Say Hello to Our New Friends at ChangeFusion Nepal!

Luna and Rafael of ChangeFusion Nepal

Luna Shrestha Thakur left Nepal as a teenager because she found its patriarchy suffocating, especially for bright, independent young women like her. For ten years, she traveled the world and learned about different cultures and societies: she was so inspired by what she encountered that she wrote a book, A Journey to the Self, and published it for other Nepali youth with similar questions. The reception to the book was so positive that she returned to Nepal to speak and, eventually, founded an incredibly promising organization aiming to inspire a new generation of dreamers and changemakers. Breadpig is proud to announce that Luna's organization, ChangeFusion Nepal, is our newest nonprofit partner.

ChangeFusion Nepal is named after, but runs autonomously from, ChangeFusion Thailand, an organization that promotes social innovation and development all over Asia. Luna got the idea to support and mentor young entrepreneurs from Sunit Shrestha, an expat Nepali working at ChangeFusion Thailand who was frustrated that there weren't any social entrepreneurship programs in his homeland. When Luna expressed an interest to do just that, he offered her an interesting deal. He would personally arrange for her training and give her a few hundred USD a year for two years to get her organization off the ground; she would have to find all necessary additional funding, staff, applicants, and supporters. Luna accepted the offer, turning down a job opportunity in hospitality that would have paid her ten times as much for much less work, and she does not regret her decision even a bit.

In 2009, CFN ran a call for proposals of innovative social entrepreneurship ideas in Nepal. Of the 50 applications, a rigorous selection process chose 5 to become ChangeFusion fellows. The fellows received a small amount of seed funding (in the form of a loan) as well as copious training and networking opportunities to hone and develop their business ideas, which included: breaking the cycle of poverty for rickshaw drivers, developing a newly discovered olive forest into a sustainable agricultural resource for an otherwise impoverished village, empowering rural farmers to get fairer prices for their organic goods, giving children of prisoners a second chance, and preserving ancient Newari craft traditions. By the end of the year, the fellows graduated the program, all further along in developing their own sustainable businesses while also helping their communities. The best part? CFN's operating budget for the whole cycle, including staff pay, rent, and seed loans only came out to about $15000 USD. That's the type of return on investment Breadpig likes to see!

This year, Luna and her team are expanding and hoping to take in a total of 25 fellows. The first phase of CFN's cycle is to get the word out about the 2011 fellowship program. To reach the youth in rural areas outside of Kathmandu, Luna and her team are spending most of December and January on the road. They are spending 3 days in each of the 15 zones of Nepal: at each stop, they are working closely with local partners to organize workshops about entrepreneurship for students while encouraging youth to apply for the fellowship program.

Breadpig is proud to be the primary supporter of this phase, which is so crucial in inspiring youth all over Nepal to consider social entrepreneurship as a way to improve their communities. In subsequent blogposts, we'll keep you updated about what Luna and her team are up to, as well as showcase the business of one of the 2009 fellows that I had the opportunity to visit while still in Nepal.