Born in Bajhang, Nepal, worked for more than two decades with the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the United Nations World Food Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Labor Organization for about eight years, and, most recently, Heifer International’s headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, for nearly 15 years until August 2021. Obtained B.Sc Agriculture from the Udaypur University in Rajasthan, India, an MS in extension education and rural sociology from the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, and a Ph.D. in agricultural and extension education/international community development from Michigan State University.
At Cornell University, studied international agriculture as a Hubert Humphrey scholar. Professional interests include cooperative capacity building, food security, program development, social capital, and community empowerment, as well as agribusiness development, agriculture extension, and program evaluation.