Alumni
Anuj Patwardhan
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Anuj is fortunate to have had opportunities to explore his passions and serve his community in several ways since coming to Vanderbilt and throughout high school. During his freshman and sophomore years, he worked with the Nashville Mobile Market, a social enterprise aimed at providing a sustainable source of healthy foods in limited access areas, and with Vanderbilt’s Microfinance Club, partnering with area high schools to mentor a class on social entrepreneurship. He also served as his dormitory's service liaison and on the student government community service committee. Throughout high school, Anuj volunteered in and coordinated an effort in which high school students visited a middle school to tutor underprivileged students, with an emphasis on studying the sciences and developing leadership skills.
In between his sophomore and junior years, as part of an Ingram Scholarship Program sponsored summer project, Anuj worked at a microfinance organization, Milango Financial Services, in Mombasa, Kenya. Milango provides credit for clients previously without access to the financial sector by organizing them into groups so that they can support each other and guarantee each other's loans. His project involved connecting groups of clients using social networking tools and mobile phones to simplify and increase the efficiency of communication. Anuj lived with a Kenyan host family for the summer, and found the entire summer experience transformative.
During his junior year, Anuj continued his involvement with the Nashville Mobile Market and with Vanderbilt’s Microfinance Club. He also began working with Vanderbilt’s chapter of Moneythink, a national nonprofit organization providing mentorship and financial literacy education to high school students. During the summer between his junior and senior years, Anuj lived in New York City and worked as an intern at UBS Financial Services. Anuj is honored to be a part of the Ingram Scholarship Program, and is thrilled to be a part of such an exciting community at Vanderbilt.