Board of Directors

Elie AmkrautN-201 · President

Elie served as a Food Security Volunteer and Volunteer Leader in Lamjung District and Kathmandu from 2014-2017. Since completing his Peace Corps service, Elie continued working in international development in South Asia and West Africa for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, African School of Economics, and World Bank. He currently lives in New York City, working remotely as an Environment and Natural Resources Consultant for the World Bank and teaching English on Sundays at Adhikaar, a Nepali community organization. He holds an MPA from the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs.

Brett JohnsonN-188 · Secretary

Brett was a Soil Conservation Volunteer from 1999-2001 posted in Bhojpur District, where he also learned to speak excellent Nepali, studied Nepali music, and taught western music notation to youth. Post Peace Corps, Brett pursued degrees in music education and has been teaching band and music to middle school students for nearly twenty years. Brett continues his interest in, and commitment to, conservation issues as a co-founder and political chair of the Environmental Coalition of Pierce County. He resides in Tacoma, Washington with his wife and daughter. Word on the street is that Brett plays a mean saxophone!

Christina LeasN-203 · Communications Director

Christina served for two years as a food security volunteer in the hills of Syangja district, and then extended one year as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader based in Pokhara. Some of her favorite projects she worked on included mushroom cultivation, fruit tree planting, and bee keeping. She has a Bachelor's in anthropology from the University of Virginia and a Master's in geography from the University of Montana. She currently lives in Colorado and works for a nonprofit supporting sustainable agriculture. She tries to get back to Nepal when she can to visit her village and go on a trek.

James ParkN-202 · Treasurer

James Park is a Philadelphia-area native. After graduating from the George Washington University in 2012, he enrolled in an organic vegetable production apprenticeship program and worked there until leaving for Peace Corps Nepal in 2015. Since serving, he has gone back to school at West Chester University of Pennsylvania and now works locally in logistics and technology.

Bradley HolderN-208 · Newsletter Co-Editor

Bradley served as an education PCV in Syangja District from 2023 to 2025. In addition to teaching English to students from grades 3 through 7, he raised money for and helped organize a major construction and beautification project in his village. Originally from Southern California, he is now living in North Carolina, where he works as a teacher in the juvenile justice system. He also works part-time as a writing tutor for an online university. In his free time he writes poetry, studies languages, and watches horror movies. A small piece of his soul is still in Nepal…digging up potatoes at eight in the morning, awkwardly dancing with people he barely knows, running behind shaky, Ganesha-embossed buses while laughing schoolchildren chase after him.

The Grants Committee

The Grants Committee is a separate institution of Friends of Nepal dedicated to selecting the recipients of each grants cycle, in addition to determining the theme of the annual campaign. The campaign theme is determined by considering the greatest funding needs in Nepal at the time, and may remain the same depending on current issues. All decisions made by the grants committee are presented to the Board which votes for approval. They also are in charge of issuing funds and monitoring progress of grant recipients. Many live in or spend a significant amount of time in Nepal, and try to visit grant recipient sites when possible. Except for the Grants Director (below), the Grants Committee remains anonymous in order to protect the integrity of the grant selection process. If you have any specific questions for them, they can be directed to grants@friendsofnepal.com.

Jacole DouglasGrants Committee Co-Chair

Jacole first went to Nepal with a girl’s education organization in 2008-2010 and later received a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research there (2019-2020). With over 15 years of experience working in international development, she has designed, managed, and advised education and research programs in Nepal and beyond. She holds an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her dissertation research focuses on teacher instructional support in a cluster of schools in Mahottari. She lives in Montana and enjoys making annual trips back to Nepal.

Dinesh BajracharyaGrants Committee Co-Chair

Dinesh is a Water and Sanitation Engineer with more than three decades of experience with National NGO, International NGOs, private sector and UNICEF at the senior management level. Apart from in-country experience, he has worked as Country Representative for WaterAid Timor-Leste from 2007-2013 and from 2013-2015, as head of WASH with UNICEF in Puntland state of Somalia. Currently he is working as freelance WASH expert and involved in evaluation of number of WASH related program. He has Masters of Science (MSc.) degree in Water Resources and Environmental Management from UNESCO - IHE Netherlands.

Advisory Board Members

These former board members continue to serve in an advisory role for the Board and often participate in email communications and Board meetings. However, they are not voting members.

King BeachN-60

King served as a Peace Corps education volunteer in Nepal from 1976-79. He is an alumnus of Columbia University and the City University of New York, where he trained in developmental psychology and cultural anthropology. King headed the graduate program in Sociocultural and International Development Education Studies at Florida State University and has been involved in various educational development efforts in Nepal and elsewhere for four decades. He is also the founder of Community Gönpa Education Initiative Nepal (CGEIN.org) which supports improvement in dharma and secular education among Nepal’s high Himalayan monasteries. King divides his time between the U.S. and Nepal where he and his wife, Betsy Becker, enjoy being grandparents to Phurtenzi, Amika, Arbin, and Yudin Tamang.

Dan DonaghueN-47

Growing up working a dairy farm, Dan became a Livestock Volunteer posted at HMG's Veterinary Hospitals at Bhairahawa and Pokhara. He has had a full career ever since in poverty alleviation with international NGOs, the U.N, and bilateral aid organizations. He has worked on development projects and with refugees throughout Central, South and Southeast Asia. Dan has also spent quite a bit of time with Bhutan-Nepali refugees where he lives in Rhode Island. In his retirement he is an advanced life support medic on community rescues, a firefighter, and drone pilot. "I am honored to be a Board Member of Friends of Nepal, a really fine organization!" -Dan