Aerospace Student Selected for Lend for America Fellowship

Department of Aerospace Engineering student Atin Mittra was selected to receive Lend for America’s Growing National Initiative fellowship. The yearlong fellowship is intended for young student leaders interested in microfinance.

Atin, who is also studying technology entrepreneurship, was selected from among hundreds of students from across the country. As part of the fellowship, Atin spent the summer in Providence, RI interning at The Capital Good Fund (CGF), fastest growing microfinance institutions in the United States.

Atin plans to use the experiences he gained at CGF and launch the campus initiative MADE (Maryland Asset Development and Education) Microfinance this fall. MADE’s services will include financial coaching, tax preparation, and consumer microloans for low-income community members. By September Atin needs to raise $500 and fill five student staff positions.

Since 2001, college students across the country have led the development of non-profit lending institutions to spur economic development in their campus communities. There are currently 23 member organizations of Lend for America, a national network started in 2009 to support the growth of the student-led microfinance movement.

For more information on Atin’s initiative MADE, visit their website.

For more information on Lend for America, visit their website.

Published August 29, 2013