Dr Pukar Malla

Pukar Malla is striving for an enterprising Nepal where every youth has opportunities for a prosperous future. He is Co-Founder and Chairperson of Governance Lab, which conducts research, influences public policies and strengthens the governance system to advocate for evidence-based policymaking in Nepal. He is Founder and Chairperson of Daayitwa, a Nepal-based social enterprise that nurtures leaders who embrace their self-responsibilities and collectively transform societal challenges into opportunities through entrepreneurship and governance innovations. He is Co-Founder and Executive Coach at the Nepal Leadership Academy, which nurtures leadership in youth and public leaders for promoting inclusive growth in Nepal. He also serves as a Member of the Women's Think Tank at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, he has investigated and piloted leadership development frameworks to accelerate innovation in developing nations. As a Senior Innovation Policy Specialist at the World Bank, he has supported governments of Nepal, India, China and Ghana to promote innovation-led inclusive growth. In prior engineering career, he led design at Intel, AMD, Silicon Graphics and a Silicon Valley start-up, and secured 2 US patents. He received his Bachelors from Swarthmore College with focus on engineering and economics. He spent 3 years at Cornell, where he attained MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Business Management. He earned his MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. As the elected Student President, he has also led Harvard Graduate Student Government, the representative student body of Harvard's 12 graduate and professional schools.