Hi Everyone,

My name is Yatin Sethi and I am an Atlas Corps 2008 Fellow. This is my first post and I would like to give you a little background about myself and how I got to apply for Atlas Corps Fellowship.

I have a different background than my co-fellows. I completed my engineering in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and was working for 3 years with various corporate firms. Concurrently, I co-founded a couple of non-profit organizations - Pankhudi Foundation (www.pankhudifoundation.org) and doSomething (www.dosomething.in) in Bangalore, India.

I always had an interest in doing something different. I had started working with non-profits since my college days. I met various people and went to several places across India, which helped me understand the conditions in which people are living in India. Once I was out of college, I joined with a few like-minded people and started a group to work for the benefit of under-privileged people.

We started small but started growing really fast, similar to an organization. We had the responsibility to manage it. Being in those situations, we not only did some good work, but we also learned management skills. We got to manage the whole organization. We learned about finances, marketing, starting new initiatives, partnerships and so much more. It was all practical learning, and moreover it was fun.

It has been almost 3 years now since we started working. Pankhudi Foundation is currently working with hundreds of underprivileged children in 6 cities across India with approximately 400 volunteers. I wish to learn how to take my organization at a global level; and partner with other global non-profits working with children; to share my expertise and to learn from them. And hence I am here in US, as an Atlas Corps 2008 Fellow, working with my host organization - Ashoka's Youth Venture.