The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, especially in New York. Along with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Climate Week, there are tons of fringe activities happening around town. 

At the Great Nepali Diaspora, we have been busy hosting and attending events. Here is a recap:

• Gates Foundation #GoalKeepers2030

Every year, the Gates Foundation brings together global changemakers that are committed to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was eye-opening to learn the dismal statistics about malnutrition, but also innovation (either simple or scientific) happening to mitigate them. My hope is that best practices and successful implementations are transferred across borders. While we had a small contingent of folks from the Nepali diaspora attending the event, my wish is to see our community headlining such global events. With our members at the forefront of disruption in many domains, that day is very near!

• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

The interactive program of civic and community leaders, with the Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr KP Oli was canceled at the last minute. But I did listen to his UNGA address later, and appreciated that he didn’t just focus on the aspect of peace & harmony as the land of Gautam Buddha, but also highlighted the importance of climate justice, human and gender rights and technological transfer. 

Especially with Nepal expected to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category in Nov 2026, the need for the diaspora to bring in capital, technical expertise and resources cannot be undermined. The Great Nepali Diaspora has been working on these aspects, and hopes to collaborate further with the Nepali government and other stakeholders. Through our Entrepreneur’s Hub, we have run two cohorts of a virtual incubator for underrepresented founders and hosted pitch events. Our members have found mentors, partners and investors from within the community. We have also recently started an early stage venture capital fund called Momo VC to support underrepresented founders. 

• Young South Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI) Launch 

Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary Bureau Of South And Central Asian Affairs at the US Department of State, and other high level officials launched the Young South Asian Leaders Initiative (YSALI) at the Yale Club of New York City last week. TGND has been collaborating with the Department of State on multiple occasions like a networking event in Chicago for our community.

It was great to hear from Lance C. Boyd from East-West Center and Sher Jan Ahmadzai from University of Nebraska at Omaha and other dignitaries like Nicole Chulick, about the need for a bridge between the US and the world and the immense potential the youth hold!

The initiative has 3 priority areas:

🎈 Civic participation

🎈 Economic empowerment & entrepreneurship

🎈 Environmental resilience

I look forward to learning more & contributing to this positive program that aims to establish networks, empower leaders and connect the 420 million South Asian youth, esp in #Nepal to their counterparts.

• Dashain Celebration at New York City Hall

On Oct 1, “the people’s house,” a.k.a the New York City Hall had its first ever Dashain celebration at its premises for our diaspora. Since Dashain is the biggest festival in Nepal, it is a historic milestone for our community in terms of visibility and recognition at the US national level. We remain grateful for the leadership of NYC council Speaker Adrienne E Adams, council members Linda Lee, Shekar Krishna and Lynn Schulman, and our community members who worked tirelessly to make it happen. 

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The Great Nepali Diaspora is a community of exceptional global Nepali talent that aims to nurture connection, collaboration, and camaraderie to create impact at scale. It is a non-profit organization registered under Article 501 (c) 3 in the state of New Jersey in the United States. It has chapters in 27 locations around the world and focuses on 8 career hubs for mentorship and programming. 

https://linktr.ee/thegreatnepalidiaspora

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