low-income residents. Throughout the pandemic, Joshilyn worked as an epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Public Health where she designed and managed large-scale surveys and analyzed and synthesized data to report on trends and impact of COVID-19. In her free time Joshilyn loves to be outdoors, read, and cook vegan meals. She is deeply grateful to have the opportunity to return to India and is excited to learn from and contribute to work she finds meaningful.