Help Young Women Break the Glass Ceiling in Nepal!

As we wrap up another transformative year at Women LEAD Nepal, our focus on alumni engagement continues to drive meaningful impact across communities. From May through December, we have hosted a series of targeted events designed to build skills, strengthen networks, and encourage active participation in leadership and governance. These initiatives have empowered our alumni to apply their experiences in real world contexts, from financial decision making to organizational stewardship. By prioritizing interactive and inclusive formats, we’ve seen increased collaboration, with alumni reporting enhanced confidence in mentoring others and contributing to community change.

Our engagement calendar from May to December emphasized practical learning and relationship- building, aligning with our mission to equip young women for sustained impact. In May, we kicked off with 2 mentor-mentee hikes on the 17th for YWPLC mentor-mentee and another on the 31st for LEAD mentor mentee to promote outdoor bonding and informal mentorship.

June brought our annual Symposium on the 28th, themed “Re-thinking Learning, Re-imagining Possibilities.” This inspiring event celebrated the achievements of the 2024 LEADers and YWPLC Fellows, bringing together proud parents, mentors, alumni, and partners in a shared moment of reflection and joy. It featured 2 powerful panels where one of the panels consisted of participants from our outreach programs aiming to showcase women’s lived experiences across diverse communities in Nepal. Key insights from the discussions emphasized that education must go beyond textbooks, fostering critical thinking, inclusion, civic responsibility, and integrity in leadership. With this, the 2024 cohort joins our expanding alumni network, creating ripple effects of empowered leadership across Nepal and beyond.

In August, we hosted a two day Financial Literacy Workshop on 30th August and 6th September led by Ms. Arpana Shiwakoti. With 17 attendees on the first day and 26 on the second day, the workshop drew a diverse group from 2013 to 2024 cohorts. With the aim of bridging knowledge gaps in investment, the sessions covered fundamental analysis on day 1- such as understanding financial statements, valuation tools like EPS and ROE, and portfolio strategies, and technical analysis on Day 2, including candlestick patterns, indicators like RSI and MACD, and entry/exit tactics.

In November, we hosted a NGO Governance Training on the 8th which was facilitated by Mr. Durga Dutta Lamsal, Section Officer at the Supreme Court, prepared 19 alumni for our AGM. It explored Nepal's NGO laws, compliance, real-world examples, and Women LEAD's structure, clarifying roles for members, board, and staff. Interactive discussions built readiness for elections and leadership.

Wrapping up the period, the inaugural Mentor-mentee Meet-Up on December 13 marked a key milestone in our mentorship program for YWPLC and LEAD Course participants. The meet-up created a safe, inclusive, and interactive space for mentors and mentees to connect, clarify expectations, and align on shared goals, values, and commitments for the year ahead. The program aimed to formally initiate mentor–mentee engagement for the year, build mutual understanding, and set a strong foundation for meaningful learning, guidance, and growth throughout the mentorship period. This year we paired a total of 45 mentors and 45 mentees.

As our alumni become mentors, investors, and leaders, they’re extending our impact far and wide. Women LEAD is committed to keeping our alumni community strong by offering more skill building workshops, meaningful networks, and spaces to grow together. We’re excited for continued growth in 2026!

Imagine a world where people do not sit around theorizing about perfection. A world where fear doesn’t restrain creativity but rather inspires movements. Where people heal in vulnerability rather than having to put their best face forward at all times. Instead, they come as they are, and what they aspire to be. A world where voices rise for those who cannot speak, where culture is exchanged with open hearts, where you feel safe enough to simply be and to express yourself without judgement. Where thousands of feminists, activists, and artists from all corners of the globe gather to break bread as a collective, engage in meaningful dialogue, and performances. That is what the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) Forum felt like. Not just a forum, but a living, breathing space of resistance, connection, and belonging, a collective experience. The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) hosted its 2024 International Forum from December 2–5 in Bangkok, Thailand, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, with a parallel virtual component. AWID created a vibrant space for connection, collective strategy-building, and alliance formation under the theme "Rising Together: Connect, Heal, Thrive". The Forum prioritized the inclusion of historically marginalized communities and feminists from the Global South, ensuring their leadership and perspectives were central to the discussions.

Having learned about this opportunity from Women LEAD Nepal’s alumni network, I, along with many other alumni, applied. After a rigorous selection process, I had the privilege of attending the Forum alongside our team that consisted of another alumni, 2 Board members as well as 2 Women LEAD Nepal staff. AWID was my first experience at an international forum of this scale, and I was grateful that such a meaningful platform exposed me to global feminist activism. As someone relatively new to the feminist movement, still learning and growing, I felt both excited and uncertain about what to expect despite some prior research. I had pictured a formal environment with note-taking and networking, and while both of those things were present, the Forum turned out to be far richer than I could have anticipated. From the start, the Forum emphasized safety, consent, and inclusivity. I eagerly attended sessions across a wide range of topics, intentionally stepping beyond my comfort zone to engage with new ideas and perspectives that deepened my understanding and affirmed my place in this movement.

I took away a lot from this forum. One of my most memorable sessions was A Touch of HOLAA by HOLAAfrica. As women, our bodies often bear the brunt of violence, and constant societal expectation, which can leave us feeling disconnected from ourselves. The session offered a much needed healing space to reconnect with my body. Through breathwork, movement, and storytelling, I felt a deep sense of connection with women from many different backgrounds. Similarly, a pottery workshop My (Em)bodied Self, walked us through experimenting with embodiment where we used clay as we explored part of our bodies we struggle with or love, as a symbol of reclaiming them as sources of strength and resistance. Both workshops helped me see embodiment not just as an idea but as something we can practice everyday to reclaim power and tenderness.

The forum also allowed me to reflect on the power of collective action. As I sat in the sessions and interacted with fellow feminists, I was reminded of our shared strength and resilience. I realized that, despite feeling overwhelmed at times, I am not alone. That even when the work feels heavy or invisible, I am part of a global network of feminists holding each other up. It was a glimpse into the world we are trying to build, a world where we can nurture love and justice in equal measure, growing flowers with one hand and wielding swords for a better world with the other.

The AWID Forum was an invaluable experience that offered me this profound glimpse into the kind of world I want to live in, and the kind of world I aspire to help shape. One afternoon, I spontaneously joined a circle of strangers dancing to a Palestinian song. It started with shy swaying but quickly turned into a vibrant, joyful celebration of resistance and unity. I also visited CREA’s booth to write love letters. Reading the letters pinned on the wall, addressed to friends, homelands, parents, and children, brought tears to my eyes. In a world often marked by division, this simple act of expressing love felt revolutionary. Every interaction reminded me of the joy, power, and collective strength within the global feminist movement. 

My AWID experience gave me a renewed sense of purpose. I found myself in a community where topics like sexual pleasure, capitalism, and intersectional struggles were discussed openly and unapologetically. It was an opportunity to engage in authentic conversation regarding issues that matter most to me. There was an atmosphere of solidarity, whether we were discussing the worth of safe abortion, combating violence, or breaking down the oppressions of race, queerness, gender, and disability. I was particularly moved by the accessibility of the Forum. Everything from sign language interpreters to live language translation, to diaper-changing stations, to low-sensory zones and childcare rooms, was there to enable everyone to participate without barriers. As I participated and observed these things, I realized how it spoke to a deep respect for everyone's participation.

My AWID experience was one that will continue to shape how I see myself and my role within the feminist movement. It was not only about the sessions or the people I met but about the confidence I gained to bring those lessons back home. Opportunities like this are, I believe, investments in our growth, and voices and being part of such a strong alumni community at Women LEAD means I am never walking this path alone. I carry with me not just the knowledge from AWID, but also the assurance that Women LEAD will continue to create spaces for us to learn, thrive, and lead change together.

“I am flowing again. I have lost my fears, my anguishes. I have multiple desires, curiosities, interests. I can be everywhere.”
  —Anaïs Nin