Locally Rooted, Globally Connected: Thank you Allesandra and Flavie For Your Visit!
While our team member Bahar was thrilled to meet up with over 50 other Impact Hubs at the Global Retreat in Portugal in May, we at Impact Hub Kathmandu hosted two international guests from Europe at our hub: Flavie and Allesandra! These amazingly talented visitors brought rich cross-cultural and cross-continental learnings to our space and team! The power of being a global hub is the joy and privilege of hosting such compassionate, committed and genuine good people who join our tribe to seed amazing-ness. Our value at all Impact Hubs is being globally connected and locally rooted whereby we share and transfer knowledge, skills and perspectives to one another for growth and partnerships! Here’s what our international volunteers had to share about their short engagement with IH during the expedition.
Flavie is our short-term volunteer who came all the way from Paris, France! She was on short sabbatical leave from her work in Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), France and to our fortune, reached out to us via Linkedin for volunteering while in Nepal! Flavie brought her skills and perspective of working with international firms through PwC in Finance and Auditing and helped us refine our financial strategy as well as our enterprises from Accelerate Regional Membership Program! For Flavie, the thing that inspired her the most to visit Nepal was her father who used to travel to Nepal 40 years ago. As someone who loves traveling, it was a perfect opportunity for her to experience the beautiful mountains as well as work in a different environment in South Asia. Here’s what Flavie has to share about her journey to Nepal and Impact Hub Kathmandu:
Why did you decide to engage with Impact Hub KTM specifically?
We also have incubators in France and I have always thought it would be interesting to work with startups. So when I found out there was the same structure in Kathmandu, I reached out to the Impact Hub’s team! Impact Hub seems to be a dynamic and growing company, especially since it joined IH’s global network. I liked the variety of programs proposed to entrepreneurs (recycling and renewable energy, tech, agriculture etc). I am going back home with my heart and a head full of gratitude and memories of my 3 months in Nepal.
I had a great time at Impact Hub, working with an inspiring team of people who foster innovation and social projects. I am impressed by all the social entrepreneurs building their business in Nepal, especially in women empowerment. I think Nepal has still a lot to offer, the best is yet to come!
-Flavie Pichon, Senior Financial Auditor, PwC
Alessandra is a lecturer, researcher, and visual artist from Rome, Italy based in the UK who came for visiting FabLab Nepal. Alessandra has worked in Nepal as a researcher from 2006 to 2012. She considers Kathmandu as one of her three ‘home places’, along with Rome, where she was born and raised, and Glasgow, where she is currently based. It was while she was doing her research about FabLabs and sustainability that she came across the Nepal FabLab website. She is currently working at the Open University as a Design Lecturer. She has done a practice-based Ph.D. in Visual Cultures and a few of her other backgrounds include art history and psychology of art.
What brought you to Nepal and how did you find out about Impact Hub Kathmandu and FabLab?
I was very pleasantly surprised to realize that Kathmandu FabLab and Impact Hub are part of the same reality. I think it is a wonderful idea with great potential. I am interested in exploring ecology and sustainability issues, especially in the Global South, and in relation to creative practices. When I read about the recently born FabLab in Impact Hub Kathmandu and its humanitarian ethos, I thought I would get in touch to explore opportunities and ideas that we can develop together. And there are many…
From my short experience at Impact HubKTM/FabLab Nepal, I am walking away with a lot of enthusiasm and the desire to go back and develop projects together. I have met many creative and inspiring people who genuinely believe in the power of working with and for communities. I am also impressed by the collaborative and supportive environment that each and everyone in the team helps create. Every day I spent at the FabLab has been somehow memorable. Thank you, all
-Dr. Allesandra Campoli
Flavie and Allesandra celebrating ‘Thrilling Thursdays’ with Impact Hub Kathmandu Team in June
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