Sharran and I were having a working lunch today with LDP Directors Neeta Moye and Melinda Allen at Mellow Mushroom. Our focus: How do we turn Project Pyramid, a student led initiative, into a world-class institution for Global Poverty Alleviation? While the emotional component has always been there, we have always needed to nail down what exactly our mission was and how we were going to execute on this.

The stress I have been experiencing about this strictly stems from the fact that we have revisited this conversation a thousand times this past year and, each time we do, we add more to the program making it larger and more difficult to manage. After this lunch, I realized that the problems I’ve been facing with Project Pyramid actually show the great potential of this program.

Neta and Melinda were explaining to us that Project Pyramid should be embraced as a dynamic program, constantly adapting to the new problems, trends and opportunities the world will face as the fight to alleviate global poverty continues. Accepting this has opened my eyes to the possibilities that lie ahead of us. The idea that, when I leave this school in May, Project Pyramid will continue to grow and take shape in the hands of rising second years and incoming first year MBAs is amazing. Finally, I am understanding the impact that our program could have on Vanderbilt’s campus and on the world.

While our fellow classmates are studying poverty in Hyderabad, India, Sharran and I will continue to build this program into one that we can all be proud to be a part of. If any of you are interested in helping or learning more about Project Pyramid please continue to visit this site (we are updating it daily) or feel free to contact me directly: rehan.choudhry.2007@owen.vanderbilt.edu