Dr Deepak Dhungana (Chief Coordinator): Dhungana is working as a senior research scientist at Siemens. Email: emailaustria@helpnepal.net, Phone: +43 51707-35934

Aayushma K.C. (Member)
Churchill Bista (Member)
Deepak Malla (Member)
Dhurba Paudel (Member)
Dilip Kapali (Member)
Prabhu Shrestha (Member)
Rabi C. Bhattarai (Member)
Samir K.C. (Member)
Sarita Paudel (Member)
Shiva Sapkota (Member)

Navin Dhakal (Coordinator): Navin was born in a village in Kaski and completed his secondary education from Budhanilkantha School. He graduated from University College, London with a B.E in Chemical Engineering. After completing his PGCE in Chemistry from King’s College, London, he returned to Nepal to fulfill his 5-year bond with the government, and taught at the same school where he had spent 11 years of his school life. Subsequently, he taught at the United World College of the Adriatic (Trieste, Italy) for four years, during which he founded HeNN Italy in 2000. Navin is currently teaching IB Chemistry at an independent school in Vancouver, Canada. Email: navin.dhakal@gmail.com, Phone: 001-604-283-8169

Sunisha Neupane (Coordinator): Sunisha is a public health and international development graduate, currently residing in Montreal. She is passionate about working towards improving health and education in under resourced communities. She believes that sustainable development is possible through locals’ active participation and empowerment, which also aligns with HeNN goals.

Purushottam Shrestha (Coordinator): Purushottam studied civil engineering at the University of Roorkee, India and did his MSc from the University of Calgary, Canada. He taught at the Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk, from 1986 to 2009. Currently, he is working as a senior engineer at the Banner Environmental Engineering Consultants Ltd in Canada. He has a keen interest in charitable causes, hence the involvement in HeNN.

Som Nath Sapkota (President): Sapkota completed his Bachelors in humanities from Nepal and has been living in Europe since 1996. He is the general secretary of Portugal Nepal Friendship Association, vice-president  of Nepali Samaj, Portugal, life member of Nepal Red Cross Society, chief of foreign affairs at Keudanya Rishi Asram, Devghat and the President of NRN NCC, Denmark. Email: somsapkota123@yahoo.com, Phone: 0045 2839 1482

Buddha Maya Khatri (General Secretary): Khatri has taken up Danish citizenship and has been living in Denmark since 1992. Her interest in social work inspired her to join HeNN Denmark.

Ram Sharan Bhatta (Treasurer): Bhatta is a mechanical overseer from BTI and studied at South Zealand College. He is the president of Chitwan Society, Denmark.

Surya Prasad Tiwari (Member): Tiwari completed his Masters degree from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Chitwan and is now living in Denmark with a Danish Green Card.

Subarna Datta Gautam (Member): Gautam is doing his Masters and he is also the general secretary of Galkot Samaj, Denmark.

Laxman Timilsina (Member): Timilsina completed his Masters in Business Studies in 2004. He is interested in social work and has been living in Denmark with a Danish green card.

Saraswoti Karki (Member): Karki completed her Bachelors in Education from Nepal and has previously worked as a journalist in Nepal.

Prabin Khadka (Coordinator): Email: prabinkha@yahoo.com, Phone: +971555469928

Sagar Lama (Chief Coordinator): Mr Lama has been living in Ireland since 2005. He was the vice president of Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA)-Ireland from 2013 to 2015. He has been involved in various charitable activities like fundraising for the Bagmati Disabled Home, he was also involved in aid distribution on following the 2015 earthquake. Email: lamasgar333@gmail.com, Phone: 00353871838445

Avedya Gautam (Member)
Shiva Thapa (Member)
Lina Gautam (Member)
Karuna Thapa (Member)

Arun Singh Basnet (President): Arun began his career in social work immediately after completing his school and hasn’t looked back since then. It is under Arun’s leadership that HELP NEPAL Network has achieved all that it has. He is the president of Youth Against Drugs campaign and Amnesty International Group 35 Nepal. He is also the founder president of Aawahan Samuha, a group dedicated to social work and promotion of arts and literature in Chabahil, where he lives. He is the manager of a Business company Himalaya Holly Group Private Limited and a Board Director of Synergy Power Limited.
Email: arunsinghbasnet@gmail.com

Rabi Kumar Manandhar (Vice President): Rabi is a businessman by profession. He is also a social activist and has been involved with HeNN from the very beginning.


Dr. Lata Ghimire (Secretary/ Health Coordinator): Dr. Lata Ghimire is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Trichandra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University. She holds a PhD in Medical Science (Microbiology) from the University of Cyberjaya, Malaysia, and serves as a board member of the Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Management Board. From the start of her career, she has enthusiastically engaged in a variety of social activities, making meaningful contributions to numerous community projects. Gmail: lata2850@gmail.com

Arun Shrestha (Co-Secretary/ Education Coordinator): Arun is a businessman and has been a social activist since his college days. Email: arunsthaa@gmail.com

Rajendra Nath Shrestha (Treasurer): Rajendra is a businessman. Email: rajendranath2008@hotmail.com

Dinesh Shrestha (Member): Dinesh is a businessman and he has been involved in various social activities since the beginning of his career.

Roshendra Dhoj Khadka (Member/ eLibrary Coordinator): Roshendra is an engineer with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Kathmandu University and MBA from University of Surrey, UK. He is the executive chairman of Project A Pvt. Ltd., a marketing consulting company. He’s also a visiting lecturer of Career Development & Self-Marketing, and Global Marketing Strategy at School of Management, Tribhuwan University (SOMTU).
Email: roshendra@gmail.com

Shanker Prasad Koirala (Advisor): Koirala, who possesses double postgraduate degrees in Economics is a noted development leader, well-known bureaucrat and acclaimed writer. He was the Minister of Finance, Industry, and Commerce and Supplies in the Government of Nepal. Prior to his resignation from Secretary, he spent 25 years in the civil service of Nepal including 6 years as Secretary. He has also worked with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Philippines. He has been deeply associated with the contemporary socio-economic development dimensions of the nation;  actively involved in the social service sector with a motto: ‘Service Above Self’; and widely-known by the pen name of SP Koirala in literary arena of Nepal. He has three collections of poetry, one anthology of lyrics and four music albums to his credit. Email: spk228spk@gmail.com

Bijaya Rajbhandari (Advisor): Rajbhandari who is an engineer by profession, with a postgraduate degree in environment management, has worked with UNICEF for more than 35 years in Nepal. He has also worked in eight different countries in Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Far East Asia. He served in leadership positions at UNICEF, particularly as Country Representative in Thailand and North Korea before retiring in January 2016. Email: bijayaraj56@gmail.com

Ankita Sigdel (President): Ankita works in a biotechnology company in Auckland. Originally from Kathmandu, she believes in giving back to the community. She brings a fresh perspective of the younger generation to the HeNN NZ team. Ankita loves traveling and is also an obsessive reader. She has been in New Zealand since 2012. Email: ankita805@hotmail.com, Phone: +64211521698

Ashok Kumar Shrestha (Vice President): Ashok actively works, coordinates and contributes to the community. He believes that a small donation can make a huge difference in the lives of those who need it. He works as a seafood manager at Ilam New World, Christchurch. He has been living in New Zealand with his wife and two children since 2001.

Sarina Manandhar (General Secretary): Sarina is from Kathmandu and lives in Palmerston North, New Zealand with her husband and seven-year old son. She did her PhD in Plant Science (Horticulture) from Massey University and works for the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Ltd. She strongly believes that money’s true purpose should be for the welfare of a community. Email: sarina.manandhar@plantandfood.co.nz, Phone number: +64212642833

Laxman Bhattarai (Treasurer): Laxman Bhattarai came to New Zealand as a student of finance in 2014. He works for LaserTek Profiles Ltd. Tauranga as a Customer Service Representative.

Krishna Hari Sapkota (Member): Krishna Hari Sapkota is a chef and has been running his own restaurant since 2005. He has been living in New Zealand with his family since 2001.

Sadhana Shrestha (Member): Sadhana has been living in Wellington, New Zealand for the past 15 years. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Teaching (Early Childhood Education). She is very passionate about children, their wellbeing and development. Through HELP NEPAL, Sadhana hopes to get in touch with those in need.

Supriti Basnyat (Member): Supriti Basnyat came to New Zealand in 1998. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand and is a graduate student of health psychology.

Shreedhar Basnyat (Advisor): Shreedhar used to work for Nepal Airlines before coming to New Zealand. He is currently conducting a research on social practices and strongly believes in giving back to the community. He presents a Nepali program for the New Zealand-based community radio (www.planetaudio.org.nz). It is important for Shreedhar that communities interact and come together for positive change. A fan of Nepali music, Shreedhar is also enthusiastic about soccer, badminton and tennis.

Raj Maharjan (Advisor): Raj Maharjan is a planner at Auckland Council. He feels that every Nepali should do something for their country. Raj has been involved with HeNN NZ since 2011.

Dr Bhola Pradhan (Advisor): Dr Bhola Pradhan has been living in New Zealand since 1996. At present, he is living a retired life with his family.

Lokesh Adhikari (Member): Adhikari has been working at Napoli Bakeries in Doha since 2007. Earlier, he was a teacher and was actively involved in environmental and community health awareness, and educational issues. He loves literature and photography, and is a strong believer of positive values in life. He thinks that our small efforts can bring huge changes in other people’s lives. Email: adlokesh@yahoo.com, Phone: 00974 55540584/ 44580022

Bhawan K. Pradhan  (Member): Pradhan works at Family Food Center, Rayyan. He used to be a school teacher and was also associated with Plan International Nepal for nearly a decade. He is associated with Nepalese Welfare Fund, Qatar, and Red Cross Society, Nepal. He believes that compassion towards poor & needy is vital to change the society. Email: bhawan_pradhan@yahoo.co.in, Phone: 97466049573

Rakesh Pant (Member): Pant works for Memar Trading and Contracting Company in Qatar. He is associated with various Nepalese organizations. Email: rakeshpant05@yahoo.com,  Phone: 00974-33117491/ 44696493

Nar Bahadur Tamang (Member): Tamang believes that helping hands are better than praying lips. He is actively involved in various Nepalese social organizations. He works in the IT department at Family Food Centre, Qatar. He is interested in literature, photography and traveling. Email: nar_bahadur@family.com.qa, Phone: 00974-66927390

Dr Upendra Mahato (Member): Nepal’s first DSc (Doctor of Sciences) in Technical Science, Dr Mahato is a highly successful multinational entrepreneur and well reputed philanthropist. He is the founder president of Non-Resident Nepali Association and president of Russia Nepal Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Email: upn@rubin.ru

Jibanath Lamichhane: Lamichhane holds a MSc in Civil Engineering (Moscow) and is a multinational entrepreneur. He is the vice-president of Non-Resident Nepali Association and the director of Russia-based Technotrust Co. Ltd., and Nepal-based Kantipur Engineering College, Molnia Power Pvt. Ltd., and Medicare National Hospital. Email: jibalamichhane@gmail.com, Phone: 0074-9596-95065

Dr Bhishma Acharya: Acharya holds a PhD in Political Sciences (from Russian Friendship University, Moscow) and is an author of a book, The Impact of Political Culture in Political System of Nepal published in Russian as well as Nepali languages. He is the secretary general of Russia-Nepal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the deputy director of Moscow-based Elion Line Company. Phone: (095) 111 15 53 (W)

Tej Bahadur Thapa Magar (President): Email: helpnepalksa@gmail.com, chotuthapa@gmail.com, Phone: 0096 650 125 9311

KB Yaba (Vice President)
Prem Thapa Magar (Vice President)
Hiramani Bhusal (General Secretary)
Tek Nath Nepal (Secretary)
Narayan Prasad Gurung (Spokesperson)
Hom Gurung (Treasurer)
Dipak Regmi (Member)
Saroj Ale Magar (Member)
Jhiwa Timale (Member)
Sandip Baral (Member)
Chandra Ale (Member)
Bal Bahadur Thapa (Member)
Kumari Sunari Magar (Member)
Tulasa Maya Gurung (Member)
Hum Bahadur Sunari Magar (Advisor)
Ram Bahadur Belbase (Advisor)
Bidur Koirala (Advisor)
Rudra Kumar Karki (Advisor)
Dilchan Budha Magar (Advisor)
Tara Bhandari (Advisor)
Krishna Thapa Magar (Advisor)
Yam Bahadur Bhusal (Advisor)
San Bahadur Pun (Advisor)

Rudra Sharma (Patron): Sharma hails from Parbat district. He is a successful businessman and a social worker. He was the founding member of Rotary Club of Pokhara and the Non-Resident Nepali Association- South Korea. Currently, he serves as an advisor to NRNA- South Korea. He has a keen interest in philanthropy and has done a lot of charity work in his home district. Email: rudra32@hotmail.com, Phone: 0082-10-3977-4848

RP Devkota (Chief Coordinator): Devkota is from Nawalparasi district. After graduating with an MBA from Ajou University, he started running his own travel company (Link Asia Tours) in South Korea. He has a great interest in social work and strongly believes that we can bring positive change in our society by working together with honesty and sincerity. He finds a close connection with HELP NEPAL’s mission and vision. Email: rpdevkota@gmail.com, Phone: 82-10-58775512

Pushpa Lamichhane (Member): Lamichhane was born and brought up in Bharatpur, Chitwan. Apart from his regular work, he is associated with Hello Nepal Korea (www.hellonepalkorea.com). He is the treasurer of Federation of Nepalese Journalists in South Korea. Social worker Pushpa Basnet inspires him to contribute to the society. Lamichhane is also an amateur filmmaker.

Saroj Kumar Khadka (Member): Born and brought up in Sarlahi district, Khadka is currently studying MBA at Hanyang University, South Korea and is also associated with Hello Nepal Korea (www.hellonepalkorea.com). He is heavily inspired by HELP NEPAL Network’s philosophy of ‘practical philanthropy’. Khadka believes in ‘speaking through action’, which, he thinks, is the only way to bring about positive change.

Sher Bahadur Rawal PhD (Member): Rawal is a research professor at Inha University, South Korea, from where he did his PhD in Chemistry. He has a keen interest in charity, hence the involvement in HELP NEPAL Network. Email: sbrawal@inha.ac.kr, Phone: 82-10-8470-6870

Ishwor Dahal (Member): Dahal is from Rautahat district and has been working in South Korea for the past few years. He loves music, traveling, photography and reading books.
Phone: 010-6447-8488

Khem Karki (Member): Karki is from Chandrapur municipality of Rautahat district and is currently working in South Korea. Apart from his regular job, Karki is also an active journalist and serves as the president of Pardeshi Life (www.pardeshilife.com), an online news portal. He has previously served as the president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists in South Korea and ex-central committee member of NRN Korea.

Dr Pranab Gyawali (President): Founding member of HELP NEPAL Network and currently the president of HeNN UK, Pranab is a graduate of prestigious Guys and St. Thomas Hospital in London. Despite his exhaustive full-time job as a consultant at a hospital in East London, Pranab has consistently remained the backbone of HeNN right from its inception.
Email: pgyawali@doctors.org.uk

Kuldeep Pradhan (General Secretary)

Sachin Shrestha (Treasurer): Sachin comes from Gorkha district. He has completed his BCS, BSc and ACCA, and is currently working as a Chartered Certified Accountant. He was involved with Worldwide Nepalese Students Organization and helped HELP NEPAL Network in various ways before joining HeNN UK team in March 2010.
Email: sachinsth@hotmail.com, Phone: 07888 812 312

Prashidha Pradhan (Co-Treasurer): Prashidha joined HeNN UK in its initial days and served as its treasurer for many years. He has been teaching at a private accountancy college since 2002. He also offers practical training courses to accounting professionals in various firms. Prashidha is a football enthusiast and plays for Greenwich Football Club.

Bhagirath Yogi (Media Co-ordinator): Bhagirath is a London-based journalist affiliated with BBC Nepali Service. Before moving to London in 2006, he worked with a leading Nepali media in Kathmandu. He has been affiliated with HELP NEPAL Network since 2003. He is also a member of London Chhalphal, a Nepal-facing discussion forum based in London. He has published hundreds of articles on Nepal’s politics, economic, social and development issues. Email: bhagirath.yogi@gmail.com

Pradeep Paneru (Project Co-ordinator): Pradeep joined HeNN UK team in 2006. Since his association with HeNN UK, he has been involved in various aspects of its activities. He graduated from University of West London and is currently working in the field of software engineering. In his career, he has worked for global businesses to help them design and build sophisticated enterprise software solutions on the web. He has gained invaluable experiences in the industries like stock/foreign exchange market, travel, retail, online marketing, digital media management and inflight entertainment. He is currently working for a global inflight entertainment business. Email: pradeep.paneru@helpnepal.net, Phone: 07791 170 955

Yadav Bhandari (Member)

Pratima Joshi (Member): Pratima is a member of Association of Accounting Technicians (MAAT) and holds a degree from Angila Ruskin University. She has been affiliated with HELP NEPAL Network since 2009. In April 2010, she ran British 10K with a group of Nepalese youths to raise funds for HeNN. She is the chair of London Chhalphal, a Nepal-facing discussion forum.

Ranjan Baral (Member): Ranjan is a system analyst at a London-based INGO. Before moving to London, he was working with the Government of Nepal, and was involved in planning and implementation of e-government and ICTS for development projects. He was also the secretary of Association of Computer Engineers Nepal (2007-2008), the umbrella organization of computer engineers and ICT professionals in Nepal.

Surya Gurung (Advisor): Former president of NRN-UK, Gurung is a well-known name in the expatriate Nepalese community in the UK. He played a leading role in raising funds for the construction of the compound wall of a stadium in Pokhara. He lives at Farnborough with his family and also runs a successful restaurant business.

Chiranjibi Dhakal (Advisor): Former president of Yeti Nepalese Association- one of the pioneer organizations of Nepalese in the UK, Dhakal is a well-known name in the expatriate Nepalese community in the UK. He is the founder of NRNA-ICC, and joint coordinator and first Europe coordinator of NRNA. He is involved with a number of social organizations including World Hindu Federation UK chapter and is always in the forefront of charitable and religious activities. He lives at Greenford with his family.

Executive Team

Jwalanta Shrestha (President) is the initiator of the HELP NEPAL Network eLibrary project and coordinated the deployment of the first eLibrary in Dang, among several others. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Kathmandu. In the past, he has worked with the Department of Education, Nepal Government on the national education database project as Software Developer, and at Open Technologies Resource Center, IT Park as Research Associate. He currently works as an engineering manager at a healthtech startup in San Francisco. Email: jwalanta@gmail.com

Prabin Gautam (General Secretary) is working as Quality Assurance Lead and offshore coordinator in a Minnesota based Medical Insurance company. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two kids. Prabin has a M.Sc. in Computing from the University of Northampton, UK and B.Sc.(Hons.) from Kathmandu University, Nepal. Prabin has worked as a Software Developer for Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya, Lalitpur, Nepal. Prabin has been involved with Help Nepal Network since 2007 on elibrary training, deployment and lately on fundraising initiatives. He is also a founder secretary of FOSS Nepal Community and Director of outreach at Archive Nepal Inc.

Rupesh Shimkhada (Treasurer) is a product manager and cloud architect at vmware, he holds MBA in Innovation and Technology from San Francisco State University. Prior to vmware he was consulting architect at IBM and other several start-ups in Silicon Valley. He is an entrepreneur, investor, likes social work and actively volunteers in various local community organizations in California and Nepal.

Bibek Paudel is a computer scientist working at Stanford University, with expertise in AI and machine learning, biomedical data science, and analysis of large networks. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Zurich, Switzerland. In the past, he has volunteered for HeNN’s eLibrary project in Nepal. In his free time, he enjoys biking and running.

Jitendra Harlalka is a software engineer by profession. He received his Masters in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and Bachelors in Computer Engineering from Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus. Jitendra has been part of multiple HeNN eLibrary projects and organized training for several eLibrary volunteers.

Board of Directors

Abhaya Shrestha (Chair) is a private equity investor based in New York. He started his career working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and has spent more than two decades investing in privately held middle market businesses in North America, Europe and Asia. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Computer Science from Amherst College. In addition to HeNN, he has volunteered with the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies, Overseas Development Network, Water Aid, the Akanksha Foundation, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and Minds Matter of Chicago. He lives near New York City with his wife and two children.

Bipul Mainali is an entrepreneur, deal maker, lawyer and a leader focused on building and growing organizations and teams. He built his expertise in corporate governance, deal making & M&A at top tier law firms in New York. He has built, led and managed teams and programs at global technology companies. He enjoys collaborating with people and organizations that are mission and vision driven with social impact. He is a Harvard law alum. He is a former member of the Executive Team at HeNN USA where he helped with fundraising, project reviews, governance, board and compliance matters.

Mabi Singh DMD MS teaches at Tuft University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA USA where he is also involved in oral health research. His clinic at Tufts specializes in acute and chronic lesions, oral effects of autoimmune diseases, radiation therapy to head and neck etc. Apart from professional work, he is involved in  charities and organizations for cultural preservation. In his free time, he enjoys ghazals, cooking and learning to take photographs.

Prerana Shrestha an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior at Stony Brook University in the Renaissance School of Medicine. Her lab studies the molecular and cellular basis of memory consolidation in healthy and diseased brain states. Prerana received her Ph.D. in Life Sciences from The Rockefeller University, and did her postdoctoral work at NYU Center for Neural Science, where she received recognition as a Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society Scholar in 2017. Since starting her own lab, Prerana has been named a Sloan Research Fellow by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation, and a Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences in 2022. She previously ran the NYC marathon in 2006 to raise funds for Help Nepal Network and has also served in the executive committee of the HeNN US chapter as a Program Director.

Shailesh Gongal is one of the co-founders of Help Nepal Network USA and Walk for Nepal. He serves as the Manager of Aviation Planning for Massachusetts Port Authority and provides strategic and master planning services for Boston Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. He is an Accredited Airport Executive (AAE) and leads the planning subcommittee for American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). He earned his Master in City Planning from MIT and B.E. in civil engineering from National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. He is currently serving as a Head Coach for his son’s 5th grade soccer team in Belmont.

Executive Team

Jwalanta Shrestha (President) is the initiator of the HELP NEPAL Network eLibrary project and coordinated the deployment of the first eLibrary in Dang, among several others. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Kathmandu. In the past, he has worked with the Department of Education, Nepal Government on the national education database project as Software Developer, and at Open Technologies Resource Center, IT Park as Research Associate. He currently works as an engineering manager at a healthtech startup in San Francisco. Email: jwalanta@gmail.com

Prabin Gautam (General Secretary) is working as Quality Assurance Lead and offshore coordinator in a Minnesota based Medical Insurance company. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two kids. Prabin has a M.Sc. in Computing from the University of Northampton, UK and B.Sc.(Hons.) from Kathmandu University, Nepal. Prabin has worked as a Software Developer for Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya, Lalitpur, Nepal. Prabin has been involved with Help Nepal Network since 2007 on elibrary training, deployment and lately on fundraising initiatives. He is also a founder secretary of FOSS Nepal Community and Director of outreach at Archive Nepal Inc.

Rupesh Shimkhada (Treasurer) is a product manager and cloud architect at vmware, he holds MBA in Innovation and Technology from San Francisco State University. Prior to vmware he was consulting architect at IBM and other several start-ups in Silicon Valley. He is an entrepreneur, investor, likes social work and actively volunteers in various local community organizations in California and Nepal.

Bibek Paudel is a computer scientist working at Stanford University, with expertise in AI and machine learning, biomedical data science, and analysis of large networks. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Zurich, Switzerland. In the past, he has volunteered for HeNN’s eLibrary project in Nepal. In his free time, he enjoys biking and running.

Jitendra Harlalka is a software engineer by profession. He received his Masters in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and Bachelors in Computer Engineering from Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus. Jitendra has been part of multiple HeNN eLibrary projects and organized training for several eLibrary volunteers.

Board of Directors

Abhaya Shrestha (Chair) is a private equity investor based in New York. He started his career working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and has spent more than two decades investing in privately held middle market businesses in North America, Europe and Asia. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Computer Science from Amherst College. In addition to HeNN, he has volunteered with the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies, Overseas Development Network, Water Aid, the Akanksha Foundation, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and Minds Matter of Chicago. He lives near New York City with his wife and two children.

Bipul Mainali is an entrepreneur, deal maker, lawyer and a leader focused on building and growing organizations and teams. He built his expertise in corporate governance, deal making & M&A at top tier law firms in New York. He has built, led and managed teams and programs at global technology companies. He enjoys collaborating with people and organizations that are mission and vision driven with social impact. He is a Harvard law alum. He is a former member of the Executive Team at HeNN USA where he helped with fundraising, project reviews, governance, board and compliance matters.

Mabi Singh DMD MS teaches at Tuft University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA USA where he is also involved in oral health research. His clinic at Tufts specializes in acute and chronic lesions, oral effects of autoimmune diseases, radiation therapy to head and neck etc. Apart from professional work, he is involved in  charities and organizations for cultural preservation. In his free time, he enjoys ghazals, cooking and learning to take photographs.

Prerana Shrestha an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior at Stony Brook University in the Renaissance School of Medicine. Her lab studies the molecular and cellular basis of memory consolidation in healthy and diseased brain states. Prerana received her Ph.D. in Life Sciences from The Rockefeller University, and did her postdoctoral work at NYU Center for Neural Science, where she received recognition as a Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society Scholar in 2017. Since starting her own lab, Prerana has been named a Sloan Research Fellow by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation, and a Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences in 2022. She previously ran the NYC marathon in 2006 to raise funds for Help Nepal Network and has also served in the executive committee of the HeNN US chapter as a Program Director.

Shailesh Gongal is one of the co-founders of Help Nepal Network USA and Walk for Nepal. He serves as the Manager of Aviation Planning for Massachusetts Port Authority and provides strategic and master planning services for Boston Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. He is an Accredited Airport Executive (AAE) and leads the planning subcommittee for American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). He earned his Master in City Planning from MIT and B.E. in civil engineering from National Institute of Technology, Durgapur. He is currently serving as a Head Coach for his son’s 5th grade soccer team in Belmont.