MIIS ALUM
Degree and Track:
Masters in Public Administration (Gender and Development)
Masters in International Policy Studies (Conflict Resolution)
Semester and Year of Graduation:
December, 2012

Internship period in CCS:
Summer 2011 to Fall 2012
Project(s) involved in through CCS:
Research on registering CCS as a 501(c)(3)
2012 Annual Conference
2012 Photo Exhibit
Assisted in various administrative tasks
Currently working with:
Counterpart International
Job Title:
Gender, Peace and Security Specialist
Current Location:
 Buka, Bougainville (Papua New Guinea)
Work Highlights:
I recently joined a nonprofit organization, Counterpart International (CI) working as a Gender, Peace and Security specialist for the USAID funded Women’s Peace Building Initiative Program. I am based in Papua New Guinea’s autonomous region – Buka, Bougainville. My responsibility entails, ensuring gender integration into local civil society organization (CSO), capacity building of CSOs to develop and advocate for gender-related policies and providing services to post-conflict survivor – mainly women and youth and victims of gender-based violence. I also provide assistance and contribute to the development of annual work plans, performance monitoring systems, tools and writing of progress, quarterly and final program reports. Before joining CI, I worked as a local business development consultant in Kathmandu, Nepal with IBI International, a VA based consulting firm. I also have experience working as an information operations analyst in Arlington, VA in a security and risk management firm.
CCS and your career:
While working with the CCS, I was involved in the first annual conference (Gender and Religion) organized by the center.  I experienced being both a conference participant and a member of the conference organizing team. While doing so, I came to realize and learned the importance of research and advocacy, both in the short and long run.. I enjoyed bringing people together to share their experiences, ideas and information and learning through and with them.
Personal Highlights:
I was always fascinated about the word “development” and people talking about how important it is for a country’s political and economical stability. Being a citizen of Nepal, a country with a label of one of the world’s least developed country, I have seen and experienced at first hand a number of consequences of underdevelopment including poverty, illiteracy, lack of electricity and clean water, underemployment, lack of health facilities and lack of infrastructure, resulting the ongoing political instability, economic downturn and violence.  Further more, being born as a girl in a religious and conservative family and personally witnessing gender and caste discrimination, motivated and influenced me to pursue my education and career in the gender and development field.
Causes most passionate about:
I am passionate about creating awareness about widespread gender inequality, an issue which involves constant struggle the moment you start to mention it, often times misunderstood as ‘only women’s issue’ rather than both men and women.