Sanjana Kumbhani, a sophomore business economics and mathematics double major from Mumbai, India, spent her summer working at Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, through an APEX (Academic Planning and Experiential Learning) Fellowship at The College of Wooster.
Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization that seeks to achieve rural empowerment, mostly for females. Based on an unconventional banking system, their goal is to familiarize interns like Sanjana with the methodology, functions and impact of micro crediting on rural communities.
Her work schedule included meetings with employees of the bank, weeklong visits to villages so she could view the transactions taking place and interviewing potential borrowers. The most exciting part of the internship for Sanjana was talking with the borrowers of the bank in villages and learning how microfinance has impacted their socio-economic status. “It’s fascinating to see the extent of Grameen’s influence and how it has changed Bangladesh’s economy forever,” she said.
Sanjana’s internship with Grameen Bank marked the third year of APEX Fellows going to work at the microfinance organization in Bangladesh. She is one of five Wooster APEX Fellows who visited the Grameen Bank to get a first hand look at its trust-based business model and unconventional banking system, giving her the opportunity to work with a company in her field of interest.
By Kanika Issar ’15