I grew up in South India in an environment that constantly stressed the importance of strong education. As a bored teenager I became skeptical, listened to heavy metal and my grades slipped (correlation coefficient = who knows?). But toward the end of high school, a chance encounter saw me apply and train as a teaching volunteer at a small local NGO.

A month later, I found myself helping teach underserved children basic English and computer skills.

Three months later, I let slip to my mom about feeling sorry for teachers who had teenage students.

Half a year later, my friends picked up that I was becoming overly informed and defensive about teaching careers.

I continued working with rough communities in India while pursuing an engineering degree and later working in the automotive industry. Afterward, I focused on economic development during my master's studies at Columbia. Over the past couple of years, I was fortunate to work on projects with multiple international agencies like the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UN DPKO), World Food Program (WFP) and the Population Fund (UNFPA) across USA and West Africa.

At EdLab, I work in the Research team to understand and combat the challenges faced by educators and students across the globe.