Born and raised in Southern California, Kanchan, at a young age, had the opportunity to experience life outside of her home country through frequent trips to her family’s homeland of India, as well as other countries in Asia and Africa. Disturbed by the inequalities she observed during these travels, Kanchan arrived to college committed to understanding the significance of social power, and chose to major in Sociology. Upon graduating, in an effort to affect long-term social change, Kanchan worked with U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and California State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass before joining the national AmeriCorps program, Public Allies. Through this opportunity, Kanchan received an apprenticeship with After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an education nonprofit which provides free after-school programs to low-income, at-risk youth across the U.S. Through her work at ASAS, Kanchan had the privilege of helping thousands of youth foster a sense of self-esteem through exposure to activities that gave rise to self-sufficiency and prosperity. Kanchan is excited to take her skills and experiences to Central America as a Kiva Fellow and to learn about the effective and sustainable practices that microfinance can have in contributing to transformative change.