Oral history interview with Indra Acharya
Title
Oral history interview with Indra Acharya
Description
Indra Acharya discusses the COVID-19 pandemic, including its impact on his education and career as well as his own experience becoming ill with COVID. He describes how the pandemic influenced various career decisions ranging from his eventual job as an academic coach at Harvard to pursuing local opportunities in Vermont. In particular, he describes the launch of the Covid Equity Fund through the Vermont Community Foundation, work for the Vermont Democratic Party during the 2020 presidential election, and collaboration with Broadband Equity Now on addressing broadband inequity in rural Vermont. He also talks about other topics, such as misinformation surrounding COVID vaccines in former refugee and immigrant communities and student protests against racism in the Winooski school district, especially considering his experiences as a former student in Winooski.
Indra Acharya was born in a refugee camp in Nepal. He and his family resettled in Vermont in 2012, and he lived in Essex Junction at the time of this interview. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Georgetown University and was studying educational policy and management at Harvard Graduate School of Education at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually earning his Master of Education from Harvard. Following a virtual graduation ceremony in 2020, he moved back to Vermont to live with his family. He was involved in the design and implementation of a number of statewide programs and projects, including the Covid Equity Fund for Vermonters without documentation administered through the Vermont Community Foundation.
Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.
Indra Acharya was born in a refugee camp in Nepal. He and his family resettled in Vermont in 2012, and he lived in Essex Junction at the time of this interview. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Georgetown University and was studying educational policy and management at Harvard Graduate School of Education at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually earning his Master of Education from Harvard. Following a virtual graduation ceremony in 2020, he moved back to Vermont to live with his family. He was involved in the design and implementation of a number of statewide programs and projects, including the Covid Equity Fund for Vermonters without documentation administered through the Vermont Community Foundation.
Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.
Date
2024-04-23
Subject
Source
Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project
Identifier
AudioFileCOVID-003
Format
MP3
WAV
Type
Audio file
Rights
Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.
Interviewer
Wingerson, Amber
Interviewee
Acharya, Indra
Duration
1 hr., 1 min., 56 sec.
Repository
Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4211
Collection
Citation
“Oral history interview with Indra Acharya,” Digital Vermont: A Project of the Vermont Historical Society, accessed April 6, 2025, https://digitalvermont.org/vtcovid/AudioFileCOVID-003.