Donate

GET TO KNOW US MEET THE TEAM

UK Team

John Matthews

John Matthews


Founding Trustee, Chairman


John is currently based in Scotland where he co-owns a boutique hotel. John relocated from the Middle East where he held hospitality & legal sector finance roles including Financial Director of Al Tamimi the regions largest law firm and CFO of HMH a region wide Islamic hospitality chain. It was during his time in the Middle East that John first had the opportunity to visit Nepal and his experiences there resulted in the founding of Children of the Mountain. John is a passionate advocate for caste and gender equality and believes the provision of quality education in primary years and the mentoring and the development of values & confidence in young adults are key to fairer and more inclusive communities.

Ben Clark

Ben Clark


Trustee


Ben was educated and brought up in Scotland and attended Edinburgh’s Stewarts Melville College. Currently holding a position as Area Sales manager under one of Scotland’s reputable Solicitors, Ben’s commercial relationships will be put to excellent use, heading up corporate relations within the charity. Having had access to some of the best education the UK had to offer at Stewarts Melville, Ben has a real understanding of how important a good education is to a secure future. Ben , impressed during a meeting with the charity founder John Matthew, decided he had to get involved. Ben hopes to put his corporate background to good use by making connections between the charity and Scotland’s corporate world.

Hannah Matthews

Hannah Matthews


Trustee


Hannah Matthews CPA is a qualified chartered accountant specialising in Investment Trusts. Hannah grew up in Dubai before moving to Edinburgh for further education. Hannah’s early access to quality education fostered a passion to ensure less fortunate children have access to education and equal opportunity . She believes strongly in corporate social responsibility and the need for Business sector to play an active part in supporting lasting change. Hannah has been actively involved in our projects, visiting Nepal on a number of occasions.

Nepal Team

Uttam Dahal

Uttam Dahal


Vice Chairman & In Country Director


Uttam is a resident of Kathmandu and has worked as a key member of the Early Childhood Education Centre based there. During his time there, Uttam was in charge of numerous courses and his accomplishments range from pre-school mentoring, training facilitator and community healing. In recent years he has travelled to over 60 districts in Nepal visiting remote schools working to tackle socio-economic and cultural diversity issues within the country.

Aruna Adhikari

Aruna Adhikari


Nepali Literacy Program Manager


Raised and educated in Bimsin municipality, Aruna met John while in primary school and expressed an interest in becoming an early years teacher. COTM recognized her potential and, post high school graduation, sponsored a two year teacher training program. Aruna joined COTM in 2017 and now gives back through managing the early years program.

Sony Poudel Tamang

Sony Poudel Tamang


Early Years Program Manager


Sony, a resident of Kathmandu obtained her Master's Degree, with a major in Child Development manages our Preschool education program. Sony is an experienced teacher trainer in Early Childhood Development and was a key member of our partner ECEC’s team managing the 1 year academic preschool teacher in partnership with Kathmandu University and NLA University Norway. Sony has travelled and reported for Pre/Primary, Primary levels and ECD Centers in more than 50 districts in Corporation with various I/NGOs and Government Department of Education throughout the country.Sonys main responsibilities include providing training to the teachers, liaising with school management committee members and conducting parental education. In addition, Sony is responsible for project management, monitoring, reporting and evaluation.

Harichandra Khadka

Harichandra Khadka


Maths Program Manager


With 13 year’s teaching experience in both private and public educational institutions, Hari is an accredited facilitator of New Hope International Australia and a Lifetime Member of Council for Mathematics Education (CME), Nepal. Hari held the position of Program Director in the education NGO ‘Education for All’ and is a Founding Member of Opinion Research and Development, a research and professional development institution. Hari will manage our unique activity-based maths program and drive the improvement of numeracy across our network of schools.

Sarita Shrestha

Sarita Shrestha


District Motivator


Sarita was a former Early Childhood Development teacher in Andhi Barahi Primary School in Bandipur, Tanahun. Her skills on motivating, engaging, inspiring children and teachers through activity based learning is remarkable. She is closely focusing and supervising 6 schools in Bandipur to bring the real value-based education and joyful learning environment. Aiming to build career in Education field, Sarita is pursuing higher secondary education.

Mandira Lamichhane

Mandira Lamichhane


District Motivator


Mandira is a graduate in Bachelor in Arts majored in Nepali subject. She is deeply engaging to motivate the children and teachers to implement the techniques and methodology provided through teachers training for 10 schools in Tandrang, Gorkha. Being an inhabitant of program site, she feels more responsible in bringing changes in children’s life through education.

Kanchi Maya Tamang

Kanchi Maya Tamang


Trekking Manager


Kanchi, a three times Everest Summiteer is a Board Member and leads all our fund-raising treks in Nepal. In addition to her incredible mountaineer feats, Kanchi has dedicated her time to the education and empowerment the girls of her village in Sindhupalchowk district. When not climbing or trekking Kanchii conducts various activities to motivate, engage and inspire young women to be strong and independent.