Student spotlight: Vishal Parkash ‘27 spends the summer as investment intern, public policy fellow, and conference presenter

How do Bard College Berlin students spend their summer? Vishal Parkash ‘27 is keeping busy with a wide array of activities reflecting his interests in inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship in the fields of technology, finance, and public policy. Vishal is completing an internship at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and its startup partner Silicon Allee as a venture capitalist analyst while also serving as a Public Policy New Voices Fellow with the Salzburg Global Seminar. In addition, he recently presented his civic engagement project at the Get Engaged Conference held at Bard College Berlin.

How do such a broad range of interests fit together? By encouraging students to consider the interplay between fields that are often considered distinct and separate, Bard College Berlin’s liberal arts curriculum uniquely prepares students to pursue wide-ranging experiences. Vishal explains, “Finance provides the means to support startups and spread financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills. Public policy creates an environment where these innovations can thrive, ensuring equal rights and opportunities. With the shift towards AI and deep technology, tech acts as a catalyst, offering solutions to issues like financial inclusion, marginalized communities’ rights, and basic education.” These interests are reflected in the projects Vishal is pursuing this summer.

The Salzburg Global Seminar’s Public Policy New Voices Fellowship theme this year is “inclusive democracy.” As a fellow, Vishal’s aim is to promote inclusive education and advocate for minority rights. He explains, “My experiences growing up with dyslexia and founding KONNECT, an organization dedicated to combating disability discrimination, have fueled my passion for creating accessible educational environments.” He is working to influence policy changes that prioritize accessibility, cater to diverse learning needs, and promote awareness and acceptance of disabilities. Specifically, he seeks to advocate for the integration of sign language curricula in schools, the implementation of teacher training programs, and the organization of a global disability summit to discuss the rights of persons with disabilities, an issue that he notes is lacking awareness in his home country of Pakistan. The fellowship program will culminate in an in-person meeting in Salzburg, Austria, and also consists of summits in Berlin and Norway throughout the summer.

Vishal is also completing an internship at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and its startup partner, Silicon Allee, as a venture capitalist and research analyst. In this role, he is helping with investment decisions, innovation, and market potential of deep tech startups. “I am working with new startups everyday,” he says. “My highlight has been working with technologies like drones and AI chatbots that have blown me away with how far advanced they can be.”

Vishal describes the path to these opportunities as a “hard-fought battle.” He began looking for internships and summer opportunities in January, sending applications to many different organizations involved in tech and investment. As part of this research, he came across the work of Silicon Allee and Fraunhofer HHI, and attended two of their events hosted in Berlin. Through this networking, Vishal connected with the CEO and “had amazing conversations,” learning of a potential opening at the organization. After a rigorous application process and interviews, he received the summer position.

Students like Vishal reflect Bard College Berlin’s liberal arts values by pursuing a wide variety of opportunities across a diverse range of interests.

By: Sophia Paudel, Bard College Berlin Communications

Post Date: 07-04-2024