Sunil Pticek-Damle is a co-founder of Mentorverse, an education-technology startup that virtually connects Chinese students aspiring to study in the United States with US-based mentors. Leveraging its innovative online model, Mentorverse aims to democratize information flows and access to human capital for Chinese students who have traditionally been served by unethical application agencies. His team’s long-term goal is to create a community of cross-cultural exchange that serves to strengthen US-China relations. Pitcek-Damle has been actively involved in China studies since studying in Beijing during the Fall of 2011. He previously worked in US-China commercial relations at the American Chamber of Commerce in China and wrote his award-winning senior thesis on transnational social movements in Tibet and Xinjiang.