Saswathi Natta
| snatta@umd.edu | snatta@alumni.princeton.edu |
EDUCATION
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
June 2013
Certificate in South Asian Studies and Major in Electrical Engineering
Social Science coursework includes Politics in India, Muslim South Asia, South Asian Cultures, Inequality: Class
Race & Gender, Religion and Politics in India, Special Topics in Entrepreneurship: Global Challenges, High Tech
Entrepreneurship
Global Seminar – Religion and Politics in India
Summer 2010
Researched India’s rich historical and political background through Art & Architecture. Field visits included:
Ajanta & Ellora caves, churches in Goa, temples in Madurai, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri & Delhi
Technical coursework includes Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Computer Science, Electrical Signals &
Circuits, Networks, Semiconductors, Photonics & Light wave communications
Final Engineering Independent work: “Design of Spiral Loop Antennas Interfacing with Thin Film Circuitry”
MIDDLESEX COUNTY ACADEMY (Highschool)
June 2009
GPA: 5.175/5.175; Salutatorian; Debate Team president, Yearbook Head Editor & National Honors Society
STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES:
SAT I: M – 800; V – 750; W – 770; Math II: 770, Math I: 750, Biology: 750, Chemistry: 730;
GRE: M –163, V –162
RESEARCH/WORK EXPERIENCE
LOK FOUNDATION
New Delhi, India
Research Associate
Aug 2014 – Present
 Create survey instruments working with a UPenn research team, focused on social and political issues related
to gender, caste, religion, traditional practices, election issues, and economic and political perceptions of
progress
 Liaise with survey implementation agency, the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy, to receive high
quality, complete data, as well as clean and store data for future use by general public
 Analyze data using Stata tabulations and correct for sample issues using weightages in order to understand
distribution of answers in the context of demographic factors such as religion, caste, income group, etc.
 Create written content for press releases, conferences, scholarly articles, newspaper publications, the
company blog and roundtable discussions with leading scholars
LOK CAPITAL FELLOWSHIP
New Delhi, India
Placed at Ujjivan Microfinance as a Financial Analyst
Aug 2013 – Aug 2014
(Lok Capital is an impact investment fund, funded in part by the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank)
 Created, standardized & implemented all of Ujjivan’s internal Pan-India Credit Department management
information reports for both Group and Individual Loans in order to meet Risk Analysis guidelines
 Gained a detailed understating of Ujjivan’s operations and expertise with content such as employee and
branch error rates, collections trackers, branch performance rating, credit bureau reports with regional and
national level competition and loan overlap data as well as customer quality markers, deviation loan trackers
and product diversity reports
UPENN CENTER FOR ADVANCED STUDY OF INDIA (CASI)
Sept 2012 – Mar 2014
Research Assistant for Prof. Devesh Kapur
 Interviewed individuals for Prof. Devesh Kapur’s upcoming book on the Indian Diaspora in America, asking
about their lives, goals and reasons for staying in America, in order to identify the diversity of the IndianAmerican population and understand how caste effects play out after leaving India
 Edited and compiled academic papers to publish as a book from a CASI higher education conference
 Analyzed data on Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises from the Third Indian National Census as a joint effort
for CASI as well as Princeton’s South Asian studies thesis (described below)
Saswathi Natta
| snatta@umd.edu | snatta@alumni.princeton.edu |
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Summer 2013
Research Assistant for Prof. Rahul Sagar
 Researched and perused archived Indian Lok Sabha records in ReCAP to identify parliamentary sessions and
discussions pertinent to the Indian constitution
 Identified and scanned books and publications relevant to Prof. Sagar’s research on the Indian constitution
and its amendments over time
FINAL PAPER IN SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Fall 2012 – Spring 2013
Topic: “Analysis of MSMEs in India to Identify Trends in SC (Scheduled caste/ex-untouchables) Representation
across Companies, Income group, Industries and States”
Advisers: Prof. Devesh Kapur (University of Pennsylvania), Prof. Isabelle Clark-Deces (Princeton University)
 Analyzed a dataset from the Indian census of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises to identify caste or
industry dominance among entrepreneurs and see what effect different socio-political environments had.
 Used Stata for preliminary tabulations and used statistical methods to compare proportions of various caste
group owned companies with caste proportions in the total population
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
New Delhi, India
Summer Intern
Summer 2012
 Learned firsthand accounts of work in law, the Indian administrative service and Criminal investigators
 Read and analyzed causes & credibility of human rights violations cases being processed
 Wrote a final analysis paper on current standing of Human Rights Cases related to Dalits & Caste violence
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
UDYAM, English Teaching Volunteer
Sept 2014 - Present
 Teach English grammar and conversational skills to underprivileged fifth and sixth grade students in New
Delhi
PRINCETON ALUMNI SCHOOLS COMMITTEE, Interviewer
2013 – Present
 Serve as link between Admissions Committee and applicants to Princeton by interviewing applicants to
Princeton’s undergraduate classes
SUSTAINED DIALOGUE AT PRINCETON, Vice President
2009 – 2013
 Moderated dialogue groups that consisted of students with different views and identities, addressing social
issues and campus stereotypes such as divisions in friend groups and feelings of exclusion based on race,
class, income background, major choices, gender, religion, etc.
 Helped lead positive change on Princeton’s campus by implementing action campaigns such as “DeStereotype Day” and “Mental Health Awareness week,” as well as by building friendships across social lines
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Princeton Bhangra Team (Competitive dance team member, 2011-2013), Society of Women Engineers (Chair of
Industry Outreach, 2010 – 2011), Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding (Undergrad Fellow,
2009 – 2011), Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (Research Assistant, 2008-2012)
SKILLS
Statistical: Stata, Matlab, R (basic)
Technical: C, C++, Java, MPLAB, Microbasic, PSpice, basic digital circuits
Languages: English (native), Telugu (native), Hindi (basic), Spanish (basic)