Meet the Community

Rohan Parakh

Problem

India is among the fastest growing economies and has the world’s largest youth population. Yet, underemployment remains at an all-time high. The job market for young graduates is rife with search-matching friction caused by imperfect information and coordination failures. Hiring processes remain intensive, costly and lengthy due to opacity in college reputations, inability to screen for personality traits, and absence of alternative credentials. Thus, young graduates do not get placed gainfully and fail to realize their full potential.

Pathway

Rohan wants to solve the problem of hiring by building on the success of job referrals and platforms that leverage the “wisdom of the crowd” phenomenon. He is building a reputation system, Two Cents, that crowdsources referrals from peers and supervisors to create reputation score for candidates. This platform will make identifying talent easier for employers and match candidates to best that they are best suited for.

Person

Rohan received his MPA-ID from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2018 and is committed to empowering youth to unlock their full potential. While at college, he managed a nationwide campaign for Teach For India and led citywide operations for Avanti Fellows, a social enterprise that provides disadvantaged students with after-school mentoring. Rohan has worked with TechnoServe, MIT JPAL and the United Nations. He studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. For his social enterprise, Two Cents, Rohan has been part of Harvard i-Lab’s Venture Incubation program, SDSN Youth’s Investment Readiness program, and a semifinalist in the “The Geneva Challenge 2017.”

Role

Year

2016