Sunny Mitra ’16 (an economics and mathematics double major with a minor in political science from Kolkata, India) spent last summer working on microfinance in Bangladesh. His two-part internship, funded in part by an APEX Fellowship, was with the Grameen Bank and the Grameen Trust, two sister companies. During the first part of his internship, Sunny interviewed villagers and bank officials to understand the organization’s mission to reduce rural poverty through collateral-free loans for poor borrowers. During the second part of his internship, Sunny prepared a report for Grameen Trust’s Board of Directors on the state of microfinance operations in India and worked to help new organizations improve. Sunny’s experience helped him understand, from a grassroots level, the effects of policymaking on people in rural villages.
Sunny discovered this internship through another recipient of APEX funding, Fahim Aziz ’15, who worked for Grameen Bank two years earlier. An APEX Fellowship was the only was that Sunny could have afforded to live in Bangladesh for the full six weeks of his internship. APEX also helped Sunny prepare his resume and cover letter to prepare a strong application package when he applied for his internship.
By Madeleine O’Neill ’16