Profiles in Service-Learning: Parth Shah

Parth Shah, a current NYLC Youth Advisory Council mentor, freshman finance major at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and Martin Luther King, Jr. scholar, is no stranger to leadership and community service. Throughout high school, while serving as a YAC mentor for NYLC and through his participation in the National Youth Leadership Training and Summer Fellows program, he has grown to understand the value of “paying it forward.”

And he’s hanging onto these ideals in college. In Jan., Shah along with more than 50 other NYU Martin Luther King, Jr. scholars travelled to New Orleans for a week of sanding, mudding drywall, and painting rooms ― part of the St. Bernard Project. These newly built homes are for people who cannot afford to have their homes rebuilt by contractors.

“The amount of work we did is not going to go away after we leave ... We’re making impact that will stay there forever,” said Shah, comparing this project to others he’s experienced.

Shah believes his passion for community engagement is well aligned with his academic pursuits in finance. While much of his upbringing and many of his high school activities related to service-learning and leadership, Shah explains that he wants to bring these approaches to social entrepreneurialism.

As the cofounder and president of Kiva High School — a youth-led branch of the microfinance nonprofit Kiva.org founded by his cousin, Premal Shah — Parth hopes to continue learning about ways to promote businesses that contribute to a greater good. His position on State Farm’s Youth Advisory Board, which is responsible for administering $5 million in grants to student-led service-learning projects, further complements these aspirations.

At N.Y.U., he is most grateful to have found an environment that fosters this type of innovation. “I’m fortunate to have these resources,” he says.

As he goes through his second semester in college, he hopes to continue his balance of studying and community involvement.

“I really want to make sure that element of doing service and service-learning, whether [or not] that’s through the university, stays with me as I grow older.”