Introducing EVCA's 2021 Fellowship Cohort

We launched the Emerging Venture Capitalists Association (EVCA) Fellowship to bring the knowledge, resources, and network of our pre-partner venture community — over 750 members — to driven undergraduates passionate about the venture capital and entrepreneurial ecosystems. This year, the EVCA Fellowship Committee is proud to welcome our 2nd cohort of 30 fellows hailing from 21 universities across the U.S.

Our fellows will spend the next year diving deep into their industry vertical of choice, attending panels with successful general partners and founders, and connecting with EVCA mentors as they explore full-time careers. We’re inspired by the unique perspectives that each of the fellows brings to this program along with their innate drive to accomplish something great. We’ve asked them to share about their personal mission and have included the responses below.

So without further ado, announcing our 2021 Fellows —

Aarushi Gupta | UCLA

“My mission is to leverage my passion for business and social impact to support companies and organizations creating civic and social change. I hope to apply the knowledge I’ve gained thus far to help those doing good in new ways that exert long-standing impact, such as creating new jobs, promoting equity, and catalyzing inclusive economies.”

Albert Elston | University of Wisconsin, Madison

“My mission is to empower exceptional individuals and their ideas by backing them with capital and connections. I'm especially interested in early-stage companies transforming entire industries and addressing urgent social needs as they do so.”

Andrew Franks | Stanford University

“My mission is to advocate for and challenge our digital world to find new ways to courage all of us to move through life with passion, compassion, humor, and grace. To find ways to relate important perspectives, whether others’ stories or more humanitarian voices in STEM.”

Benjamin Liu | Stanford University

“My mission is to leverage my interests in biochemistry, machine learning, and mechanical engineering to develop tools that synthesize complicated lab processes and make medical treatments more accessible to the general public. I was grateful to grow up with science in my home and have been fascinated ever since to relentlessly research questions around me.”

Bernardo Burboa Quiroga | University of Texas, Austin

“My mission is to provide artists with the resources necessary to get their message out in the world. I am passionate about the journey musicians undergo in developing their work and growing a fanbase, and I am excited about creating the connections that can move this process forward.”

Bhavya Shah | University of Pennsylvania

“My mission is to help make healthcare more affordable and accessible for underserved communities around the world through investing in impactful companies. I believe that a healthy population is integral to fostering economic development.”

Bozhena Kulchyckyj | Boston College

“My mission is to share with others the enormity of the possible and create a barrier-breaking mindset. I hope to empower those around me to exceed their potential and eventually work towards closing the gap between the top 1% and bottom billions of the population.”

Caitlyn Chen | Columbia University

“My mission is to help bridge the gap in resources and guidance for underserved students in NYC's heavily inequitable education system. I would not have made it to where I am now without having supportive communities and role models around me, and I want to pay it forward.”

Charles Meng | Harvey Mudd College

“My mission is to identify the individuals and groups of people that I am deeply passionate about helping and be all-in to making their lives better. I hope to lead by example and show people that they are valued for more than either their mistakes or their successes.”

Claudia Meng | Yale University

“My mission is to help scale new technologies inclusively, so that fintech reduces the number of underbanked individuals, healthtech helps tackle unequal social determinants of health, and data aids vulnerable communities instead of profiting off of them. I see investing and being an operational partner as a key avenue into working on these issues in a meaningful and hands-on way.”

Courtney Reed | Claremont McKenna College

“My mission is to help transform investing industries into spaces that support women of color in both entrepreneurship and venture capital. I feel obligated to engage with young women and give back to the same programs that helped me get where I am.”

Dana Iverson | Princeton University

“My mission is to support both founders and funders re-wiring the world for the better. I hope to become the check-writer behind that impact one day!”

Isaac Snitkoff | SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany (CNSE)

“My mission is to utilize my advanced technical knowledge and passion, enabling the next generation of emerging technology, and naturally uplifting others.”

Jack McClelland | Boston College

“My mission is to work with under-appreciated technologies, industries, and people, and lend my help with my skills or later through mentorship. I want to find organizations building technologies that are leading society on a genuinely good path.”

Jacky Huang | Harvard University

“My mission is to help fellow first-generation low-income students and others from diverse backgrounds to access higher education and professional opportunities.”

Kavi Dolasia | UC Berkeley

“My mission is to use my previous experiences and knowledge to bridge the digital divide in local communities by taking action at the grassroots level.”

Kelly Zhou | University of Texas, Austin

“My mission is to be a driving force in guiding and empowering women around the world to take intentional actions, amplify their voices, and realize the power of being daringly unafraid to take the lead. Throughout my life, I’ve met intelligent women who’ve inspired and pushed me to pursue the impossible and believe that it’s my responsibility to encourage young women that they can make a difference in the world.”

Leodson Jean Baptiste | Stanford University

“My mission is to build a kinder society that is more egalitarian and democratic. Growing up watching all my family and friends struggle despite their best efforts instilled in me that our current systems are unfair and unforgiving.”

Linda Tong | Stanford University

“I will always be grateful for the people who nurtured my growth and supported my journey. My mission is to hold the doors they opened for those who come after me.”

Luke Cantor | University of Washington

“My mission is to create more opportunities for aspiring VCs from underrepresented backgrounds to break into the industry. In addition, I want to raise more exposure to founders and startups from emerging entrepreneurial cities across the world.”

LuLu Holland | UC Berkeley

“My mission is to create a sustainable future and tackle challenges in economic development. I want to inspire positive change and craft innovative solutions to improve communities around the globe.”

Matthew Tan | Cornell University

“My mission is to empower passionate builders who seek to re-imagine the society we live in for the better. I hope to create opportunities for those without the resources to execute their dreams.”

Nicholas Chan | UC Berkeley

“My mission is to support people and organizations that make it easier for everyone to learn, connect, and create. The world is changing at such a rapid pace that I feel it’s only right to innovate in ways that contribute to the betterment of our interconnected society.”

Prianka Subrahmanyam | UC Berkeley

“My mission is to make as many people happy as I can through my work, including myself. You can innovate as much as you want, but without being happy, it's not for any purpose.”

Rahul Rana | Rutgers University

“My mission is to build, support, and invest in moonshot companies — the heroic startups that solve seemingly impossible problems and advance science, technology, and humanity itself. I believe there is a moral imperative to address the grand challenges that we face and reduce human suffering, hence my passion for deeptech.”

Rithik Hosalli | University of Michigan

“My mission is to support my family. As a first generation American, my parents have sacrificed a lot to provide me with a privileged background and I want to return the favor.”

Sanketh Andhavarapu | University of Maryland, College Park

“My mission is to steer clinical decision-making towards improved patient outcomes by translating concepts from behavioral science and neuroeconomics into innovative digital tools. I hope to emerge as a leader in this relatively new field, and also play a role in health-tech innovation through venture capital.”

Tyrese Thomas | Columbia University

“My mission is to leverage entrepreneurship and investing to subvert inefficiencies in the financial-technology, retail, and social impact realms to ultimately advance public equity and to foment innovation. My immigrant background and its necessitation of resourcefulness and creativity have driven me to construct solutions to pressing problems from systemic marginalization to digitizing fashion's supply chain.”

Vishal Dubey | Duke University

“My mission is to empower those with unequal access to traditional institutions such as healthcare and banking through decentralization and technology. I never want to go a day without learning something new or having a positive impact on the world around me.”

Zara Ali | University of Virginia

“My mission is to ameliorate the wealth disparity in South Asia by improving access to and quality of education, especially financial literacy. I was incredibly close to my grandparents, and while they are no longer with me, the values, traditions, and cultures they shared with me influence my desire to contribute to the beautiful places they called home.”

EVCA Fellowship’s mission is to help undergraduate students interested in venture & entrepreneurship expand their knowledge, provide access to mentorship, and gain tangible experience.  Programming is spearheaded by our wonderful fellowship committee – Adam Dawkins, Cindy Chen,Courtney Chow,Kevin Lynch,Henry Magun, Gwendolyn Umbach and Kevin Wu, who are dedicated to providing guidance & support to our fellows.