Archives: Teams

Sara Ritchie

Development Coordinator

Sara Ritchie joins NYF after nearly eight years of working in humanitarian aid and development in Guatemala and along the U.S.-Mexico border, which has allowed her to work alongside Mayan indigenous, agricultural, urban Latino, and migrant communities. Along the way, she has developed a passion for incorporating local context, historical background, and community narrative into communications and development strategies. She is excited to bring this skill set and international nonprofit experience to the role of Development Coordinator and continue to better understand what locally-driven progress means to the Nepali communities in which NYF has a presence.

Brian Ferrall

Director

Brian’s involvement with Nepal Youth Organization dates back to approximately 2008, after a trip to Nepal introduced him to the beauty of the country and the spirit of its people. In addition to leisure visits to Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini and many parts of the Kathmandu valley, he has visited Nepal Youth Foundation programs in Nepalganj, other sites in the Banke and Dang districts, and various facilities in and around Kathmandu. Brian has been a board member for over a decade, and was Chair of the Board from 2017 to 2020.

Brian is a judge on the San Francisco Superior Court. Before being appointed in 2020, he was a partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters for 20 years.

Laxmi Ghimire

Career Counselor and Placement Manager of VECC

Laxmi Ghimire is the Career Counselor and Placement Manager of the Vocational Education and Career Counseling Program. She joined NYF in 2014. She provides career counseling to youths and facilitates NYF training graduates to find employment. She holds a triple Masters’ degree, viz. MBA, MTVET, and Masters’ in Gender Studies.

Sudha Maharjan

Manager cum Dietician for NYF’s nutrition program

Sudha Maharjan is the Manager cum Dietician for NYF’s nutrition program. She has been with NYF since 2008. As a dietician, her key roles include preparing personalized diet plans for malnourished children at the NRH, diet counseling for mothers, and conducting nutrition training. She also manages the New Life Center, a treatment center for children with HIV&AIDS.

Ryan J. Walls

U.S. Executive Director

Ryan J. Walls joined NYF’s U.S. team as Executive Director in October 2022, calling the position a “once-in-a-lifetime full circle opportunity.”

He comes to NYF with 15+ years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, management, and leadership—including a great deal of hands-on work in education in the United States and abroad. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of New Hampshire, where he also studied International Environmental Policy as an undergraduate.

During his studies, Ryan spent a semester in an immersive cultural and language program affiliated with Tribhuvan University—NYF President Som Paneru’s alma mater! This program matched Ryan with a Nepali host family who helped him understand the culture, language, and day-to-day living of families in Kathmandu. He describes this experience as “formative,” shaping his “worldview and cross-cultural understanding in significant ways.” His time in Nepal, and the relationships he forged with Nepali people, were “some of the more profound experiences of [his] life.” Ryan loves Nepal and its people deeply and is honored to serve them through our remarkable programming.

Before NYF, Ryan’s career focused on support for people living with HIV, hunger relief, and other health and human services. He is passionate about causes in antiracism, the environment, international development, education, and social justice. Most recently he served as the Executive Director of 9/11 Day, a nonprofit devoted to the National September 11^th Day of Service and Remembrance—a federally-recognized day of service.

Topraj Gurung

Advisory Board

Topraj Gurung grew up in Pokhara, Nepal. He got his Bachelors, Masters and PhD in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. He’s worked at a startup, and also large companies such as Google and Facebook working on initiatives such as internet.org. He currently works at Google.

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Director

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Puran Singh

Advisory Board

Puran Singh is the Co-founder/Head of Engineering at a health-tech company providing market access platform for the prescription drug manufacturers. He’s been working in the Software Industry for almost 15 years now and has worked for small/large companies like Yahoo, Intuit, and Shutterfly before co-founding Phil in 2015.

Emilie Calhoun

Advisory Board

For over twenty years, Emilie M. Calhoun has been working for individuals in trust and estate litigation and consultation matters, contentious trust administration, and financial elder abuse cases. Ms. Calhoun is passionate about protecting her clients’ interests, making sure that their voices are heard, and helping them to navigate the vagaries of our judicial system with perseverance and integrity.