Meet Sumitra

Sumitra Manandhar leads Local Works Global’s internship and mentorship program, bringing more than two decades of experience designing, managing, and scaling international development programs.

As a Program Specialist with USAID for over a decade, Sumitra managed a Democracy, Rights, and Governance portfolio exceeding $100 million. She oversaw investments in democratic institutions, national and local governments, civil society, and other sectors, including conflict mitigation, peace processes, media, counter-trafficking, education, and economic growth. Earlier, with USAID in Afghanistan, she helped design roughly $750 million in civil society and elections programming, along with some $45 million across health and agriculture. It was through USAID’s Local Works program in Nepal that she saw most directly how local leadership transforms communities, as women, youth, and marginalized groups identified local resources, built skills, and led initiatives that outlasted the projects that seeded them. Working as both a donor and an implementer, her focus has held steady: strengthening governance, advancing gender equality and social inclusion, and building the local systems that ensure lasting progress. She currently also serves as a director at Friends of ADWAN (Association for Dalit Women’s Advancement of Nepal) and as an independent development consultant.

Sumitra holds a master’s degree in Sociology from Tribhuvan University in Nepal, along with an undergraduate degree in the sciences. As a woman who rose from a marginalized background, she brings a personal understanding to the barriers she helps others overcome, and hopes her own journey shows that perseverance, courage, and compassion can transform lives. She remains convinced, in her words, that “local works best.”