Zarko Palankov

I grew up in Eastern Europe at a time when my parents had no choice and spent their entire careers working in fields they didn’t care about. Twenty years later I held a university degree from a reputable U.S. college and could seemingly choose whatever career I wanted. And yet, I was jokingly telling friends that I would never have a job.

In a way, this is true today. I didn’t realize it a time, but as a fresh college graduate I held an inherent dislike for what I imagined the 9-to-5 traditional workplace to be like. Without having the vocabulary to describe it or the work experience to validate it, I sensed that I didn’t want to work because I wanted to do something meaningful instead. And the little I knew about the brave post-college world out there, there didn’t seem to be a way to do something meaningful at a 9-to-5 job.

So what did I do? First, I dallied with writing short stories, and beginning a novel at some point. (Czech Republic. Caligraphy. Protagonist was named Pavel.) Then I delayed the inevitable by going to grad school. And after grad school came the financial crisis and somewhat unrelatedly I co-founded a nonprofit in language education. I am not even sure how. It just happened. I serendipitously created an opportunity for myself to do something meaningful all the while using some of my strengths.

I am good at languages and love learning. I like the challenge of figuring out how to do new things. (I liked the challenge of figuring out how to do accounting, but boy, did I dislike doing the accounting.) And most importantly, I thrive in connecting in a deeper way with people from different backgrounds and diverse perspectives.

My interests range from music to entrepreneurship. I am also interested in movies, writing, and travel.

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