Board of Directors

Scott Urbom is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, a position he assumed in December 2025.

Over the course of his distinguished diplomatic career, he has held a range of leadership roles, including Consul General in Karachi, Director of the Office of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives Affairs, and Deputy Director of the Office of Korean Affairs. He has also served as Deputy Political Chief at the American Institute in Taiwan and as DPRK Unit Chief in the Office of Korean Affairs. His overseas assignments have taken him to Beijing, Bridgetown, and Kyiv, providing him with broad experience across multiple regions.

Before joining the Foreign Service, he taught English as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan, an experience that sparked his commitment to public service and international engagement. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds master’s degrees from both Harvard University and the National War College.

Mike Harker is the Public Affairs Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Nepal, directing embassy communications and overseeing educational and cultural programming. His first visit to Nepal in 2006 to hike the Annapurna Circuit inspired subsequent returns for additional treks and studies in its monasteries. Mike previously served in Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan, Qatar, Egypt, and most recently as the Spokesperson to the U.S. Embassy in Burma, where he oversaw crisis communications following the Burma military’s 2021 coup. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from UCLA and a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Erica Alon Alexander is a public diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officer from Memphis, Tennessee, currently serving as the Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies from Georgia State University and taught English in Daejeon, South Korea after graduation. In 2021, she started her time with the State Department after receiving the Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship and attended The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where she earned a Master’s in Global Communication. During her fellowship, she interned for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Public Affairs Section at Embassy Hanoi. In her free time, Erica enjoys volunteering for her sorority’s headquarters on the Board of Directors and working on creative projects like sewing and writing.

Meghan W.T. Nalbo is The Asia Foundation’s country representative in Nepal. She brings over a decade of experience in governance and development in Asia, the majority of which is focused on Nepal’s political transition. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Nepal in 2003-2004, where her research focused on indigenous political and cultural identities and rights with the backdrop of Nepal’s ten-year civil conflict.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Meghan was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) where she most recently served as director of the Democracy and Governance office at USAID in Nepal. Her work at USAID spanned over nine years during which she held a variety of positions, including as USAID’s Asia regional coordinator for the Global, Regional Policy Team, where for two years she was the technical lead in the Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance in Washington, DC, and as a program officer in Bangladesh.

Dr. Sangeeta Mishra serves as Additional Health Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population, providing strategic leadership in national health governance, system strengthening, and global health collaboration. She holds a Doctorate in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and earned her Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University as a Fulbright Fellow. Her work focuses on planning, design, and implementation of public health programs, quality assurance of health services, and oversight of national and international health care programs in Nepal. Her leadership in sexual and reproductive health has advanced equitable access to essential services through community-based and system-level reforms.

Dr. Mishra also serves on the Senior Thematic Expert Panel of the Policy Research Institute, contributing to evidence-informed national policy dialogue. As a committed advocate for gender equity and health justice, she is recognized for bridging clinical expertise, public health science, and high-level policy leadership to advance resilient and inclusive health systems.

Shanker Raj Pandey is a senior development professional previously associated with a bilateral agency in Nepal. A graduate of Xavier University and Georgetown University, he has over three decades of professional experience in both the public and private sectors, particularly in the areas of commerce and industry, health, energy, and economic development. He is also affiliated with not-for-profit organizations working on education and mental health. He was a Humphrey Fellow at American University in 1997-98.

Dr. Mukta S. Lama Tamang is an anthropologist and teaches at Central Department of Anthropology, Tribhuvan University. His major areas of work include indigenous peoples’ issues, history and identity, participatory development, and social inclusion. He has extensive experience working as an expert on social development and engagement in civil society processes. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University and has been a Visiting Fellow at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi and Goldsmiths’ College of University of London. He also worked as a Research Fellow at the New School for Social Research in New York.