When Charishma was awarded the Future of Finance Scholarship, it recognized more than an academic promise. It was an honor to her service to women long before joining the UC Berkeley Haas Master of Financial Engineering (MFE) Program: a determination to close the gap that keeps women out of finance.
Charishma obtained her undergraduate degree at IIT Madras majoring in Civil Engineering. During that time, Charishma led a 30-member team delivering financial literacy and entrepreneurship workshops in schools, covering budgeting, risk management, and problem solving. She later expanded the initiative through virtual sessions for women, reaching over 100 participants. In October, she will be starting her internship at Point72 as a Quantitative Researcher. A true embodiment of Beyond Yourself, she came to UC Berkeley to advance her career and uplift others who aspire similar financial paths.
Uplifting Women in Financial Literacy
Financial literacy has always been deeply personal to me. Back in India, I taught schoolchildren the basics of budgeting and investing, equipping them with concepts and skills that can shape an entire life. Over time I noticed something harder to teach away: a persistent gap in personal finance knowledge between men and women. So I began running sessions built specifically for women, meeting people where they were and treating financial confidence as a skill anyone can learn.
The deeper I went, the clearer the pattern became. In the workplaces I knew, the number of women thinned sharply as we looked at the top of the ladder, especially in finance. I firmly believe that talent was not the problem, but an access to mentorship and early encouragement. The gap being so observable, inevitably led me to spend my career helping close the gap.
Advice
My advice to anyone eyeing a leap into a field that still skews male is simple. Know why you want to be there from the very start, find your mentors early, and lift others as you rise. There is no skill difference between genders. Believe in yourself, and go for it. I took that leap myself, and now my goal is to make the next one easier for the women coming after me.
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