Empowerment through Education: A Global Engagement Fellow Builds Financial Literacy for Communities in Pakistan, Germany, and Beyond

By Vishal Parkash, Bard College Berlin ‘27

My journey into social impact and entrepreneurship began long before my time at Bard College Berlin, in Pakistan, where I launched Emprende — a grassroots initiative aimed at empowering women through financial literacy and entrepreneurship. It started with the simple belief that knowledge should be practical and accessible, especially for underserved communities.

Emprende: Assisting Migrant Communities with Financial Literacy

When I moved to Berlin, I brought my financial literacy mission with me. Emprende Berlin took shape through collaboration with local NGOs and migrant communities, continuing the same focus on financial literacy, practical education, and empowerment — but this time in a new context. Through partnerships and workshops, we helped participants navigate basic budgeting, business registration, and income generation in Germany.

One of the earliest sessions involved a migrant woman who was trying to open a tailoring business in Wedding but didn’t know how to pitch her venture to investors. After attending my session on effective pitching, she not only understood her business model better and was able to talk about it but was also empowered to dream bigger. Months later, she shared her portfolio with us, now offering sewing classes to other women in her community.

When I became an OSUN Global Engagement Fellow, the impact of Emprende expanded even further. I led six financial literacy workshops and spoke in classes across OSUN institutions, reaching over 100 participants and sharing the Emprende model with global peers. The fellowship amplified the vision, allowing it to grow both in scale and clarity.

REM: Rethinking Consulting, One Client at a Time 

While one-off workshops were valuable, I began to see a deeper need: sustained, student-powered support for small organizations. That’s how REM was born — a student-led consulting initiative I co-founded at Bard College Berlin and now lead as a National Program Director. It is designed to offer ongoing mentorship, resources, and industry connections to community organizations and entrepreneurs, while supporting female and marginalized communities' businesses and NGOs. 

At REM, we’ve worked with a range of clients — from a local Berlin cleaning business needing a simple pricing strategy, to a refugee-run dance studio looking to increase community outreach. Most recently, we collaborated with REDI School of Digital Integration, an NGO that empowers refugees and underserved communities through tech education. Our team worked on optimizing their impact page — but the real insight came from experiencing their mission firsthand, attending their events, talking to their students, and learning what “impact” really means to them. With this work we realized that consulting isn’t about telling people what to do. It’s about feeling their mission the way they do — and contributing with that same passion.

However, with success comes some doubt. Some clients doubted students could actually do serious consulting work, but REM proved otherwise. From operational strategy and communications to marketing and UX design, REM has helped over 500 clients over the last four years in 20+ chapters. These are just a few examples of the kind of community-powered work that’s possible when students are trusted to lead.

Launching a Bigger Vision

All of these experiences — from Pakistan to Berlin and beyond — are now fueling a bigger idea. I’m currently developing NextGen Launchpad, a global incubator designed to support student-led, impact-driven ventures. Launchpad aims to offer mentorship, project showcases, peer support, and collaborative learning across campuses that are part of the OSUN network. This is a vision shaped by real work on the ground and it’s growing, step by step.

My life vision has always been simple: to create systems that empower individuals through education, entrepreneurship, and civic action. I believe that the future belongs to those who are equipped not just with knowledge, but with practical skills, networks, and resilience to turn their ideas into action. My mission is to help build the structures that will make this possible — empowering not just individuals, but entire communities, for the long term. The work has already begun. And in many ways, it’s only just getting started.

If students, staff, or faculty are interested in working with the Launchpad, REM, or Emprende Berlin, reach out to Vishal Parkash at [email protected]. 

Post Date: 05-05-2025