Meet the Trading Team!

The trading team hails from all parts of the globe but they have one common bond that unites them together in this project – a desire to support the elderly. They each have their own personal story of an elderly family member who has had to endure the challenges of growing older and hope that this project will provide them the opportunity to give back at a time when they cannot be close to their love ones.

Mali Granot is a mid-career student, from the Israeli public health sector. She feels that respecting the elders is a fundamental value that all societies should cherish. She is excited about the project and sees it as a way to give back to the community that welcomed her so nicely this year.

Divya Varma is a final year student in Public Administration from India. She misses her 92-year old grandmother who is back home and felt that helping the residents of Youville will be a great way to give back in some way.

James “JT” Merchant is a career U.S. Naval Intelligence officer who is enrolled in the one-year mid-career Master of Public Administration program at the Harvard Kennedy School. This past year has provided him the opportunity to spend unexpected time with his father-in-law, who currently resides in Cambridge and was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

Gatien Bon connected to the Youville project thinking of his grandmother, in a French similar institution with Alzheimer and Parkinson. Seeing such a project take place would bring joy to the residents and he wants to bring this here.