Co-founder of the Carolina Wealth Initiative — teaching financial health across campus and community
Harshil is a University of South Carolina student and one of the founders of the Carolina Wealth Initiative, an organization teaching financial health to high school students and nonprofit members. As the son of Indian immigrants, he's channeling his family's experience into a campus-wide mission to spread financial literacy beyond the business school.
"Financial health is supporting others and providing them the tools to do well in a constantly changing economy and world. As someone with immigrant parents from India, I was able to see how financial health helped change their lives, causing my sister and I to be given more. The ability to give back to others and help change at least 1 life out of poverty in underserved areas would be my biggest accomplishment."
As a son of Indian immigrants, my family's conditions weren't the best growing up as we lived in New Jersey. My parents did not make the most money but what was devastating was the spending my parents did, without saving much. Moreover, the savings were through a regular account which barely accrued any interest. This made me think about the situation my parents were in could be similar to situations of various families. That is why I helped create the Carolina Wealth Initiative on my campus — because I wanted to promote change in any way possible.
A financial health barrier in my community is a lack of financial reserves where many people do not have enough savings to allocate to themselves, emergencies, and their future. As a college student, I'm able to see firsthand how many individuals live around Columbia, SC. Many people living in assisted housing in the area are in the situation they are in due to not properly budgeting and putting money in the right types of investment tools. I can truly see how this can be mitigated.
I'd bring workshops and lessons to the University of South Carolina in all departments — not just the business school — and host a campus-wide event where students can see how to handle their finances. I want to function as a hotline for individuals in certain areas, collaborating with other ambassadors to provide fast and efficient advice to local residents. We have a Student Success Center on campus that gives money and academic advice; partnering with them could lead to a better reach to all students, regardless of major.
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