Executive Committee
Pawan Roy
Mr. Pawan Roy is currently acting as the President of Centre for Social Change. He holds a Master’s in International Relations and Diplomacy specializing in diplomacy and development and a Post Graduate Diploma in Psychological Counselling from Tribhuvan University. Pawan has completed an MPhil in International Relations and Diplomacy and is currently a PhD scholar at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at Tribhuvan University. He has taken several peacebuilding and human rights courses from the American University, USA, Uppsala University, Sweden, and the University of New South Wales, Australia.
He was awarded as a senior research fellow at Sichuan University, Chengdu, PRC, in 2018. He was also a visiting fellow at the Department of Peace and Development at Uppsala University in 2019. Before CSC, he served as the President of Youth Action Nepal (2004-2012) and Secretary of Associations of Youth Organizations Nepal (2008-2010).
Mr. Roy has versatile expertise and work experience, from grassroots advocacy to leading a pioneer organization in Nepal. Since Pawan belongs to one of the marginalized communities of Nepal, he has been advocating for the rights of the marginalized communities, including youth, women, Dalits, and madness. Pawan has campaigned for many youth-led movements in Nepal. He has helped many young people lead the grassroots movement, especially in the themes of democracy promotion, environment protection, and governance. As a project management expert, he has led projects funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Alert, Search for Common Ground, Misereor, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, ICNC, and Uppsala University etc. He has extensive project cycle management experience with multi-year projects, including working closely with government, diplomatic entities, civil society organizations, networks, local governments, and international development partners. He is also an experienced researcher in peacebuilding, climate justice, and international development. He has published several articles in various magazines and journals. He is also an expert in financial budgeting, fundraising and communications, and strategic engagements, leading multiple organizational projects.
Darshan Karki
Darshan Karki is Vice-President of Centre for Social Change. She has a Masters in Development Economics and Rural Development from South Asian University and Tribhuvan University respectively. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the Department of Geography, University of Zurich.
She has over a decade of experience in researching and writing on a wide range of development issues for both an academic and non-academic audience. She is also a professional editor with experience in editing newspapers, and I/NGO reports and a translator from Nepali to English and vice-versa.
Samiksha Neupane
Ms. Samiksha Neupane currently serving as Secretary General of Centre for Social Change. She holds a Master’s degree in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies from Tribhuvan University and a Bachelor’s degree in Development studies from Kathmandu University. Ms. Neupane was also a NORHED Scholar who got an opportunity to study at University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka as an exchange student during her MA study. Moreover, Ms. Neupane is serving as a key Information Officer of the organization. To get more information about the organization, her contact address is contact@socialchange.org.np.
She was also awarded a research fellowship by The Asia Foundation for conducting a research on role of community mediation in strengthening local governance. She represented Nepal in an international training in dialogue and mediation organized by Uppsala University, Sweden in the year 2018. Currently, she is also a part time Research Consultant to Impact Limited UK, an ethical trade consultancy with a vision to improve foreign labor workers’ livelihood.
She is a past Research Officer at Centre for Social Change from 2017, Founder and Executive member at We Inspire Nepal (2010-2016). As a research officer, she has extensively engaged in two research projects, one that focused on nonviolence and another on Gender, War Trauma, and Peace building. While she also provided a support in in-house research relating to foreign labor migration in Nepal. Before it, she has more than 5 years of work experience in the field of youth and professional development.
Dr. Sanju Koirala
Dr. Sanju Koirala is serving as a Secretary of Centre for Social Change. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Otago, New Zealand. Her PhD research focuses on hydropower induced displacement, civil society engagement in hydro affairs, and social safeguard policy reforms in Nepal.
She is currently working with Policy Entrepreneurs Incorporated as a Senior Researcher (Water, Energy and Gender) and is responsible to ensure that the gender and social inclusion issues are addressed in research projects PEI is undertaking. Besides it, she is also an author to the journal article “Impacts of the delay in construction of a large scale hydropower project on potential displaces” and book chapter on “Multi Stakeholder Hydropower Disputes and its Resolutions in Nepal”.
Dr. Koirala is a social analyst by profession and has a decade long professional experience on issues around water resource management, disaster risk reduction, migration, poverty alleviation, education, youth, gender, and access to justice. Prior to her involvement with PEI, she worked as a Research Manager with Social Science Baha where she managed the research projects on access to justice and migration. She has also collaborated with Department of Geography, University of Otago and researched on Nepal-India hydro relationship. She was involved with various organizations such as Alliance for Social Dialogue, Caritas Nepal, Nepal Institute of Development Studies, UND/ Micro Enterprises Development Program and UNDP/ Community Based Flood and Glacial Lake Outburst Risk Reductions Project.
Kalpana Rana Magar
Ms. Kalpana Rana Magar is currently serving as a Treasurer of Centre for Social Change. She has completed her Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy from Tribhuvan University. As a part of exploring her skills and acquiring knowledge, she has participated in Nepal Peace Initiative Summer School 2020 and Dialogue for Peace Workshop in 2019.
She has been engaged in migration governance issues of Nepal as a core research team member. Besides, she has been collaborating as a team member in Nepal Peace Portal, Nonviolence Book Project and Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Ms. Magar previously served as a Research Associate at CSC and extensively in house desk research on labor migration issues of Nepal and based upon it she has published articles and blog.
Pratap Adhikari
Mr. Pratap Adhikari is a Member of Centre for Social Change. He holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology and Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Tribhuvan University. He has more than 15 years of professional and leadership experience in development sector mainly in education, youth issues, women empowerment, and environment.
Apart from it, Mr. Adhikari has keen interest in project development and its proper implementation to have desired impact. Likewise he has been engaged in various research and consulting activities in recent time.
Om Chand Rauniyar
Mr. Om Chand Rauniyar is a Member of Centre for Social Change and currently serving in Update Nepal Pvt. Ltd. He holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Tribhuvan University. Mr. Rauniyar is a well-known sociologist and critically acclaimed film producer known for some of the box-office hits in Nepali film industry.
He is much interested in film making, exploring social stories, writing and travelling. His areas of expertise are specially web development, video editing and graphics design. Notably, his work are highly concerned in creating public awareness by reflecting existing social issues of the society. Some of his famous productions includes Kabaddi, Ghampani, Purano Dunga, and Machha-Machha.