STAFF
Nepal Staff
Som Paneru (Board President) joined Nepal Youth Foundation (NYF) in 1993 as a program assistant and grew to become a leader of the organization. In 2012, he was elected as president of NYF, succeeding founder Olga Murray, and he now oversees all NYF projects. The son of a farmer from the Ghorka District of Nepal, he is a product of NYF’s scholarship program. After graduating from Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, where he studied math and science, Som taught school in a poor village. He went on to earn a master’s degree in International Child Welfare from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. Som says he joined NYF because he felt he “had a lot to pay back” to those who had helped him get an education. He became program manager of NYF in 1995 and created many innovative programs, including the immensely successful Indentured Daughters Program and the campaign to end the Kamlari system of indentured servitude. He conceived the “piglet for a girl” method to liberate young girls from this system of child slavery. Som is married and has a son and young daughter.
Mansa Bhatterai joined NYF as the Manager of the Kathmandu Nutritional Rehabilitation Home (NRH) in 2002. As the program expanded, she became the Nutrition coordinator in 2006 of all the NRHs nationwide. Before joining NYF, she worked as Assistant Director in Planning and International Division in Social Welfare Council (SWC) – a regulatory body of the Government of Nepal. Having worked with the government agencies, she brings in valuable expertise and insight which has been of great advantage to implementing the projects.
Mansa holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and has acquired training as MToT on “Child Growth Assessment” as well as Basic and MToT on “The Management of Severe Malnutrition” organized by Ministry of Health & Population, Child Health Division and World Health Organization (WHO).
Sarita Neupane is the new Finance Controller at the Nepal Country office. She is a Chartered Accountant qualified from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. She has audited the books of large international agencies and also holds experience of over 5 years in the field of advisory, financial management, and accountancy of International Development Organizations and various Public and Private Companies.
Her major role in NYF Nepal will be to prepare the organization’s financial statements and report them to the donors. She will also ensure financial compliance by partner organizations in Nepal, and train them in fund management and reporting.
Anjita Parajuli is currently NYF’s Development Officer. Previously she joined the team as the Liaison and Documentation Officer. Having attained Master’s degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, she brings valuable expertise from her previous roles where she worked as Language and Cultural Instructor at International Nepal Fellowship (INF) for 12 years, and has also taught related courses in various colleges for undergraduates.
Anjita is the ‚point of contact‘ for all of NYF’s global chapters for communicating information about NYF’s projects in Nepal. She works closely with the project team (Nepal) and NYF’s headquarters in the U.S. on grant proposals, reports, website development and social media sites.
Sanjoj Maharjan, the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Manager, is responsible for bridging NYF’s communication needs with its stakeholders through the latest available tools. Having worked in the Information Technology field for over a decade, Sanjoj brings sound technical expertise to the position.
He has overall responsibility of ICT for NYF and its entire local and global networks. Sanjoj also manages the website, the social media sites, and NYF’s branding materials and provides necessary technical support and training to the staff.
Riswo Ram Gorkhali recently joined the NYF team as the Human Resource (HR) Manager. Having worked in various capacities as an employee and as a consultant in the field of HR & Management, he brings in diverse working experience from sectors like banking, corporate, education as well as social services. Riswo has also facilitated learning for graduate and post graduate students and enjoys interacting, working with people and facilitating activities directed towards capacity enhancement.
Ranjan Nepali has been NYF’s faithful driver for many years, taking staff, children, and sometimes visiting board members where they need to go. That is no small feat in Kathmandu.
U.S. Staff
Robin Woodland (Director of Development & Communications) is a marketing and communications expert who has led successful campaigns in both nonprofit and corporate settings, including eleven years at Shaklee Corporation. In recent years, he’s focused on nonprofit fundraising and has led record-breaking campaigns for organizations such as Seva Foundation and the SF-Marin Food Banks.
Jacqueline Frost is NYF’s Development and Communications Manager. Before joining the U.S. team in 2011, she worked as worked as a newspaper reporter and as a public affairs specialist. She was a staff writer at the Monterey Herald, Stockton Record, San Francisco Examiner, and the Oakland Tribune and contributed many freelance articles for publications including USA Today, Salon.com, and the discovery.com. She worked in the public affairs office at University of California, Berkeley and Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law.
Jacqueline enjoys communicating with our supporters and telling the great stories about NYF’s work in Nepal.
Lisa Cosby, NYF’s Operations Manager, has been with the Nepal Youth Foundation in Sausalito since 2009. Before joining NYF’s staff, she worked at a major utility for 19 years. Lisa enjoys working on the database and communicating with the NYF family of donors. She is grateful to be working to help the children of Nepal. She has a B.A. in Political Science from U.C. Berkeley and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University.