I intend to explore the relationship between efficient business models and productivity in life science industries before doing an MBA. I plan to come back to Nepal after my higher education.

After implementing my project last year and reporting our progress back to CGI U this year, we were selected as one of top 5 commitments out of thousands of previous applicants to be featured on stage by Bill Clinton and give a a brief presentation about our progress in from 6,500 participants.

I wanted a business model that helped the farmers tap into the abundance of medicinal herbs in Nepal, which was also inclusive in terms of representation of various interest groups in the village. Inspired by Mondragon Cooperation, the oldest and one the most successful cooperative model in Brasque, Spain, we then came up with an idea of a worker’s cooperative.


Herbs for Change or Herbs Cooperative for Economic Empowerment was established in Mude, a remote village located in the eastern part of Nepal as a non-profit and self-sustaining initiative.


I was assigned a mentor who was an expert in cooperatives and helped me edge out the nitty-gritty details of the business. We then reached out to some retail and supply-chain patterns in India and China to secure long-term partnerships. This way by connecting the farm’s output to firms as such, we removed the need for middle men. The villagers are now entrepreneurs.


How has it impacted your life personally and professionally?Herbs for Change is simply a way for me to channel the access of resources I have here for Nepal. When I came in the U.S. I knew I wanted to eventually go back to Nepal-an aim I still hold dearly. I guess this mentality of returning really tapped into my sub-conscious and in a way helped me see potential in problems back home. I started actively seeking ways of using my platform for the betterment of Nepal.

I learned about Mude and how locals had been struggling to fully capitalize on the abundance in indigenous medicinal plants when I was casually chatting with my now-project partner, Surya Karki. I was intrigued by the fact that these people had been earning only 8% of the herb’s market price by selling them indirectly to middle-men instead of firms. Then, I went on a field visit, interacted with the locals to internalize the problem and came back to U.S. with a scratch-book inundated by brainstorming notes. This was the seed to the birth of Herbs for change.

I attended the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference in2015 where I initially represented this project. That is where I participated in the Social Venture Project organized by the Resolution Project. After three gruesome rounds of pitching, I was one of 15 individual winners amongst 192 applicants. I also received seed-funding and mentorship to implement my project. Moreover, I also became Social Innovation Fellow in my college through which I got additional financial and moral support to implement Herbs for Change.

Now, Diyalo Foundation is managing and implementing the project. We are building three nurseries and waiting for our first harvest. Through this project, currently we are employing 23 villagers to establish a cooperative.

I see this as merely a beginning. As we slowly start to expand our project in terms of land coverage and families involved, we have been trying to use this momentum to launch fund-raisers as well as partner with organizations who are reaching out to us in order to maximize the impact of Herbs for Change.

Networking wise, after implementing the project last year and reporting our progress back to CGI U this year, we were selected as one of top 5 commitments out of thousands of previous applicants to be featured on stage by former US President Bill Clinton and give a brief presentation about our progress in from 6,500 participants.

It was nerve-racking to say the least. But it was extremely important for me represent Herbs for Change and Nepal. I find happiness by the tremendous positive response I have gotten in just a week of my speech. But I am definitely far from contentment. I see this as merely a beginning. As we slowly start to expand our project in terms of land coverage and families involved, we have been trying to use this momentum to launch fund-raisers as well as partner with organizations who are reaching out to us in order to maximize the impact of Herbs for Change.

Working under Diyalo Foundation, we are partnering with United World Schools to build six quality schools in the vicinity of Mude. These schools will also be supported through the revenue of Herbs for Change. A big motive for us to integrate these two projects was to promote the feeling of economic independence. By helping their children with the school fees, we wanted families to have better investing or saving opportunity through their income from Herbs for Change.

The most challenging part, for me currently, has been to balance school and work. Apart from that every bit of this project has been rewarding from eating home-cooked meals besides our host-families in the village to walking eight hours to get to our project site, and even pitching our efforts thousands of miles away here in US.

I am still exploring. Currently, I want to explore the business andmarket aspect of drug discovery and other life science industries. So, I am looking for internshipsor jobs in that sector. I do plan to do an MBA here before coming back.

I intend to explore the relationship between efficient business models and productivity in life science industries before doing an MBA. I plan to come back to Nepal after my higher education.I think the most challenging aspect of coming back would definitely be adjusting to the Nepalese work “ethics” and bureaucracy.

As youths we need to realize there is so much “chiya-biscuit” conversations filled with bitter complain about politicians can do. We need to start taking actions and come up with sustainable ways to curb these problems that bother us so much. We need to fully understand the issue we want to work on and devise solutions acceptable by the people we are working for. Only this way, we can ensure sustainability and shared ownership to the solutions of the problems we are facing.