Resolution Fellows

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  Vidit Aatrey, Pledge

  Vidit Aatrey is in the final year of his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Having completed internships at General Electric and Honeywell, Vidit has had varied research experiences in Computer Vision and Machine Learning for applications like medical diagnosis, surveillance, etc. His graduate thesis is based on formulation of a method to determine correlation between different modalities of media. Apart from technology, his interests also lie in public policy and use of technology for the development of Rural India. An active debater and Model UN participant, he believes the road to development lies in rooting out core problems like unemployment and social inequality. He is grateful for the support of his project partner, Prashant Kumar, and The Resolution Project for this opportunity to contribute to the society. He says “ In a country with high percentage of youth, channeling their talents in the right direction is a must for country’s progress. Pledge tries to provide that channel to the underprivileged youth, who have been consistently neglected otherwise.”

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  Shanthakumar Bannirchelvam, Global Health Solutions

  Shanthakumar Bannirchelvam is currently a L.L.B./B.Econ candidate at Australian National University and has a B.A. in International Studies and Economics from Monash University in Australia. Shan was inspired by Resolution Fellow Shaan Gandhi's Health2Home venture and used Shaan's work in Uganda as a model for his Global Health Solutions proposal at the Resolution Project’s 2011 Social Venture Challenge in Singapore. In addition to his studies, student leadership and work on Global Health Solutions, Shan also finds time to do business development work for emerging market Greentech ventures Envirogrower and Lyfpod.

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  Dheer Bhatnagar, Indian Monsoons

  Dheer Bhatnagar is 21 years old and currently studying law at the National Law School of India University. Dheer is implementing rainwater harvesting systems across his university campus with his teammates, Surbhi Kuwelkar and Aditya Kumar. Traditionally dependent on water from rivers for their needs, over a billion Indians are now facing increasing water shortages caused by global climate change and irresponsible use. Bangalore, with a population of over nine million, shares these woes. Work began on implementing rainwater harvesting systems in Bangalore last year. The pilot project implemented on the campus brought forward excellent, encouraging results, and Dheer's team is now moving with plans to expand the project.

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  Nick Fiore, IT Empowerment

  Nick is co-director of IT Empowerment. He is currently a lecturer at Florida State University where he teaches human rights, international development, and social theory courses. Prior to this he conducted research at the International Criminal Court and recently finished a research project on the social impact of IT for education in Bhutan. Past development fieldwork has taken him to Ghana and Rwanda where he has focused on the education sector, IT and English language training and led teams of volunteers from the organization Global Peace Exchange. He holds a BA in International Affairs from Florida State University and an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics.

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  Shaan Gandhi, Health2Home

  Shaan Gandhi is the Managing Director of Health2Home and is currently pursuing an MD at Harvard Medical School. A 2010 graduate of the University of Oxford with a PhD in medical oncology and a 2007 graduate of Case Western Reserve University with a BS (honors) in biochemistry and a BA in chemistry, he has conducted fundamental and translational research into the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and immunological conditions at the National Cancer Institute, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Mayo Clinic and at Roche Pharmaceuticals. His doctoral research is focused on understanding the role of stem cells in initiating colon cancer and their potential role in devising better diagnostic tests. Beyond science, his interests lie in policy analysis and advocacy, particularly with respect to healthcare services in the United States, United Kingdom, Guyana and Uganda. After completing his MD in the spring of 2014, Shaan plans to pursue a career at the intersection of science and medicine in order to improve access to and quality of medical treatment.

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  Carlos Garcia, Green Garbage

  Carlos Garcia is 22 years old and has lived in Caracas, Venezuela his entire life. Since he was 14 years old, he has been involved in social ventures and projects aiming to improve the quality of education and teaching conditions in the city’s slums and poor towns in Venezuela, an ethic he owes to his Catholic education and to his family. He is currently a senior student of Geodetic Engineering at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and was Secretary General of the Engineering students association in his second year. He has been a member of UCV’s delegation to WorldMUN for three years and Head Delegate since last year. He is also on UCV’s Competitive Debate team, and was chosen to represent the University at the World Debate Championship in December 2010. Since March 2009, Carlos has been working to make Green Garbage a reality in Venezuela. Carlos strongly believes that it is necessary to start making changes in the way people use resources and how it affects the environment. At the same time, he is acutely aware of the need to focus on the political environment to find a viable solution. He says: "I’m sure that Green Garbage is the solution."

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  Betsy Graves, Making the Most of Water

  Betsy L. Graves is a 2011 Graduate of the University of Virginia, where she earned a BA in Foreign Affairs and English Literature (Modern Studies Program). She currently resides in Kenya, where she works with constitutional civic education initiatives through the Caucus for Women’s Leadership and other NGOs in preparation for the 2012 national election. She also remains a field volunteer and advocate for the non-profit organization Sequoia Helping Hands, Friends of the Little Bees, and other local organizations, and plans to pursue a career in international diplomacy. Betsy is grateful to the members of the “Making the Most of Water” venture in the US and Kenya for their help and support, and is excited for the future of the Resolution Project and the opportunities that it provides for global community engagement and innovation.

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  Jessica Haeussler, UNIDAS

  Jessica is from Germany and holds a BA in International Management. While at university, she was an active member of Amnesty International, founded a United Nations Association on campus and participated in several international Model United Nations conferences. Jessica is currently working with a global organization, managing several projects to promote consumer protection in microfinance. Prior to her current job, she worked as an international analyst for a social enterprise in Mexico, where she was closely collaborating with women’s shelters, implementing a new organizational unit to facilitate the economic empowerment of vulnerable women and enhanced access to microfinance services.

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  Alex Merkovic, IT Empowerment

  With Nick Fiore, Alex Merkovic co-runs IT Empowerment, an organization that provides IT solutions for education in the global south. IT Empowerment currently operates in Rwanda, where it is providing a computer lab to a primary school. With the help of Resolution, Alex and Nick will be expanding their project in the country. Alex says: "Resolution provides not only crucial resource support but more importantly, excellent guidance."

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  Rima-Maria Rahal, ShareHealth!

  Rima is studying at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, currently pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. In the future, she plans to continue her studies abroad, focusing on social psychology. So far, Rima has worked on a project to preserve the rainforest as a natural habitat for orangutans and has volunteered teaching English and German to pupils with a migratory background. Rima is looking forward to working on the ShareHealth! project with her teammates, Shubei and Zlatko. She is very excited to have an impact on children’s lives and looks forward to the challenges of taking charge of the organizational aspects of a social venture project

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  Zlatko Tadic, ShareHealth!

  Zlatko is currently studying economics at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and received a scholarship to study at the University of Texas at Austin for the 2011-2012 academic year. After returning from Austin, Zlatko will be writing his Bachelor's thesis at the Centre for European Economic Research to earn his Bachelor degree. After four years of supporting the "Rally for the Cure" program in their events to make an impact in the fight against breast cancer, Zlatko now has the chance to work on a pilot project of his own together with his two teammates Shubei and Rima. Together they aim to improve the oral hygiene of Ukrainian and Ecuadorian children, and therefore assist in an area, which has not received the amount of attention it deserves.

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  Mauro Trujaño, UNIDAS

  Mauro is from Latin America and specialized in the field of marketing and market research. With over 10 years of working experience in this area, he has managed market research projects for a variety of international clients and conducted qualitative and quantitative studies throughout Latin America. His passion is community empowerment and the development of creative entrepreneurial solutions. Having supported the operational team of a women’s shelter in Mexico, he has gained first hand insights into the challenges survivors of gender-based violence are facing.

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  Shubei Wang, ShareHealth!

  Shubei is a final-year medicine student at the University of Heidelberg concurrently pursuing her degree and working on her doctoral dissertation at the German Cancer Research Center. Shubei will begin working as an intern soon and hopes to specialize in her area of interest, pediatrics. Growing up in both Singapore and China, as well as studying in Germany has allowed Shubei to experience different cultures and political, economic and social systems. Her involvement in a social project organized by the Singaporean authorities in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program in the Maldives has further broadened her horizons. ShareHealth! combines her interest in social work and her love for working with children. She is proud to be a Resolution Fellow and hopes to make a difference through the ShareHealth! Initiative.