Pranjal Pandya
He/Him
I am gay and I am a food safety and risk manager.//
I am Pranjal Pandya, an NRI currently navigating the intersection of Food Safety and Risk Management at the University of Parma.
Living and studying in Italy, I have learned to treat every professional interaction as a calculated risk management strategy. I don’t just study; I analyze how to leverage my technical background into broader, high-impact roles in consulting and analytics.
As a queer individual in both the traditional Indian diaspora and the rigorous, often conservative European STEM sector, I have learned that the system is not inherently built to support me. I face the challenges of job insecurity and the unique pressures of navigating international academia with no safety net. However, rather than retreating, I have become my own advocate. I view networking as a form of survival, consistently building a barter system of mutual value to create my own opportunities.