Project Partners

Nancy Porten

Nancy Porten co-founded Changing Lives Nepal and is actively engaged in its fundraising and management. As a member of the Lake Tahoe community, she is also a yoga/fitness instructor, volunteer, modern dancer, and mother of three. She has a strong business background in marketing and sales, deep experience with entrepreneurial start-up companies, and has been associated with Unisys, Buildtopia, and Porten Homes. Nancy is connected to Nepal through travel, trekking, fair trade export, and her studies with a Buddhist monk.

Neel Thakuri

Neel Thakuri has a solid reputation for voluntary community work and is well-known for his integrity and philanthropy. For over 20 years, Neel Thakuri has not only supported education in his native village but has personally brought together businessmen, education officials, and villagers to establish a primary school and high school providing the best education in the district. After supporting the school for 13 years until it was financially self-sufficient through a combination of government funding and income-generating programs, he founded TEAM Nepal to expand the reach of education in the area and now coordinates our children’s home and community school construction.

Parshu Dahal

Parshu Dahal was Founder and Executive Director of Society Development Center for 6 years during which time he successfully garnered funding for an array of development projects, successfully worked with competing political groups, instituted non-nepotistic hiring practices, and created greater collaboration with government agencies. He has been a university English teacher for over 16 years, conducts field research for I/NGO’s, and continues to volunteer his time for social change including coordinating our Organic Tea Farmer Collective.