Meet Arhan Barve | President of the Junior Economic Club of Atlanta | Economics Competitor, Researcher, and Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Arhan Barve and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Arhan, what matters most to you?
Reliability.

That single word matters most to me. Over the past few years, I’ve worked with hundreds of people—on competitions, club initiatives, and community projects—and the single constant separating success from scramble was whether people could be relied on.

Reliability is also reciprocal. I depend on others; they depend on me. That mutual expectation builds trust, and trust is the infrastructure of any functioning team. It shows up in small, concrete habits: clear updates, realistic commitments, follow-through. It’s answering a message the same day; owning a missed deadline and fixing it; showing up for the meeting you agreed to lead.

I try to set that standard—by communicating early, by underpromising and overdelivering, and by treating others’ time as seriously as I treat my own. Doing so doesn’t create drama; it creates predictability, which lets teams scale their work and ideas actually ship. In short: reliability makes collaboration possible, and collaboration is absolutely essential to make progress happen.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Junior Economic Club of Atlanta is a 501(c)(3) that connects motivated high-school students with industry professionals—real people doing real work in finance, business, and economics. I currently serve as President of the organization, and we prioritize hands-on opportunities.

What sets JEC apart is how deeply embedded we are in the real world. Our programming is designed around actionable opportunities: speaker offices that become mentorships, events that lead to internships, and workshops that teach applicable skills. We’ve also built a strong alumni network; members of past cohorts now attend top-five universities and return to mentor current members about college admissions and open doors for career opportunities.

Getting here wasn’t easy. It took years of relationship building—hundreds of cold emails, dozens of follow-ups, and the hard work of coordinating large-scale events.

I’ve personally noticed that people respond to consistent competence and humility. We showcased our genuine passion for Economics, and professionals noticed: we had more successful events, partnerships, and JEC Atlanta grew noticeably.

What I want people to know is that JEC is one of the largest student-led economics organizations in the country, and we use that scale to give students genuine professional experience. It has shaped me—professionally and personally—and we exist to pay that opportunity forward.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Atlanta has a rhythm that feels different from cities like New York or Miami. It blends Southern charm with a modern, global energy, and that balance is what I’d want a best friend to experience.

We’d start in the heart of the city—Downtown and Midtown. These areas carry the pulse of Atlanta: Centennial Olympic Park, the Coca-Cola Museum, the Georgia Aquarium. Midtown and Buckhead would set the stage for food—Atlanta is a city of cuisines, and you can find anything from Mediterranean to Mexican to classic Southern comfort food.

Beyond the attractions, though, some of Atlanta’s best-kept treasures are its green spaces. The parks scattered across the city give you a side of the city most visitors overlook.

What excites me about showing someone Atlanta is that it isn’t one-dimensional. If you look beyond the surface, there’s so much to Atlanta, and I’d be proud to show it off.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My environment—the people and places that surround me—deserves this shoutout.

I don’t mean one mentor or a single coach. I mean the whole ecosystem: my family who lets me take big swings, my friends who hold me to higher standards, my competitors who force me to get better, and the teachers and coaches who keep expectations clear and high. My school, Lambert High School, is especially important to me; it’s instilled a culture of drive and discipline that keeps me “in the game.”

I really believe you become the sum of the five people you surround yourself with. That’s been true for me. I’m grateful—not just for individual favors, but for a community that challenges me, steadies me, and expects more. So this shoutout goes to that collective: my environment. I owe where I am to them, and I try every day to pay that forward.

Website: https://jecatlanta.org

Instagram: @arhanbarve

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/arhanbarve/