Rashi Maharjan

Rashi Maharjan is a development practitioner working at the intersection of research, policy, and practice in Nepal. She began her career as a field researcher, an experience that continues to shape her approach to centering lived realities, particularly those of women, youth, and communities marginalized by the state, in program design and implementation. Over the years, she has developed a strong feminist and intersectional lens, ensuring that inclusion is embedded across systems, budgets, and decision-making processes rather than treated as an add-on.

Her work focuses on supporting women entrepreneurs with disabilities through inclusive incubation and ecosystem-building, in collaboration with national and international partners. She contributes to program design, research, and advocacy aimed at advancing equitable economic opportunities.

Rashi is particularly passionate about amplifying underrepresented voices and translating grassroots experiences into policy and practice. She has engaged in regional and international platforms, and continues to build networks that strengthen inclusive development. She is committed to creating accessible spaces for entrepreneurship and envisions advancing models that enable women to thrive as leaders and innovators.

Beside her professional work, Rashi is an avid reader, always adding new books to her collection, many of which she hasn’t yet completed or found the time to read. In her free time, she enjoys singing and jamming to songs, bringing the same creativity and passion to her hobbies as she does to her work. She is excited to join the promising cohort of 2026 to meet passionate innovators and changemakers to collectively question the unequal and unjust systems that have posed complex challenges to attain universal goals of human development.