Hello, World!

Hello, World! My name is Zoe Chandra and I am thrilled to be part of NDITech as an intern this summer. As a rising sophomore at Dartmouth College, I have been able to explore a variety of academic disciplines. I have enjoyed taking courses in anything from computer programming to public policy to global poverty. The multi-disciplinary and integrative nature of NDI’s work attracted me to this internship, as NDI provides an environment where my many interests intersect.

As the political stage of the US, DC attracts people of different cultures and political backgrounds. Growing up in the DC area, I found myself fascinated by topics like justice and government from a young age. I competed on my high school’s debate team as a teenager—debating issues such as the Refugee Crisis or UN Peacekeeping. My accomplishments on my high school’s debate team led me to pursue an internship with the Richmond World Affairs Council during the summer after my junior year in high school. During that internship, I had the opportunity to write about current global issues for the Council’s website and expand its social media platform.

Continuing to explore a variety of fields, one year later I decided to take an introductory computer programming class in C++ for fun over the summer. While I never imagined doing more coding in college, I found myself in yet another introductory computer programming course in Python during the fall of my first year.

Outside of these academic interests, I am passionate about education and expanding education opportunities worldwide. As the president of my high school’s Room to Read club, I worked to improve literacy in developing countries. Since then, at Dartmouth I have found a hobby teaching about world cultures in low-income elementary schools in rural America.

When I have some down time, I enjoy spending time outdoors, listening to music, and grabbing a meal with friends.

I am excited to be part of the technology team here at NDI and get involved in fields like gaming for governance and bots for government service delivery. I can’t wait to learn more about the field of Civic Tech!