My name is Axata Karki and I am 16 years old. I co-founded this organization with Himanshu in hopes of creating an accepting community for the Nepali Youth. I have previously worked with the Nepali Community in my city on local events and have volunteer experiences for organizations such as Ten Thousand Villages, Misericordia, and Howard Area. I am very passionate about fighting for gender equity and helping young Nepalis find their voice. Through this organization I hope to educate and help Nepalis across the globe.

Axata Karki, Co-founder, Vice President

Hi! My name is Astha Adhikari and I’m one of the Colorado state representatives. I’m 17 years old and I’ll be a high school senior this upcoming school year. I joined NYA in order to become more involved with the Nepali community and get into contact with other individuals that are passionate about activism. This opportunity allows me to not only get to know other Nepali youth around the world, but also provides me a platform to actively promote change within our society. Within the association, I hope to raise awareness on issues such as mental health, gender inequality, sexual harassment, and racism. In my free time I like to dance, cook, draw, and listen to music.

Astha Adhikari, Colorado

Hi! My name is Drishti Ghimire and I’m a 16-year-old from Colorado! I applied to NYA in hopes to connect with passionate Nepali teens who are willing to work hard to make a change! Some things I hope to achieve through NYA is to make society more aware of current problems occurring in Nepal. An issue I am especially passionate about fighting is Casteism and teaching Nepalis the toxicity around it! In my free time, I enjoy taking walks, hanging out with my family and friends, and cooking!

Drishti Ghimire, Colorado

Hi! My name is Adishree Regmi; I’m 14 years old and the state representative for Kansas. I decided that joining NYA will help me connect with Non-residential Nepalese who live outside of Nepal to create a change. I plan to raise awareness of human trafficking, sexual harassment, sexual violence, casteism, and racism. My extreme love for Nepal makes me so passionate about creating a change to help develop Nepal into a stronger country. In my free time, I like to watch Hindi movies, play tennis, and spend time with my family and friends!

Adishree Regmi, Kansas

Namaste, everyone! My name is Srijana Sapkota and I am representing the state of Illinois! I am currently seventeen-years-of-age, and a senior in high school. If anyone knows one thing about me, it has to be about my immense love for Nepal. Having lived over half of my life in a world away from my birthplace, I’ve always found it extremely difficult to connect with being a Nepali, whether that means preserving my language, culture, and traditions, or connecting with other Nepalese, residing in America. Nepali Youth Association has given me the opportunity to associate with young, resolute Nepalese, who are also passionate about Nepal. Moreover, through discussions and events, this organization provides me with a platform to advocate for, and help resolve issues that I am passionate about. One topic that I am extremely passionate about is gender equity. I believe that dwindling gender socialization, in addition to empowering Nepali women will help attain gender equity. I aspire to work closely amidst members of NYA, as a state representative, to organize discussions, fundraisers, and events that are effective in achieving gender equity in the Nepali community. In my free time, I love to write, watch movies, dance, sing, sketch, and so much more! A fun fact about me is that I LOVE CAKE. Like – a lot. 

Srijana Sapkota, Illinois

Hello my name is Sadrish Acharya and I am 17 years old. I am the state representative of Illinois. I have been living in Chicago for seven years and prior to that I lived in New York City for two years. I applied to become a state representative to make a difference in my community. When I initially moved to Chicago, I felt lost and helpless as I had lost my sense of community and belonging. However, as I got to know more people, Chicago quickly became my new home. Being a state representative is a way for giving back to my community by raising awareness of important issues of Nepal and around the world. I want to make people around me more educated and able to help. As a state representative, I want to achieve many things with this organization. Educating others into being open-minded the first step. Once the community is open-minded, it becomes easy to showcase important issues and fight for change. As more people are aware of terrible problems such as casteism and sexual harassment, they will be just as passionate to end those matters. I want to band my community together and fight for justice and positive reform in the mindset of the Nepali people. I have several different hobbies but my favorite has to be sports. If you know me in real life, you will always see me either talking about sports or playing them, particularly soccer. My favorite soccer team is Juventus from the Serie A league and love to watch them play. I love the joy and excitement I get when I enter the pitch and I translate that joy to other things in life. I hope to make great impact from my position and have fun while doing it!

Sadrish Acharya, Illinois

Namaste. My name is Prakriti Khanal, I am 16 years old and I am your state representative of New york. Helping others has always been a very active part of my life. The fact that I am able to help an individual makes me feel extremely lucky. I love sharing and creating new ideas and it makes me very happy to know that I can display my positivity into someone else’s life. I am a firm believer in the fact that helping others helps us. I believe that by giving, I can receive more than I already have. I am very open-minded and I know how to put others before myself. Additionally, I love talking and meeting new people. I also have amazing ideas in the ways we could help other people next year such as spreading our unique culture around us. With this whole pandemic going on, we could raise money for those who can’t afford to have remote learning. My hobbies include running for fun and boxing. I run track during the majority of my school year and it has been my passion from a young age. In addition to running, I also box year-round and compete in several tournaments. I hope to translate this infectious work ethic into the Nepali Youth Association.

Prakriti Khanal, New York

My name is Himal Shrestha, I’m 19 from New York. I joined because there are many things in modern society that we need to acknowledge in the Nepali society. As a youth generation and especially in our own families. I would like to address the people and families living here in the present, many of our problems are created social economically, therefore a lack (financial education and services to better make a healthy living) as well as mental health and the importance knowing the cause of it and treatment to effectively help those in need). I’m an aspiring musician and prospective actor, and I recently got into sword duels.

Himal Shrestha, New York

Hi, my name is Binita Gautam and I’m the State Representative for Iowa. I decided to join the Nepali Youth Association because I want to connect with other non-residential Nepalis and address issues that Nepalis all over the world are facing. I am currently a Microbiology/Pre-Med student at the University of Iowa and would like to work with NYA to help provide basic healthcare to disadvantaged populations in Nepal. I’m really excited to be a part of this organization, especially at its early stages, to help lay out the foundation for projects to come.

Binita Gautam, Iowa

Hey! My name is Suhani Karki, and I am the Massachusetts State Representative. I applied for a state rep position at NYA to be connected with Nepali youth across America and create a long-lasting change in the Nepalese community. With the NYA group, I hope to raise awareness about mental health and diminish the stigma behind it. Fun fact: I won a literature competition about diversity and got to travel to Italy at the age of 14!

Suhani Karki, Massachusetts

My name is Sparsh Thapa, I was born in Kathmandu, Nepal. I moved to America in 6th grade, I am currently in college pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I play soccer and cricket.

Sparsh Thapa, Michigan

Hey everyone my name is Astha Bhandari, I’m 16 years old and I am the State Representative of North Carolina for NYA. I applied to the State rep position because I have always believed that change starts locally, in the community. I hope through this organization and my role as State Representative for NC, I can educate my fellow Nepali people on issues such as racism, mental health, sexual harassment and so much more. Another thing I really want to do is be on the front lines, volunteering for people in need and recruiting members for NYA. I am so grateful to be a part of this organization and help engage Nepali immigrants in local advocacy!

Astha Bhandari, North Carolina

My name is Manasa and I am seventeen years old and approaching my senior year of highschool. I am the Pennsylvania state representative and am thrilled to be able to work with a group of people who are as passionate as me to contribute to the reform of our Nepalese society. I wanted to join NYA because I believe as, Nepali American, I lacked a strong Nepali community around me. Joining NYA was another way of connecting to the youth of our culture, expanding my activism, learning more about the issues of which occur in Nepal, and creating strong friendships along the way. Expanding my activism played a big role in my decision to join NYA. I consider myself very passionate about bringing awareness to casteism, mental health, sexism, racism, ableism, sexual harassment, identity as a Nepali-American, and gender equality in Nepal. In my free time, I enjoy dancing, drawing, playing tennis, playing the piano, and learning more about the world around me. A fun fact about me is that I implement the use of cat emojis in my day-to-day texting.

Manasa Sharma, Pennsylvania

Hi! My name is Pratikshya Gurdhami (17) and I am a NYA state representative for Texas . I joined NYA to be able to connect with Nepalese community around me and help raise awareness about socio cultural issues prevalent in our society. As a part of this organization, I aim to use my platform to educate help diminish evil social practices such as casteism, child labor, gender inequality, superstitions, and much more. I am also very passionate about creating a safe place for people who are going through or have gone through any sort of harassment in their life.

Pratikshya Gurdhami, Texas

My name is Raj Kharel, and I am the Virginia State Representative for NYA. I joined NYA to be connected with Nepali youth across America and have a louder voice to create a long-lasting change in the Nepalese community as our goal is to raise awareness about mental health, racism and diminish the stigma behind stereotypes. With the NYA group, I hope to spread unity and understandings of different cultures, backgrounds and preserve slipping identity among Nepalese worldwide. 

Raj Karel, Virginia