Grantee

Shishir is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship for the Master’s Program (AY 2023-24). He will be pursuing LLM degree from Georgetown University, where he plans to take courses on Criminal Justice Reform, Role of Prosecutors, Wrongful Conviction, Innovation in Criminal Justice System and more. 

Shishir is an Under Secretary in the Supreme Court of Nepal (starting on May 2023). Prior to this, he served as a Government Attorney (December 2017-May 2023), working at different government offices of Nepal. Shishir’s experience has been primarily focused in areas of prosecution, court procedures, investigation and policy research in matters relating to criminal justice system. 

He completed his first law degree (BALLB) in 2016 and LLM degree in International Law and Constitutional Law in 2022 from Nepal Law Campus. 

Shishir is also an Adjunct Faculty at National Law College. He frequently lectures and publishes on different legal issues in academic and government platforms. He is the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of Nepal Journal of Legal Studies (Vol. 1, 2016). 

Dr. Sanjiv Gupta is a medical professional and entrepreneur, hailing form Siraha, who is committed to advancing social progress in Nepal. He will be attending Boston University to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health with a specialization in Hospital Administration, focusing on courses such as Health Economics, Policy-Strategy and Leadership, Welfare Economics, Nonprofit Management, Telemedicine studies, Health Informatics, and others.  

Dr. Sanjiv obtained his medical degree from Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS) and Dhulikhel Hospital in 2015. He founded the Bhaktivedanta Community Hospital in Kathmandu, which started as a polyclinic and has expanded to include a holistic setup in Bhaktapur and an advanced clinic at Chapali, Budhanilkantha. He is currently collaborating with Budhanilkantha Municipality to construct a community hospital. He has served as a senior vice president of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Kathmandu, where he played a key role in strategic planning and brand development. He also founded The Culture Lab, a value education program for schools, and serves as a board member of Food for Life Nepal, an NGO that provides mid-day meals to underprivileged students in the peri-urban areas of Kathmandu. 

Sarita Pariyar is a writer and social justice activist. She writes on politics of caste, gender, sexuality with a particular focus on lived experiences of Dalit women. She is attending Cornell University, Ithaca in Fall 2023 to pursue a Master’s degree in Asian Studies.  

Her work has been published in newspapers, magazines, and journals worldwide. This includes a children’s book, Utsukta, which deals with caste questions from an intergenerational perspective. She has delivered public lectures on caste questions and social justice issues at universities and multilateral organizations globally. 

Sarita is also the founding Principal Investigator of Just Futures Initiative that aims to engender new narratives of Dalit women at Samata Foundation. She established the Darnal Award for Social Justice. Currently, she serves on the Board of Samata Foundation, Nepal Madhesh Foundation, and Accountability Lab. 

She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and English Literature from Tribhuvan University. In 2022, she was a Draper Hills Summer Fellow on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University. 

Rasmita Suwal has been a Scientific Assistant at the National Forensic Science Laboratory’s Forensic Chemistry, Narcotics and Toxicology division since 2018. She is attending Syracuse University’s two-year Master’s program in Forensic Science with a focus on Forensic Chemical Analysis and Crime Scene Investigation. She aspires to become an expert in forensic chemistry through this program in order to advance and expand Nepal’s forensic industry, which is currently in the early stages of development.

Rasmita received a Golden Jubilee Scholarship for the 2014–2015 academic year and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Bhaktapur Multiple Campus. In addition, she is a lifetime member of the Biotechnology Society of Nepal. She is also the vice president of the National Forensic Science Laboratory Free Workers’ Union, where she promotes concerns pertaining to worker safety and hazard pay.