Ana Vasudevan, Berkeley, California, USA
Ana first learned about CARTHA in April 2011 when Usha Balakrishnan happened to visit her home in Atlanta as a long-time family friend. Ana immediately recognized that CARTHA provides a necessary forum for the discussion of issues and ideas by open and like-minded individuals looking for positive change in the world as well as the mobilization of resources to produce creative solutions to world problems. As a result, Ana actively suggested and created a summer internship experience for herself and “job-shadowed” Usha in Iowa City for 10 days in the month of June 2011. Following her meetings and conference calls with several CARTHA collaborators, Ana established a student chapter of CARTHA at the University of California, Berkeley where she started her undergraduate studies in Fall 2011 (majoring in political science and international affairs). Joining CARTHA’s Board of Directors in September 2011, Ana hopes to share her journey in understanding and involving herself with CARTHA’s work by co-creating programs for current and prospective collaborators from many sectors, disciplines, and regions. Ana’s experiences both in and out of school developed her interest in collaborative leadership opportunities and in global health-related and humanitarian issues. She represented her school and county at the prestigious state-sponsored Georgia Governors Honors Program. She has held various leadership positions including President of the National Honor Society at Walton High School in Georgia, Parliamentarian of the Georgia Junior Classical League, and Co- President of Latin Club at Walton. Outside of school, she traveled as a Student Ambassador to China in 2008 under the auspices of People to People International, attended a field studies program on “War Crimes Tribunals in The Hague, Netherlands” sponsored by the Duke University Talent Identification Program, and participated actively at the Global Youth Forum on global public health issues in November 2010. Ana’s aspirations revolve around global issues involving innocent victims of war, child soldiers, and the eradication of waterborne diseases. Ana has mentored kids in elementary school for four years as part of her community involvement. Her other interests include playing tennis and the piano, amateur filmmaking, and decorating cakes in her spare time. Ana has also gained significant cross-cultural experiences over the years with family vacations within and outside of the USA.