IDEX Fellowship

Allison Gross

Allison graduated in May 2010, with a B.B.A from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, concentrating in Social Enterprise Management and Marketing. She actively helped with the development of the Social Enterprise @ Goizueta Program, bringing in a number of speakers, starting a bimonthly newsletter of global development issues, and advocating for the social enterprise management concentration as Director of Outreach with the Emory Economic Development Initiative. Allison has worked with many companies on marketing and communication strategy through internships and semester consulting projects. At Gray Matters Capital, she worked on internal and external communication strategy projects including the development of the company intranet site to increase functionality and employee adoption and creation of various marketing materials and a social media strategy. While at the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she assisted with finalizing their annual report, writing press releases, and creating marketing collateral.

Current Projects:

• Teacher development
• Lesson planning
• Teaching resources
• Teacher/Classroom observations
• Teacher evaluations/feedback
• Spoken English weekly seminars
• Financial record formalization
• Business and implementation plan
• Computer lab curriculum development
• APS network-wide career counseling program
• Bringing Junior Achievement programming to schools
• IDEX Cohort 1 video production
• Grant proposal and program pilot for summer school program for girls and mothers
• MCRIL Project: school rater/analyst and process consulting project

Averil Spencer

Averil graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Women’s and Gender Studies and a minor in Human Development and Education. She became interested in international development after assisting a professor with cross-cultural research involving American and Bosnian youth. She spent the summer of 2009 in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, as an assistant director of a multi-ethnic youth production of Shakespeare. In her senior year Averil chose to concentrate in gender and international development. The IDEX fellowship introduced her to social enterprise and the use of market-based solutions to problems faced by the world’s poor. After the fellowship, she would like to promote the concept of full economic citizenship for women and discover how emerging markets and education can provide stability for women.

Claudia Correa

Claudia is a 2009 graduate of Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, with a degree in business administration, specializing in international business, and a minor in Spanish. Born in Colombia, she lived in Canada and Mexico before moving to the United States, where she completed middle school through college. In 2006, she founded the first sorority at SIUE geared towards Latina women. During college she joined INROADS and spent two summers interning for Kraft Foods in both St. Louis and Atlanta. Upon graduation in 2009, Claudia joined the Kraft sales team where she worked for one year. Wanting to gain experience in a different field of work, pursue her philanthropic passion, and learn about different cultures, Claudia joined the IDEX team.

Current Projects:

• Impact assessment to develop vocational training program
• Mentorship program – Creating an association with the university so that university students can help tutor children and give career guidance to the older students
• Business and implementation plan
• GMC Project: Marketing concept paper and branding/marketing

Corin Deans

Corin, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, is a 2009 graduate of Oglethorpe University, majoring in economics with a minor in mathematics. After his undergraduate he completed two actuary exams, which covered the preliminary material for the SOA and the CAS designations. Having never left the United States before joining the IDEX Fellowship, Corin is discovering his appreciation for different cultural traditions while living and working in India. In the future, Corin plans to receive his PhD. in economics, studying econometric analysis of international or development models.

Current Projects:

• Financial record formalization
• Building up school infrastructure
• Business and implementation plan
• MCRIL Project: Data analysis for GMC school-rating system

Danny Landau

Danny graduated from Wesleyan University in 2010, with a degree from the College of Social Studies, an interdisciplinary social science program that combined history, government, economics and philosophy. His Honors Thesis attempted to bridge the thought of Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Camus in the hopes of finding a way to deal with what Immanuel Levinas called infinite moral responsibility. Outside of academics, Danny’s hobbies are traveling, learning new languages, meeting interesting people, and cooking. Working in a low-cost private school in India has presented many new challenges for Danny, while simultaneously providing him incredible perspective through which to learn about India, social enterprise, and himself. Two of Danny’s goals for the year are to create a chocolate version of the popular South Indian snack idli, and ride as many city buses from end-to-end as he can.

Current Projects:

• Implementation of ASELA (After School English Language Activities)
• School evaluations/feedback – teachers, students, and parents
• School management training
• Teacher enrichment programs
• Business and implementation plan
• MCRIL Project: school rater/analyst

Ember Melcher

Ember graduated from Oglethorpe University in 2009, with a degree in Economics and a minor in French. During college, she was a Civic Engagement Student Ambassador, economics research assistant and intern with Gray Matters Capital and the Carter Center. She worked in the Oglethorpe Office of Admission for one year before joining the IDEX Fellowship, where she now focuses on streamlining financial reporting systems, establishing a for-profit evening library, and assisting with school benchmark data analytics for Gray Matters Capital’s India office. In her free time, Ember enjoys reading novels, mispronouncing things in Hindi and trying to cook food from scratch with local ingredients.

Current Projects:

• School evaluations/feedback – teachers, students, and parents
• Library implementation
• English and teacher training
• Financial record formalization
• IDEX Cohort 2 recruitment
• MCRIL Project: Data analysis for GMC school-rating system

Ilana Shushansky

Ilana graduated with academic honors and as one of the 100 Senior Honoraria from Emory University in 2010, with a degree in Sociology and minor in Global Health, Culture, and Society. During college she was involved in the Student Coalition for Empowering Emerging Nations, interned at an AIDS support organization while studying abroad in Uganda, helped develop a pilot research study on refugee mental health with the Bhutanese refugee community in Atlanta, and interned with the International Rescue Committee working with their adult education department. She was also a member of the Emory Club Gymnastics team and coached gymnastics at the greater Atlanta YMCA. Ilana joined the IDEX Fellowship in hopes of adding new experiences and perspective to her passion for international sustainable development. In Hyderabad, Ilana enjoys navigating the public transportation system, tempting fate while crossing the street, and taking handstand pictures wherever she can.

Current Projects:

• Financial record formalization
• Computer curriculum development
• Extracurricular programming
• School Evaluations/Feedback – Teachers, students, and parents
• GMC symposium and leadership conference planning
• IDEX website development, marketing and Cohort 2 recruitment
• IDEX Cohort 1 video production
• Grant proposal and program pilot for summer school program for girls and mothers
• MCRIL Project: Rating reformatting

Jasmine Porter

As a recent graduate of Spelman College, and having worked with organizations like Breakthrough Collaborative and RESULTS, Jasmine has pooled her interest to focus on issues of economic stratification, public policy, and the idea of an emancipatory education. A believer in the power of the bottom of the pyramid, she took on the IDEX Fellowship in hopes that she could somehow move an underserved people to a place of sustainable progress. While most of her interests lie within the field of education, she understands that education causes and affects many other sociological issues, and to leave those other elements untouched would be detrimental to any given community’s growth. Her goal is to bridge the supply and demand gap between educational institutions and social businesses. She believes that the next major social business idea lies not in the minds of people like her, but in the minds of those individuals who make up the bottom of the pyramid.

Current Projects:

• Language lab
• School evaluations/feedback – teachers, students, and parents
• Library development
• Teacher observations and training
• Teaching of REM. Students
• IQRA Jubilee Festival planning and Jubilee competitions
• School owners meeting planning
• School Spelling Bee

Sanalluah Fathi

Sanalluah graduated from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analyst of India with a degree in business administration in 2010. During college, Sana was an active member of AIESEC, serving as the Vice President of Finance for Hyderabad’s chapter. He would one day like to head a micro-finance company and start his own private school for all socio-economic backgrounds.

Current Projects:

• Bringing junior achievement programming to schools
• Financial record formalization
• Business and implementation plan
• School evaluations/feedback – teachers, students, and parents
• Library development
• Donations and external funding development
• Vocational training
• IDEX cohort 2 recruitment
• MCRIL Project: school rater/analyst

Shanelle Ebanks

Shanelle graduated from Oglethorpe in 2010, with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. During her time at Oglethorpe, she worked in the Health Services, Residence Life, and Career Services Departments and was very active in the Center for Civic Engagement. Through Shanelle's work with the American Cancer Society, Lynwood Park Recreational Center, Hands on Atlanta and New Orleans, the P.A.L.S. mentoring program, and a number of other organizations, Shanelle was the recipient of Oglethorpe’s 2010 President's Citizenship Award. Shanelle has a passion for working with children, empowering them to dream, and believing that their dreams can become a reality. Shanelle aspires to equip children with the tools to lead mentally and emotionally healthy lives. Driven to affect change, she is embracing her current endeavor, in which she will gain further insight into the lives of children in India, which will be instrumental in affecting positive change.

Current Projects:

• Library development
• Language lab
• Personality development classes
• Marketing expansion
• SNAPS Photo Exhibit
• Enterprising schools annual report opening letter contest
• GMC Project: Marketing concept paper and branding/marketing

Yasmine McMorrin

Yasmine graduated from Spelman College in May of 2010, with a Bachelor of Economics and minor in Writing. Yasmine served as the Assistant Executive Director of The Baby and I Foundation, as a Lawyer Referral representative within the non-profit sector of the Atlanta Bar Association and as a Foundation Strategy Assistant to her family non-profit, The KAM Foundation. Yasmine has been in positions of leadership roles throughout her undergraduate career, serving as co-social chair for Senior Class Council; treasurer for Sophomore Class Council; and business manager for the Spelman Spotlight, Spelman’s newspaper. In addition, Yasmine was a Spelman College Civic Engagement Fellow, a 2009 Sutherland Scholar, a participant in Spelman’s pre-law program, and a mentor to elementary school students in Atlanta at F. L. Stanton and Herndon Elementary. Yasmine lives by the phrase, the sky is the limit, and is eager to continue her passion to serve and uplift the community.

Current Projects:

• Scholarship fund – funding opportunities for higher education
• Parent involvement market research
• Grant research
• Financial record formalization
• Business and implementation plan
• Science/math/computer lab development
• Library development
• Partnership with junior colleges for career development
• GMC Project: calendar/SNAPS exhibit and school rating-system enrollment