“Coming together is a beginning, staying together
is progress, and working together is a success.”
Asmita Shrestha
Asmita has been actively working in the field of community upliftment for more than five years through different projects of national and international organizations. She has a sharp mind and understands how to manage the funds impeccably. Ms. Shrestha, having Masters in Business Studies joined as a core team of IofC Nepal in mid-2021. Since her enrollment, she has been a vital member in planning, organizing, and managing administrative tasks of ongoing programs across the country.
Begita Adhikari
Begita Adhikari came across IofC in the year 2019 when she attended the conference “Building trust- Breaking Barriers” held in Eastern Nepal. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Agriculture from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. While in Nepal, she worked with Forest Action Nepal and was actively involved in bringing awareness about the health impacts of consuming food grown using chemicals. She was also engaged in an initiative of introducing the indigenous food of western Nepal to the capital city. She has taught the students pursuing a Diploma in Agriculture, in the Terai region of Nepal and closely worked with them to coordinate various demonstrations. Currently, she is working at a plant breeding company in Australia.
Bikash Thapa
Bikash is serving as CEO of Coalition for Training Research and Development Pvt Ltd (CTRaDe), Vice Secretary of Social Organization for Poverty Alleviation Nepal (SOPAN), and President of Youth’s UNESCO Club Nepal, and member of THE ALLIANCE FOR CHILD PROTECTION IN HUMANITARIAN. He is associated with Initiatives of Change Nepal since its establishment and has been contributing in different times through his expertise.
Jini Agrawal
Jini Agrawal has been associated with IofC since 2015 when she was a part of the Caux Scholar Program at Caux and the following year she joined the movement ‘Creators of Peace’. Jini completed her master’s studies in Media, Peace, and Conflict studies from UN-mandated University for Peace, Costa Rica, and has experiences working in Nepal and the US in media and international development.
Kamal Kandel
Kamal is part of the IofC Outreach Team, an initiative of IofC India where a group of volunteers from different cultures, religions, and communities come together to serve for the motto ‘Building a Caring World’ to the various parts of India and beyond in inter-generational teams. Kandel holds a Master of Philosophy in Peace and Conflict Transformation from The Arctic University of Norway. He also holds a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Masters in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Kamal is a member of the International Research Group on Reintegration (IRGR) a specialized research unit focused on the complex challenges involved in the social, political, and economic reintegration of ex-combatants. He has worked at the Secretariat for the Sri Lankan Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skill Development during the World Conference on Youth 2014. He has facilitated workshops on Restorative Justice that focused on social healing among conflict victims and other stakeholders in Nepal.
Keshab Dahal
Keshab came across Initiatives of Change in 2017 through Caux Scholars Program at Asia Plateau and joined the IofC Outreach Team after the program. He has more than ten years of experience in the field of peacebuilding from six countries where he has lived, studied, and worked. While he served as the Country director to Detroit2Nepal Foundation, he worked towards improving health and education services in the eastern hills of Nepal. He has studied Peace Research at the University of Oslo and worked with senior researchers from the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO).
He completed his Masters in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies from Nepal and Sri Lanka and Master of Philosophy in Peace and Conflict Transformation from The Arctic University of Norway. He is part of IofC India’s Outreach Team and travels across India and Nepal reaching out to individuals and various communities. He facilitates training on Trustbuilding and Ethics in Public Governance and has served two-term as a coordinator for ‘Initiating Change from Within to Beyond’, an eight-week training for young adults to become effective change-makers, at Asia Plateau.
Krishna Kaji K.C.
Krishna has more than ten years of experience working with the government as well as international NGOs. He has worked with the victims of the decade-long Maoist Armed conflict in Nepal. He served in the Local Peace Committee under the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Nepal. He also worked with World Vision International to support the people of the worst-hit rural districts by the 2015 Earthquake. His extensive involvement in peacebuilding, humanitarian assistance, and the development sector has supported several local communities to move ahead with greater hope and positivity. He also lectures undergraduate students in the Social Work Department of Ganeshman Sing College in Kathmandu. He loves to travel to new places, interacting and mobilizing community people for change and development. Krishna met with IofC in North East India during a five-day residential dialogue hosted by the IofC India Outreach team.
Mamta Shankar Joshi
Mamta has completed her Masters in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies from Tribhuvan University. She has worked as a school teacher in New Galaxy School for about five years. She was awarded the best teacher by Private and Boarding Schools’ Organisation, Nepal (PABSON) in 2017. She enjoys mentoring her students and guiding them in a better direction as well as getting to know their problems. She has worked in an online media organization called Civil Media and Research Centre Pvt. Ltd. as an Assistant News Editor. She has a passion to work for the empowerment of youth. Mamata was part of the first IofC Nepal Dialogue in 2018.
Meena Sharma
Meena Sharma has over 15 years of expertise in development, peacebuilding, media, and human rights. Sharma is working as a Gender Expert with UNDP, to support in drafting the National Action Plan on the UNSCRs 1325 & 1820, with the Ministry of Home Affairs. She is also working as a mentor for the South Asian Young Women Leadership and mentoring initiatives funded by the Global Fund for Women. She had worked with the National Women Commission (NWC) as a Strategy development consultant, on the World Bank Group’s supported project, “The Integrated Platform for Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response in Nepal”.
She has worked as a Program Manager- Leadership and Governance in Search for Common Ground. She is also contributing as a Regional Coordinator of Creators of Peace (CoP) Asia where she is a lead facilitator for peace circles. She is the President of the Institute of Human Rights Communication Nepal, (IHRICON). She has done her Master’s in Business Administration.
Nabin Pokhrel
Pokhrel is from Lumbini, Nepal. He is a passionate filmmaker and a photographer. He loves following his passion to capture and express stories through the camera. He has worked as a motion/graphic designer in several leading IT companies of Nepal and as a Production head in one of the leading media companies in Nepal. He has his production company called ‘ Tasbir Productions ‘. He has been working with IofC Nepal since 2019. He is a graduate of Initiating Change from within to beyond 2020 program, an eight-week Initiator’s program at Asia Plateau.
Puja Sah
Puja Sah is a youth women activist and an active social worker from Bardibas-Mahottari, Nepal. She is perusing her bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She has worked with numerous initiatives on social change supported by USAID, UNICEF, and Restless Development. Puja also has experience working as a Child Protection Officer in the Covid-19 emergency preparedness and response program funded by UNICEF.
She leads active youth groups in Nepal. Currently, she is serving as a Vice president of Jan Sahayogi Yuwa Sanjal and General Secretary of the Youth Association of Nepal (YAN), and Vice-secretary at Mahottari Youth Network. She is also the Province Coordinator for Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Nepal and Mahottari District coordinator at Nepal Bharat World Development Forum. Puja became an active IofC member since she attended the conference “Building trust- Breaking Barriers” held in Eastern Nepal in 2019. Puja also has experience working as a Child Protection Officer in the Covid-19 emergency preparedness and response program funded by UNICEF.
Rabindra Kumar Mahato
Rabindra is from Bhangaha, Mahottari. He is pursuing a bachelor’s in Rural development and sociology. He is the president of Team Rupantaran Nepal and the treasurer of the Mahottari network of youth (MaNY Nepal). He has worked in the field of child protection, Child rights, and gender-based violence. As an active team member of IofC Nepal, Currently, he is supporting as the provincial coordinator.
Rajendra Senchurey
Rajendra Senchurey is a dedicated peacebuilder currently working with Nepal Peacebuilding Initiative in Kathmandu. He teaches conflict and peace studies for postgrads in the Mid-Western University as a Visiting Lecturer. He holds an MPhil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and a master’s degree in Conflict, Peace, and Development Studies from Tribhuvan University. He has a decade of experience in the field of interfaith dialogue, non-violence, conflict resolution, youths, sub-national governance, and transitional justice. He has worked in these areas under several national and international fellowships including the ones from UNESCO, KAICIID, ICNC, VLIRUOS, and FK Norway.
He regularly writes in Nepal’s leading national dailies as a freelance contributor. He is a Global Peace Ambassador for 2020- 2022, awarded by Global Peace Chain as well as an IEP Peace Ambassador 2020 awarded by the Institute of Economics and Peace. As an intellectual from the Dalit community, he lives his life with a twin objective – to extirpate the caste system from Nepal and to promote sustainable peace in Nepal and beyond. He was part of the Caux Scholar Program in 2017.
Sabu Sharma
Sabu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Major English and Social Work from Golden Gate International College, Tribhuvan University. She did her internship in Activista, United Nations Youth and Student Association Nepal, Quick Volunteer and Association of Youth Organizations Nepal. Currently she is part of Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) issues to Human Rights organized by the Association of Youth Organizations Nepal. She is also involved in International Citizen Service (ICS) with Restless Development, Nepal. Sabu participated in the first IofC Nepal Dialogue in 2018 that was organized by IofC Outreach Team in Kathmandu.
Sanjay Chaudhary
Sanjay is part of IofC movement in Nepal since its first outreach program in 2018. He is based in Itahari, Eastern part of Nepal where he serves as the president of Youth Development Center and assistant Manager at Youth Resource Development & Training Center. He is also associated with the Youth Service Director of Rotary Club of Itahari. He has inspired and led youths for various social initiatives at local, regional, national, and international public forums, and conferences. He is also actively involved in the planning, coordination, and management of policy-making, advocacy actions, and campaigns. He is also the Committee Chair of Ankur Saving and Credit Cooperative Ltd.
Saroj Dhungana
Saroj Dhungana was part of the Asia Plateau Internship Program which is now known as Initiating Change from Within to Beyond at Asia Plateau in 2018. He is the founding chairperson of community radio, Radio Melamchi. He has done his Master’s in Mass Communication and Journalism from Tribhuvan University. He has worked as a communication officer in Save the Children Nepal. Saroj and his team have conducted several public hearings and social discussions programs in numerous communities of central Nepal. Saroj played a key role in establishing of IofC Nepal.
Sharmila Dhungana
Sharmila works as a Knowledge Management and Communications (KMC) Associate for the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Currently, her work involves communicating about climate change impacts on mountain communities in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. Before ICIMOD, she worked at a digital marketing agency as a content creator where her work involved helping banks, colleges, and e-commerce businesses to gain a stronger digital presence. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public health from the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Bangladesh. Sharmila was part of Caux Scholars Program at Asia Plateau in 2014.