NEPAL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partnerships and Communications Associate
Bibek is most interested in supporting individual growth and capacity development. Before joining NLA, he was a part of the team that administered the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Programs in Washington DC, which supported professional development of secondary school teachers from around the world through educational and cultural exchanges. In the past, he has mentored "at-risk" high school students in an after school classroom in Vermont, USA. At NLA, he is most excited during a leadership course, when he can see participants gaining a deeper understanding of themselves, others, and the system and thus empowering themselves to tackle the challenge at hand. Bibek completed his undergraduate from Bennington College, USA, where he enjoyed studying interdisciplinary subjects within the Social Sciences, Public Action, and Performing Arts. He previously interned at Plan International Nepal and Center for Peacebuilding in Bosnia. Moving forward, he is excited to continue supporting leadership development of students in Nepal by forging partnerships with high schools and colleges and also innovating to expand NLA's reach and visibility, all the while developing his skills as a leadership coach.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Co - Founder of GlobalGiving
- Founder and CEO, Feedback Labs, Former Chairperson Ashoka Changemakers
Dennis Whittle is the co-founder of GlobalGiving, where he was CEO from 2000-2010. Currently, he is Director and Co-Founder of Feedback Labs. He has served recently as Executive Chairman of Ashoka Changemakers, Robin Richards Donohoe Professor of the Practice and Social Entrepreneur in Residence at UNC-Chapel Hill, Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, and Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development. He is the founder and President of The Whittle Group. Previously, Dennis was an economist at the World Bank (1986-2000), where he lived and/or worked for many years in Indonesia and Russia. His team there also created the Innovation Marketplace in 1998 and the Development Marketplace in early 2000. In 1984-85, Dennis worked for the Asian Development Bank and USAID in the Philippines, where he was an extra in one of Chuck Norris's best movies, "Missing in Action" (1984). In his formative years, Dennis was a short-order cook and busboy at several restaurants, including the late Oasis Restaurant in Leitchfield, KY and the late Porthole Restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC.
Diva Shrestha is passionate about developing the leadership capabilities of change-agents and believes that change is only effective if citizens from different generations, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds co-define the country's evolving perspectives. She is particularly interested in studying and identifying leadership practices that inculcate behavior and mindset change towards progress and impact. Her professional journey includes eight years of senior leadership roles in admissions and financial aid offices at Nazareth College, Bucknell University, and Colby College in the U.S. She served as a Board Member for Nepal ko Yuwa (Daayitwa U.S.) and co-led the Nepal Rising campaign. She has been fortunate to travel across four continents and looks forward to exploring Nepal. Since returning to Nepal in 2018 after spending 12 formative years in the U.S., she has been crafting her own leadership journey through the management of the Youth Engagement for Youth Employment Campaign and leading the Academy. She is taking this opportunity to understand the challenges and realities of the community that she calls home and reintegrate into the daily intricacies of life in Nepal. Along with ensuring the organization's growth, she also administers courses to high school students as a Coach and has worked as a Coaching Advisor for multiple courses. She has a Masters in Public Policy with a concentration in International Development and Education Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelors from Nazareth College in Rochester, NY.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Founder and CEO of Catalyst Technology
Dr. Prativa Pandey, Founder and CEO of Catalyst Technology, is a researcher and a science entrepreneur leveraging technological innovations to solve market problems in Nepal. She is actively involved in various advocacy campaigns for positive social change in Nepal and was recently nominated for WOW Women Achievers Award 2019 in Leadership Category. She often voices her thoughts in public domain through panel discussions, expert panels, speeches, and op-eds. Her diverse portfolio working with public and private sectors comprises research, entrepreneurship, education, leadership development, and intellectual property. She is also a Visiting Faculty at Research Center for Applied Science and Technology (RECAST), Tribhuvan University. She has almost 12 years of research and industrial experiences, including international publications and patents. She completed her M.S./Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University (US), Management Certificate from Kellogg School of Management (US), and B.S. Honors in Chemistry from Salem College (US).
Job Titles:
- Coach
- Executive
- Member of the Board of Directors
Dr. Pukar Malla has been leading parallel careers as a leadership coach, community organizer, and innovation specialist. As Founder and Executive Director of a leadership non-profit, Daayitwa, he has been organizing youth to lead innovative solutions in the government, business and civil society sectors. As a Former Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, he investigated and piloted frameworks for communities of innovators to lead change. As a Senior Innovation Policy Specialist at the World Bank, he supported the Indian, Chinese and Ghanaian governments to promote innovation and inclusive growth. Prior to that, he led technology designs at Intel, AMD, Silicon Graphics, and a Silicon Valley start-up, and secured 2 US patents. He received his Bachelors from Swarthmore College, with a focus on engineering and economics. He spent 3 years at Cornell, attaining a MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Business Management. He earned his MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. While at Harvard, he also led the university-wide Harvard Graduate Student Government as its elected President.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Dr. Shankar P. Sharma was appointed as the Ambassador of Nepal to the US on August 3, 2009. Previously, he was Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Nepal from 2002 to 2006. Dr. Sharma also worked as a consultant to the Constitution Committee on "Distribution of Natural Resources, Economic Rights and Public Revenue" in helping to draft the new Constitution of Nepal. He also served as a Professor of Economics at the Centre for Economic Development and Administration, Tribhuvan University in Nepal. In his long and distinguished career with the Government of Nepal, spanning over more than a decade, Dr. Sharma had extensive dealings with senior levels of donor governments, development agencies, NGOs and the corporate sector in policy dialogue, foreign aid, peace-building and development of the country. He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Hawaii.
Elina Thapa holds a Bachelor's degree in Development Finance from Kathmandu University and is currently pursuing her MBA in Finance from Pokhara University. In addition to this, Elina is also training to become an ACCA certified professional accountant. Immediately after graduation, Elina joined Deprosc Nepal as an Account and Data Handling Assistant and spent 9 months working in Sindhupalchowk. After that, she was the Finance and Admin Officer at Yonder Music Nepal, where she was a part of the core founding team and earned valuable experience working in a multinational team. Before joining NLA, she was involved with Daayitwa as the Finance Officer. At present, Elina heads the finance team and is responsible for all matters related to Finance. She is passionate about numbers.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Kedar Bhakta Mathema graduated from Tribhuvan University and entered the field of education as a lecturer at Tri-Chandra College, and the then College of Education in Kathmandu. In 1975, he joined the World Bank Mission as Senior Program Manager. Mr. Mathema left the World Bank in 1990, and until 1994 served as the Vice Chancellor of Tribhuvan University. In 1995 he was designated chairman of a high-level committee on youth affairs. From 1996 to 2003 he represented Nepal as Ambassador to Japan. An avid education reformer, education has always been his true calling.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Public Service Professional
Krishna Gyawali served Nepal's civil service in various positions almost for 30 years including as Secretary in the ministries of local development and environment and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. He retired as Secretary in the Ministry of Industry.Upon retirement in 2014, Mr. Gyawali worked as National Coordinator of Nepal for MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation, USA). Mr. Gyawali led all preparatory works on large investments in energy and transport infrastructure in Nepal between May 2015 and May 2016.Mr. Gyawali holds Master's degrees from Tribhuwan University and the University of Birmingham, UK. He also carries Sanskrit and law background. He was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in Economic Development at the Michigan State University, US. He has also attended an executive course on Leadership in Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. He once served UN missions in Cambodia, South Africa, East Timor and Kosovo as UN Volunteer. He has also credit of working as a BBC Nepali Service staffer from 1995 to 1996 in London.Mr. Gyawali is currently a freelance development consultant in capacity of a public service professional. He reads and writes mostly on issues related to political economy of development and governance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Professor, Harvard University, and Founder, Leading Change Network
Professor Marshall Ganz is a Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. In 1964, a year before graduating from Harvard College, he left to volunteer as a civil rights organizer in Mississippi. In 1965, he joined Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers; over the next 16 years he gained experience in union and community issues, and political organizing, and became Director of Organizing. In 1991, he returned to Harvard College and completed his undergraduate degree in history and government. He received his MPA and Ph.D. from the Kennedy School in 1993 and 2000. He teaches, researches, and writes on leadership, organization, and strategy in social movements, civic associations, and politics.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
Born in Baletaksa- Gulmi district, Mr. Leela Mani Paudyal served the Nepal Government as the Chief Secretary from August 2012 to July 2015. He has decades-long experience of working at various government offices, committees, and ministries in various capacities: from Officer to Joint Secretary prior to being appointed as a Secretary. He has led Nepalese delegations to different international organizations, and has negotiated bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements. An MBA graduate from Tribhuvan University, Mr. Paudyal published Internal Auditing Theory and Practices in the Nepalese Perspective, in 1991, co-authored with Govinda Panta. With the keen interest in research, he has indulged himself in several research projects with several academic and practitioners in the field of Education, Trade, Community Development, Financial Management and Personnel Management.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Director of Harvard 's Center for International Development
- Professor, Harvard University and Director, Harvard Center for International Development
Professor Ricardo Hausmann is Director of Harvard's Center for International Development and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Kennedy School of Government. Previously, he served as the first Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (1994- 2000), where he created the Research Department. He has served as Minister of Planning of Venezuela (1992-1993) and as a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He also served as Chair of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee. He was Professor of Economics at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA) (1985-1991) in Caracas, where he founded the Center for Public Policy. His research interests include issues of growth, macroeconomic stability, international finance, and the social dimensions of development. He holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Professor, Harvard University and Founder, Harvard Center for Public Leadership
Ronald Heifetz is the King Hussein bin Talal Senior Lecturer in Public Leadership and founder of the Center for Public Leadership. Recognized for his seminal work on both the practice and teaching of leadership, his research focuses on building the adaptive capacity of societies and organizations. He cofounded Cambridge Leadership Associates and coauthored the best selling Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading with Marty Linsky. He speaks and consults extensively throughout the world with heads of governments, companies, and NGOs. He is the subject of many articles and the book by Sharon Daloz Parks, Leadership Can Be Taught. A graduate of Columbia University, Harvard Medical School, and the Kennedy School, he is a physician and cellist.
Having always been interested in looking at the motivations and mindsets of people behind the actions they take, Sahara graduated with a bachelor's in psychology from SUNY Geneseo. At NLA, she gets to put this knowledge to use and research the behavioral changes that the leadership course can lead to. She has worked as a freelance writer and editor and has experience in rapporteuring for and supporting campaigns and programs on women's rights. At HCI, she was involved in projects promoting youth's and women's economic empowerment and environmental sustainability. She plans to continue accumulating work experience in enhancing participation of youth and government in social development and contribute to a prosperous global future.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- CEO, Mercantile Office System
Sanjib Raj Bhandari, one of the founder directors of IRAS, is the CEO and Proprietor of Mercantile Office Systems (MOS), one of the largest hardware and software vendors in Nepal since 1985. MOS distributes and supports products from IBM, Acer, Cisco, Epson, DataCard, Hutchison etc. and also takes pride in its flagship software product, Pumori Banking software, is the largest selling banking system in Nepal and is also one of the largest software product developed in Nepal. He is also the Chairman and CEO of Mercantile Communications, Nepal's first and largest Internet Service Provider with the point of presence in Kathmandu and 12 cities around Nepal. Besides these, he is also the Founder and Director of Serving Minds Pvt. Ltd and several media houses like Himal Media Pvt. Ltd., HITS Nepal Pvt. Ltd., Nepalnews.com, to name a few. He has also diversified his portfolio to hydropower sector with the opening of Shangrila Energy Ltd. (Butwal Power Co. Ltd.).
Taniya is currently the Project Officer at Nepal Leadership Academy and has been with us since December, 2019. After graduating with a Bachelors in Psychology, she was interested in exploring the human aspects of International Development. This led to her working in Social Innovation and Sustainable Enterprise Development for two years at Development Alternatives - a think tank based in New Delhi. There she was able to build her capacity in project management, communications, and understanding the rural economy of developing countries but most importantly how to conduct field work. Given her background, she takes a special interest in designing leadership interventions for entrepreneurs, often using human-centric design as the guiding principle. Apart from this, she has also worked with two social start-ups which familiarised her with working in uncertain environments. Having spent most of her time outside the country in her formative years, a large part of her wanting to work with NLA and in Nepal was rediscovering her Nepali identity. As a ‘systems thinker' she is always interested in understanding the complex layers of a problem and mapping the ecosystem that surrounds it. Her portfolio at NLA focuses on communication and building partnerships, but what she is most appreciated for, is her ability to plan and execute pranks as seriously as her projects.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Member of the Board of Directors
A history buff with special affinity to South Asian political history, Utpal is also a co- founder of the Nepal Leadership Academy. He has had a varied career in international development with multilateral agencies and non-profits, and has spent a number of years as a journalist cum media/communications consultant. He specializes in governance, public policy and political affairs/political economy analysis, analysis of economic trends, social accountability, and leadership.Presently a freelance consultant based out of Washington DC, he worked with the World Bank for almost a decade as a Governance Specialist, working on wide range of topics on both supply and demand side of governance. His work included building international networks; anti-corruption, open government, social accountability, citizen engagement and ICT based feedback, and leadership in different parts of the globe. His experience also spans into program and knowledge management.He has spent considerable time in leadership development research studying leadership interventions for better development results, e.g. interventions leading to efficient service delivery, policy reforms and implementations etc. He has also worked and remains keenly interested in pedagogical aspects of leadership training and design of training materials as well as coaching.During his time as a journalist (print and television), he covered political issues with emphasis on left politics/political parties in Nepal and social issues focusing on matters in development. He also worked as a media consultant with number of NGOs/INGOs writing reports, and producing documentary films.Utpal holds a degree in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University; and degrees in English Literature and Linguistics from Tribhuvan University, and University of Delhi.