Meet The Team
SOMIL VINOD
Senior at Charlotte Country Day School
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I've moved a lot during my childhood so I've always understood the importance of having a network of support. Particularly, when I lived in India I experienced firsthand the lasting impacts of classist divisions due to the preexisting caste systems. After moving to Charlotte, I realized that a way to alleviate such lasting poverty was to create a single-city platform that fostered socioeconomic development and had a lasting impact on the city.
RAUNAK MANDAL
Senior at Charlotte Country Day School
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I helped start RISE50 as a way to give back to the city I grew up in. I have witnessed firsthand the effects of having connections in the world, as both my parents are immigrants who came to this country with very little. The social capital that my parents have built since they arrived allowed them to be successful, and in turn, it allows me to be successful. Through RISE50, I hope to bring change to Charlotte and make it a more desirable place to live for our future generations.
JANANI SUNDARAM
Senior at Charlotte Country Day School
RISE50 is very important to me because it works towards offering a pillar of support to people who have endured generational setbacks regarding employment. Coming from a family of immigrants who first moved to the United States more than twenty years ago, forming a vast network of people who can support different endeavors has shown me how much I can learn and create.