On November 17th, AIF’s Clinton Fellowship program and AIF’s Young Professionals NY (NYYP) chapter had the pleasure of hosting a first joint Fellowship Alumni Panel and Mixer in New York.
The purpose of this inaugural event was to provide a space for Alumni to share with Young Professionals their experiences serving in India, and to meet like-minded emerging leaders in the city. The evening started with a networking reception generously sponsored by Jones Day, during which attendees mingled against a breath-taking view of downtown New York from Jones Day’s office in the Financial District. We had about 45 attendees total.
During the panel discussion, which I had the pleasure of moderating with NYYP’s leadership council member Cathleen Mathew, three Fellowship Alumni from different classes reflected on their experiences serving with NGOs across India. The speakers included Fatima Salman (2015-16), Ramaa Chitale (2012-13), and Kishore Eechambadi (2010-11). The conversation touched on all aspects of living and serving in India: from cultural adaptation to navigating different work cultures and business etiquettes, gaining language proficiency, rethinking project design, debunking myths about development in India, assessing the impact of one’s work, emphasizing the significance and pace of building community relations and trust, creating a new home, persevering through road blocks and challenges, pursuing diverse career or educational opportunities upon return, and continuing to serve in other meaningful ways. The conversation was lively with stories, and a significant portion of humor.
As our most recently returned Fellow, Fatima served with the Broadleaf Health and Education Alliance in Darjeeling, West Bengal, to provide innovative health and education programs in the rural eastern Himalayas. It’s noteworthy that Broadleaf is a start-up founded by former AIF Fellow Michael Matergia (2011-12). Reflecting on her experience, Fatima explained how she applied her background in education to public health through teacher training, monitoring & evaluation, and curriculum development. During the discussion, she also gave a glimpse into her personal journey of living in India for the first time, acquiring Nepali language skills, and how her experience transformed her . Fatima is currently finishing her graduate degree at Georgetown University.
As our most recently returned Fellow, Fatima served with the Broadleaf Health and Education Alliance in Darjeeling, West Bengal, to provide innovative health and education programs in the rural eastern Himalayas. It’s noteworthy that Broadleaf is a start-up founded by former AIF Fellow Michael Matergia (2011-12). Reflecting on her experience, Fatima explained how she applied her background in education to public health through teacher training, monitoring & evaluation, and curriculum development. During the discussion, she also gave a glimpse into her personal journey of living in India for the first time, acquiring Nepali language skills, and how her experience transformed her understanding of her family and her roots. Fatima is currently finishing her graduate degree at Georgetown University.
Our second speaker Ramaa served with the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. Being immersed in a rural setting, she conveyed her experiences of conducting research and developing scalable models of community-based health interventions. Ramaa gave examples of how her project focused on reproductive health of women as well as newborn and child health, but how she was also involved in other areas over the course of the Fellowship, such as tribal health, youth empowerment, and anti-addiction training. After completing the Fellowship, Ramaa expanded on what she had learned for her graduate degree, earning a Master’s of Public Health from Columbia University. In March, she joined the Office of Academic Development and Enrichment at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, where she currently works with faculty.
And lastly, Kishore spoke about his experience serving as a Fellow five years ago at Seva Mandir in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Narrating his journey from the corporate sector to development, Kishore described how he applied his finance background towards social enterprise and microfinance in India. At Seva Mandir, his skill-set came in handy when helping small business owners introduce soy products, most prominently tofu, to local markets. Sharing stories and examples, Kishore pointed out that he had to “unlearn” many notions about project design in the context of implementing local solutions that work. After completing the Fellowship, he joined the NYYP leadership council as a member to organize events, fundraise, and spread awareness about AIF’s work among young professionals in NY. Having recently earned a J.D. from NYU’s School of Law, he is now an associate with McKinsey. During the discussion, Kishore’s background seemed to appeal to attendees with a similar career trajectory, who may not have considered applying to the Fellowship due to the perception that their skills cannot be applied to development in India.
It was a very inspiring conversation. What all speakers agreed on was that the Fellowship had been a crucial learning experience which transformed them personally and professionally. The ensuing Q&A session emphasized the level of interest that Young Professionals have in opportunities to serve in India and gain more exposure to AIF’s work on the ground. I was excited that many attendees came up to me afterwards, expressing interest in applying to the Fellowship, or commenting on generally being inspired by Fellows’ stories.
We’re very grateful for the opportunity to host this joint event, and we express our heartfelt thanks to our Alumni for sharing their experiences and engaging with Young Professionals, to Jones Day for their incredible hospitality and generosity, and to the NYYPs for coordinating, co-facilitating, and making this evening such a success.
Curious? See all photos of the event here.
