Internship Bank Founder Debolina Saha Narayanan named Elliott School Graduate Fellow

Most of you know Debolina Saha Narayanan as either an international capital markets attorney or the founder of Internship Bank, which provides female students coming from financially challenged backgrounds and lesser known colleges internship opportunities.

But last month, Debolina added a new line to her CV -- Elliott School Graduate Fellow of George Washington University. She begins studying for her Masters in International Policy and Practice (MIPP) in January. The MIPP program prepares mid-career professionals like Debolina for strategic leadership roles in the international policy field. For context, Foreign Policy ranked the Elliott School of International Affairs as the 7^th best in the world for international relations in 2018.

In a letter discussing Debolina's admission (a copy of which Bar and Bench holds on record), MIPP Program Director Matthew Levinger says Debolina is joining a club that includes some very distinguished female professionals from India and other South Asian countries who have previously studied for the MIPP degree.

Saudamini Mohan (class of 2019) successfully built on her studies at George Washington University to transition from a career in private wealth management at a major international bank in Mumbai to working for a leading international development organization in the Washington, DC area. Similarly, Arifa Khalid (class of 2005) went on to serve as a Member of the National and Provincial Parliament in Pakistan from 2008 to 2018. She is now the Director of World Voice, a think tank she founded to work on issues of climate change, gender equity, education, health and poverty eradication.

“Life is not linear, so how can our careers be?” is how 38-year-old Debolina responded to our question on why she decided to join the Elliott School of International Affairs at an age when most professionals would be uncomfortable to shift careers.

“I'm proud of what I've accomplished," Debolina added. "But these past few years have shown me how disconnected I am from the societal changes I most want to affect -- and the legacy I want to leave behind. I want to learn how to shape and influence policy globally to help create a better world for women. I want my activism to lead to societal and policy changes for women---- and that’s why I decided to join the Elliott School”.

Debolina's path from that of a NUJS graduate to shaping global policy to both protect and empower women didn’t follow a conventional route. But it's precisely because she ‘did not’ take a straight line path to this point that we believe she is in position to succeed.

As a capital markets attorney at top law firms including Allen & Overy, Dorsey & Whitney (both in Hong Kong) and Ashurst (in London), Debolina learned that work ethic, determination, leadership, diplomacy and communication skills were just as important as knowing how to structure billion-dollar debt deals.

She says, “As an international capital markets dual qualified attorney, I've picked up some useful knowledge and skills. I've learned how to negotiate and structure debt securities deals worth millions of dollars, influence top executives and shape their thinking, and learned how to deliver results under immense pressure-----all of which skills I am confident will help me in my next career move to bring about policy changes”.

Debolina says she “learned that women face unique challenges that their male counterparts never have to deal with. And how a woman navigates those obstacles successfully determines just how far she can advance in her career”. In fact, those were the very experiences that led her to start Internship Bank, which to date has already helped secure more than 255 internships for female students and awarded scholarships to 14.

She stresses, “And while Internship Bank has been my first quest for bringing about gender diversity at work places in India, it won't be my last project ”.

We have no doubt that Debolina will put her degree in international affairs to good use. And we hope Debolina’s journey helps many more law students to break stereotypes in career progression.